[Trigger Warning: Episode contains details about the slave trade]

Do you know your family origin story? After my recent trip to Ghana, the home of my ancestors, I can speak from personal experience when I say there is so much power in understanding your roots.

I’ve always felt a bit like an adopted child in America; not fully American, but not entirely African, either. Going to Ghana and spending time at the sites where, for hundreds of years, my ancestors were held captive and sold as enslaved people gave me a deeper understanding of the trauma that they went through and how much of a miracle it is that I get to live the life I do.

It also helped me see that my family's origin story is not all about suffering, and there is so much more to African history than the slave trade. We’ve come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.

I hope you enjoy this deeply personal episode and that it encourages you to look into the origin story of your own family.