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Hi, I'm Dana.
Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you leave this site feeling inspired to learn Black history, make a difference, and tell others all about it.
Who am I?
I'd say I'm your typical American that grew up without hearing much about the countless contributions of African Americans. Ones that helped make this nation both rich and powerful.
I was born in California, but due to the military, I moved around a lot as a kid. While growing up, I went to several schools where I was put in the following scenarios...
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I was the only Black kid in my class
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Everyone in my class was Black
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My class was multicultural.
Each experience had a huge impact on me, but none caused me to want to learn about Black history. It was the 1980's and 90's and most lessons in school (on that topic) focused on slavery or the civil rights movement, which only made me feel shame. Black people weren't really mentioned any other times in history class. That gap in history (between slavery and the civil rights movement) actually
used to make me wonder where all the Black people disappeared to, but I was too shy to ask. It's like we didn't exist during a huge part of history.
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Where were the stories of Black businesses and professionals?
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Where were the stories of Black people living in community with each other or anybody for that matter?
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Did we ever do anything worth celebrating besides fighting for our dignity and basic human rights?
I silently wrestled with these questions, but it would be years before I got my answers.
Why am I doing this?
Pretty early on in my marriage, my husband started a tradition of looking for Black history sites to visit while we were on vacation. They weren't always easy to find because there was no master list or guide to help us.
Then I had the idea of creating a solution myself. I thought there might be others out there (looking for something similar) so I created this site to help us all.
What's my plan?
I plan to learn all I can about Black American history by reading books, watching documentaries, searching online resources, and talking to people who have real-life experiences that will educate us and enrich our lives.
I've already been doing all these things, but now I'll be sharing what I discover with you. Hopefully you'll be just as excited as I am to ​
gain the knowledge that we've been missing. I've learned that if you live in the USA, you don't have to go far from home to discover places where Black history was made. The footprints of our ancestors are everywhere, we just have to uncover them.
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Want to help me out? Please spread the word about this site, and send me your questions and helpful comments.