Preserving The Past by Rambling Raven
By Raven • Jul 6th, 2009 • Category: Rambling Raven •
Email This Post
• 
Print This Post
Preserving The Past by Rambling Raven
Over the holiday weekend family and friends gathered at my parents to celebrate the 4th of July. The gathering was like any other; full of food, music,laughter and lots of storytelling. Most of the stories were about the humorous antics that my parents and their friends went through while growing up. I heard many of the stories numerous times before. The narratives changed slightly depending upon who was telling the story but mostly the stories retained their original glory.
The elders told of a bygone era. The elders spoke about growing up through segregation and attending marches and demonstrations as teens. The storytellers remembered where they were when Martin was assassinated. And the aftermath when the city streets were ablaze with fire and riots in protest to the slaying.
The elders demonstrated the dances of their youth, causing the youngsters to double over with laughter. Motown songs from the sixties and seventies blared from the radio speakers as my parents and their friends sung and danced along. I was reminded by those wonderful storytellers how the community use to be. I was told how Black folk use to lookout for one another and how it truly was a village that took pride in its children and their accomplishments. I was told of days when you were a walking representation of your family so acting respectful was the rule of the day.
During the celebration I realized that many members of my family and extended family were getting on in years. And in time their stories would be replaced by that of the next generation’s. Yet, the elders stories need to be preserved. The lives they lived are part of history, they lived through some of the most turbulent and historical events of the past fifty years.
I have to find a way to preserve the wonderful stories that have been passed down to me. In each story there is a link to the people who made me who I am. I want to keep their legacy alive. I have been thinking about the next family gathering. I will be there to record the past. I will take note of all the stories that are told. I will initiate the conversations and ask the questions that need to be asked. I will in essence help to preserve the past.
Related Posts
Raven is an educator with a B.A. in Psychology and a M.A. in Education. She has been an avid reader since childhood. Her favorite genres are mystery, suspense, and horror, although she will give any genre a try. She is a life long resident of Chicago. Her love of books opened her mind to people, places and events far beyond her Chicago home. Reading helped to shape her world and her opinion of the events that took place within it. No matter what demands her career requires of her, she has always found time to read and write in a journal. Along with reading and journaling, she loves to watch the sunset, and discuss hot topics with family and friends. She loves baseball, horror movies, mysteries, listening to music from every corner of the world and expressing her view of the latest books with the women of APOOO.
Email this author | All posts by Raven
Excellent post and my blog was along the same lines. We must preserve our history. One way is like you say, writing down and recording the stories, as I am doing. I am doing this with my genealogy writing group, writing the elders’ stories and recording my own personal history. Again, great post.
I enjoyed this post. I love hearing these stories. I wish I had thought to write these stories down years ago because alot of my elders are no longer around to relay them anymore.
.-= Lashonda Silver´s last blog ..Making Choices and the End of an Era =-.