I have helped people of all ethnic backgrounds to research their family history for over 25 years. However I have witnessed firsthand the frustration and disappointment of African-Americans when the research gets to the year of 1870, and for some, 1866, where they hit the predictable “brick wall.” You can’t go around it, get under it, or go through it, because there is no hope or help! Continue reading Frazine Taylor on the Beyond Kin Project →

We gravitate to genealogy by its promise to reveal our family’s story. In pursuing my own story, I have noticed with sympathy that my African American friends had a much harder time of it. I was encountering my own brick walls, but nothing compared to theirs. It was unfortunate, but it never crossed my mind that I could do anything about it. Continue reading Donna Baker on the Beyond Kin Project →