Blog Post #7: Day 8

 Day 8

”Defining myself, as opposed to being defined by others, is one of the most difficult 

challenges I face.” – Carol Moseley-Braun

Today is day 8 of my Hawken Project and I'm currently in the process of sorting materials 

and content for the courses based on their topics. I've meet or communicated with a couple 

of other teachers about a specific course and the topic of the course in the program and 

have asked them for their advice and insight on potential materials for the curriculum for 

that course. In addition to that, I've just had a brief check-in yesterday with Mrs. Mullen 

and my mentor about the progress of my Hawken Project. I believe that I'm at a very good 

stage with my project and I'm excited to continue moving forward with shaping up the 

courses that I have in mind for the AA Studies Project! 

As I continued with reviewing the content and making sure that the materials for the courses

cover important concepts and ideas through a historical lens, I reflected on a moment from 

my past that reminded me of another reason why I've wanted to do this course. Earlier in 

my career, one of my classes visited a local museum in the area and before we began the 

tour of the museum, the tour guide asked my classmates and I where our families are from.

After hearing a couple of responses from my classmates like Argentina, Poland, and a 

couple of other European countries, I decided to respond with what I knew about my family.

I said that both sides of my family were from Alabama (more specifically Aliceville and 

Birmingham). The tour guide in response said "No" and then replied that I could "ask my

family members or look through a census to find out "where" my family was from." I was very

startled and taken aback by her response as I was being honest about where my family

came from (to the best of my knowledge), but moreover that she assumed that everyone 

"knew" where their families originated from (outside of the United States). Little did she 

know but my family was unfortunately affected by a fire that burned down the court house 

in Alabama that contained all of the family's records. So, even if I wanted to look for the 

records, I couldn't........ because the courthouse was burned down many years ago. However,

this moment did prompt me to go in search of where my family is from and learn about 

my family's history through DNA testing via Ancestry.com. So, for my birthday gift, my 

mother bought me an Ancestry.com DNA testing kit so that I would finally be able to 

answer the question of "where" my family is from. So, I followed the procedures for the 

testing, mailed it off, and, after six long weeks of waiting, received my results! Before 

opening up my results, I reflected back on that moment when the tour guide invalidated

my response to her and asked me to ask my family members or look through census records

to see "where" I'm from. I remembered the shock and the disappointment that I felt after

hearing those words. But moreover, I remembered the pain that me and many other Black 

children are subjected to of not knowing where our roots are from because of the 

detrimental affects of American chattel slavery and the Jim Crow Era. So, as I close out my

blog entry this week, just as I have remembered that pain from that interaction, I remember

the pain of my peers and I not knowing the extent of our own history because of the way

that America writes US History. So, needless to say, that is more motivation for my project 

and to continue moving forward with it.

McMullen Family Reunion