ABSTRACT
This chapter follows a descendant of plantation slaves as he escapes a dysfunctional family to eventually find his calling with the United Nations as a career humanitarian officer, mostly in Africa. When his mother dies, he talks with his only known relative, an uncle, about family before he travels over 14,000 miles across the US by car to find relatives who turn out to be Black, Native American, successful, and famous. His story is interspersed with relevant research about slavery, the single mother phenomenon, the importance of land ownership, and escaping dysfunctional situations, some applying to his case and some not. Many years later, during the COVID Pandemic he zooms their story to many of the family he found. He is quoted throughout the chapter about the trials and joys of his journey, the reluctance of newly found family to be recorded, and the messages he found of ancestors that he leaves for his daughter, newly found descendants, and at-risk youth.
