NAAM’s Descendant Series is an educational program that provides information that will inspire and empower you to learn more about your own ancestry and genealogy by meeting the descendants of some of the most heroic African Americans in history. It is meant to highlight the bold and brave legacy of our past and inspire future generations to come.
Remembering the Life of Emmett Till
September 25, 2024 | 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Sponsored by US Bank, join us on Wednesday, September 25 as we share an evening with Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., cousin and childhood best friend of Emmett Till, and his wife, Dr. Marvel Parker, Executive Director of the Emmett Till Institute.
We will hear from a primary source the story of the life that Emmett Till led prior to his life being cut short and learn more about the continued fight to preserve the memory and meaning of Emmett Till’s legacy.
Celebrating the Legacy of Malcolm X
Descendant Series March 2024
On March 7, 2024, in partnership with the King County Library System and Seattle Opera, we hosted an inspiring evening with Ilyasah Shabazz, daughter of civil rights icon Malcolm X, also known as Malik el-Shabazz held at the Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center.
We listened as she brought Malcolm X’s narrative to life, weaving together her personal insights behind his biography and underscoring the enduring power of his message. The talk provided a rare opportunity to connect with history and be inspired to continue the work of Malcolm X to resist oppression, challenge injustice, and fight for social and political equality.
Remembering Jacqueline Hammer Flakes
The Descendants Series on March 16th 2023, featured Jacqueline Hamer Flakes, the daughter of Fannie Lou Hamer. We spoke with Jacqueline Hamer Flakes about the legacy of her mother and how we can continue the fight of Fannie Lou Hamer today. It was a powerful, insightful and moving discussion that reminded all of us of the importance of the Descendants Series and carrying on a legacy.
Following a battle with breast cancer, Jacqueline joined the ancestors on March 27, 2023, at the age of 56 in her and her mother’s hometown of Ruleville, Mississippi. We are so grateful to have been graced with Jacqueline’s presence and hear her words of wisdom during our Descendants Series with moderator Erica Williams. Jacqueline's light and kindness will be missed and we are abundantly thankful to have had an opportunity to spend time with her.
When you discover who you are and the legacy from which you come, it creates a deep sense of self and belonging.
NAAM’s Descendants Series launched in October 2019 with Michelle Duster, the great-granddaughter of Ida B. Wells. The Descendants Series continued in February 2020 with the descendants of enslaved freedom fighters: Dred Scott, Solomon Northup, William Grimes, Venture Smith, Lewis Clarke, and Boyereau Brinch. In May 2021, NAAM also hosted the daughter of Malcolm X and in November 2021 we hosted the son of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Take a look back at some of the previous Descendant Series we have hosted over the years to honor the legacy of those who came before us.
PREVIOUS DESCENDANT SERIES
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NAAM's Descendant Series: Nat Turner | Bruce Turner
Bruce Turner was born in Southampton County, VA in the town of Drewyville. Bruce spent most of his childhood living in Southampton County whereby he received an abundance of information on the Nat Turner legend from his family.
Since the mid 1990s, Bruce has devoted serious research and investigation into the history of Nat Turner, and the Southampton Slave Insurrection of 1831. He has given particular attention to developing a profile of Nat Turner as a man, a preacher, an intellectual, and a liberating rebel.
NAAM hosted the descendant of Nat Turner in November 2022.
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NAAM's Descendants Series: Madam CJ Walker | A'Lelia Bundles
A’Lelia Bundles is an engaging public speaker and skilled journalist, who brings warmth, intelligence, humor, and a strong grasp of current events and history to her presentations. Bundle’s fifth book, The Joy Goddess of Harlem: A’Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance, a biography of her great-grandmother, whose parties, arts patronage, and international travels helped define that era. On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker – a New York Times Notable Book about her entrepreneurial great-great-grandmother – is the inspiration for Self Made, the fictional four-part Netflix series starring Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer that premiered in March 2020.
NAAM hosted the descendant of Madam C.J. Walker in March 2021.
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NAAM's Descendants Series: W.E.B. DuBois | Arthur McFarlane, II
The grandson of W.E.B. DuBois, Dr. Arthur McFarlane, II holds a PhD in social psychology and is currently a Population Health Analyst at Children’s Hospital of Colorado, where he works to understand how data can be used to reveal injustices in public health. W.E.B. Du Bois was one of the most influential African American scholars, writers, and thinkers on race in the late 19th and early 20th century; his contributions remain critical to discussions on civil rights today. Among a lifetime of achievements, Du Bois was the first African American to receive a PhD from Harvard in 1895, the author of the seminal book The Souls of Black Folk, and one of the original founders of the NAACP.
NAAM hosted the descendant of W.E.B. DuBois in August 2021.
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NAAM's Descendants Series: Harriet Tubman | Tina Wyatt
Ernestine “Tina” Martin Wyatt, a nurse, educator, and artist who grew up in Buffalo, New York, is Tubman’s great-great-great-grandniece. Wyatt has always known she was related to Tubman. Her great-great-grandmother, Ann Marie Stewart, was the daughter of Soph, one of Tubman’s sisters who was sold away, we think to Georgia. Wyatt’s family often visited Auburn, New York, where Tubman owned land and died in 1913 around age 90. Here great great grandmother remembered that Aunt Harriet ran a laundry service and delivered it in a wagon. Indeed, historians have learned that Tubman ran several businesses, among them a laundry and a restaurant during the Civil War, and taught other women entrepreneurial skills as well.
NAAM hosted the descendant of Harriet Tubman in October 2021.
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NAAM's Descendants Series: Frederick Douglass & Booker T. Washington | Kenneth Morris, Jr.
Kenneth B. Morris, Jr. descends from two of the most influential names in American history: he is the great-great-great-grandson of Frederick Douglass and the great-great-grandson of Booker T. Washington. His mother, Nettie Washington Douglass, is the daughter of Nettie Hancock Washington (granddaughter of Booker T. Washington) and Dr. Frederick Douglass III (great-grandson of Frederick Douglass).
NAAM hosted the descendant of Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington in April 2022.