From These Roots
My Fight with Harvard to Reclaim My Legacy
Tamara Lanier
- One
- woman’s
- unrelenting
- mission
- to
- reclaim
- her
- ancestors’
- history
- and
- honor
- their
- lineage
- pits
- her
- against
- one
- of
- the
- country’s
- most
- powerful
- institutions:
- Harvard
- UniversityTamara
- Lanier
- grew
- up
- listening
- to
- her
- mother’s
- stories
- about
- her
- ancestors.
- As
- Black
- Americans
- descended
- from
- enslaved
- people
- brought
- to
- America,
- they
- knew
- all
- too
- well
- how
- fragile
- the
- tapestry
- of
- a
- lineage
- could
- be.
- As
- her
- mother’s
- health
- declined,
- she
- pushed
- her
- daughter
- to
- dig
- into
- those
- stories.
- "Tell
- them
- about
- Papa
- Renty,"
- she
- would
- say.
- It
- was
- her
- mother’s
- last
- wish.Thus
- begins
- one
- woman’s
- remarkable
- commitment
- to
- document
- that
- story.
- Her
- discovery
- of
- a
- nineteenth-century
- daguerreotype
- at
- Harvard
- University’s
- Peabody
- Museum
- of
- Archaeology
- and
- Ethnology,
- one
- of
- the
- first-ever
- photos
- of
- enslaved
- people
- from
- Africa,
- reveals
- a
- dark-skinned
- man
- with
- short-cropped
- silver
- hair
- and
- chiseled
- cheekbones.
- The
- information
- read
- “Renty,
- Congo.”
- All
- at
- once,
- Lanier
- knew
- she
- was
- staring
- at
- the
- ancestor
- her
- mother
- told
- her
- so
- much
- about—Papa
- Renty.In
- a
- compelling
- account
- covering
- more
- than
- a
- decade
- of
- her
- own
- research,
- Lanier
- takes
- us
- on
- her
- quest
- to
- prove
- her
- genealogical
- bloodline
- to
- Papa
- Renty’s
- that
- pits
- her
- in
- a
- legal
- battle
- against
- Harvard
- and
- its
- army
- of
- lawyers.
- The
- question
- is,
- who
- has
- claim
- to
- the
- stories,
- artifacts,
- and
- remnants
- of
- America’s
- stained
- history—the
- institutions
- who
- acquired
- and
- housed
- them
- for
- generations,
- or
- the
- descendants
- who
- have
- survived?From
- These
- Roots
- is
- not
- only
- a
- historical
- record
- of
- one
- woman’s
- lineage
- but
- a
- call
- to
- justice
- that
- fights
- for
- all
- those
- demanding
- to
- reclaim,
- honor,
- and
- lay
- to
- rest
- the
- remains
- of
- mishandled
- lives
- and memories.
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