Just in time for Black History Month, PBS aired “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution.” The documentary shed light on the Panther’s history, its enigmatic leaders, and the purpose behind the movement, removing the shroud of mystery that surrounded the party. Panther co-founder Bobby Seale said, “There is an entire generation of young people who know nothing about how viciously the FBI attacked the Black Panther Party, and why.” Young, revolutionary, and determined to make a change, the Black Panthers made history.
Learning more about the Black Panther Party has inspired us all to delve a little deeper into our own history. Eva Greene Wilson is the Editor and owner of SocaMom.com, an award winning website for Caribbean parents. Like me, she’s a first generation Trinidadian-American. Determined to learn more about where her own family fit into Black History Month, Eva sat down with her father to learn about the moments that matter.
MyMommyVents: What inspired you to create this project?
Eva Greene Wilson: I was approached by AT&T to work with them on their 28 Days initiative, and to investigate the moments in my family history that mattered to me. When I thought about how I would share that with my readers, I thought about why they come to the site. Most of my visitors are recent immigrants to the US, Canada, or the UK, or have parents or grandparents from the Caribbean and are first generation citizens. For us, one of the major moments that mattered, was when the decision was made to leave the Caribbean to live and work in another country. The sum total of the moments that mattered in my dad’s life made the moments that matter in my life possible. I felt like it was a concept that my readers could identify with, and that would inspire them to go on their own journey to find out what moments in their family had a major impact on black history as it relates to their lives.
MyMommyVents: What have you learned about your family as a result?
Eva Greene Wilson: As a result of working on this project, I learned that a decision that seems concrete and well thought out now, when you are looking back at it 30, 40, even 50 years later, and you think about that person’s state of mind at that time, you can see that sometimes it was a flip of a coin that changed the course of your life and generations to come. I never considered that my dad didn’t know what he wanted to be. He is an amazing attorney. I remember watching him in court and being mesmerized by his command of the English language. In talking to him, I realized that he was just as clueless about what to do next as a young man who had recently graduated from college as any other person may be. It was fascinating to see my father as not only my dad and an attorney, but also as a real person.
MyMommyVents: How can other moms follow your lead and do something with their own families?
Eva Greene Wilson: I would encourage other moms to reach out to their parents and ask them if they can talk to them and record their version of events in their lives. In your spare time, you can compare and contrast their recollections with the memories of others, create a timeline, and match photos and newspaper clippings to those memories. It is really amazing to see what was going on in your family in comparison to what was going on in the country or in the rest of the world. It can be time consuming, and motherhood is a busy job, I would get the children involved in any library research, have them help match up names, nicknames, and dates, and also let them engage in age appropriate discussions about historical and family events that were happening at that time.
MyMommyVents: What impact does Black History Moth have on you, as a first generation American?
Eva Greene Wilson: My family history here in America is just over 50 years. My parents came to this country in the middle of the mayhem of the Civil Rights era. My dad arrived the year Malcolm X was assassinated, and hadn’t even graduated from Undergraduate school before Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and the city that he now called home was engulfed in flames in protest. I didn’t go to schools where Civil Rights or black history was discussed beyond slavery, and my parents’ frame of reference was history in Trinidad and Tobago, so Black History Month is great for me as far as education. While the focus is on the history of Blacks in America, I feel a connection because this is my African American husband’s history, my children’s legacy, and the story of people who look like me who came from the continent my ancestors came from. I am extremely proud to celebrate the accomplishments of Black American inventors, scientists, and authors. I am equally as proud to celebrate Caribbean people like Stokely Carmichael from Trinidad and Marcus Garvey of Jamaica, and Caribbean American people like General Colin Powell who have changed the social and political fabric of the country, and made a lasting impact on the world.
Eva’s learning more about her family’s legacy and teaching the next generation. In celebration of Black History Month, Eva and other individuals are sharing their personal histories on the web and on social media. Visit AT&T’s website to learn more about the achievements of African Americans, and follow Eva’s story on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram. Share your family’s history by using the hashtag #att28days, and you could win a tech makeover prize pack of Samsung products from AT&T 28 Days.
All pictures couresty of Eva Greene Wilson and Socamom.com.
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