Graceful Leadership in Early Childhood Education by Ann McClain Terrell

Author:Ann McClain Terrell
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781605545745
Publisher: Redleaf Press
Published: 2018-07-04T00:00:00+00:00

Truth Matters

As I began to write this book, I had heard and believed one version of my family history, and halfway through writing it, I discovered another chapter of my family history that smacked me right in the face. As an African American woman, I understand our history in this country and have always understood that there were probably slave–slaveholder relationships in my family, as both sides of my family were very light-skinned Black people. However, I have had a couple of recent experiences that unsettled me, and I came face-to-face with the painful truth of the maternal side of my family.

Ancestry.com offered their DNA test at a reduced price for Christmas sales, and I purchased one. I was hoping to find out where in Africa my roots were. I spit in the tube, sent off the test, and waited for what seemed like months. Finally the email came that my results were ready. I went online and was happy to discover that I am 67 percent African, mostly Ghanaian and Nigerian. However, I was surprised to find out, or have it confirmed, that I have 32 percent European ancestry, with 28 percent of that being from Great Britain. When my cousin Martha Dorsey used to talk about how she wanted to do the DNA test to find out where in Africa we were from, I used to jokingly tell her that she should know that it would be traced back to Europe somewhere, given the family’s oral history and looks. However, I was not prepared for 32 percent!

Ancestry.com also connects you to people you could possibly be related to based on your test results. One of my connections was to the family of Sonja Pierce. She and I connected, and it turns out I’m related to her husband and his side of the family, the Bells. Sonja and I communicated via email and phone, and in person one day when I was in Chicago. Sonja had been researching her husband’s family tree for years. She shared with me pictures of relatives I had not seen before, including one of Caleb Bell, who turned out to be the slave owner that impregnated my great-great-great-grandmother, Isabella Leavell, his slave. This relationship produced Luther Bell, my great-great-grandfather. It is one thing to intellectually know of your ancestor’s pain, but to come face-to-face with the truth takes an emotional toll on your soul. I started to realize that I really didn’t know who I was. However, does this change who I am fundamentally?

My given name is Ann McClain Terrell. I always believed that Ann is after my paternal great-grandmother, Annie Bell Terrell, affectionately known as “Little Mama” because she was this petite woman. However, Ann could very well be after Ann McLean (McClain), my maternal great-great-great-grandmother. I was the first grandchild and great-grandchild on my father’s side of the family, and so I learned at a very early age that I was special, though not spoiled. The people on my father’s side of the family tree were farmers of tobacco, chickens, and hogs.

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