Our cousins didn't have the luxury of a washer and dryer. They didn't have laundry soap and bleach. They didn't even have running water much less a hot water heater.  The laundry still had to be done. Our cousins took in laundry from the white folks to make some money in addition to doing their own. In the heat of summer or on the coldest winter day, our cousins had a long day of hard work just to have clean clothes on their back and a nickel in their pocket.

Sunday was a day of worship, dinner and family. When nothing was open except the front door of the family home.

Kitchen table history is rich with warmth, love and strength. It develops connection to family we never met, and yet know them so well

Short introduction of what to expect from These Cousins of Ours.

Keeping our history alive to keep us inspired.

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From the book Light of the August Moon;

It was 1961. Baby boomers were coming of age. Sit-ins had spread across the country. People, black and white, young and old, catholic and Jewish and protestant were of one accord to confront American injustice and evil. Together, they faced torture and death in the struggle to integrate interstate travel. Access to public transportation for people of color in any form came with a long and hard fight. In honor of the Freedom Riders.

From the book Light of the August Moon;

The Mississippi River flooded nearly one third of the country in the spring of 1927. Already impoverished, our cousins endured unconscionable cruelty and danger trying to survive the water, mosquitos, hunger, hopelessness and of course racism. Promises were made for relief and then broken. The northern migration gained a few more passengers after the water receded in a desperate search to escape southern tyranny.

Overnight the world changed. Almost everything we thought we were, thought we had, thought we could do was no longer true. There was no mitigating interim to get it together. No, we went Cold Turkey. 

The Great equalizer 

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From the book Light of the August Moon;

The Northern Migration was filled with hopes of having a better life. The desperate escape from gripping poverty in the south meant tough truckin to find decent housing and a decent job. While our cousins were squeezed into segregated neighborhoods, they were also less than welcomed by African Americans who preceded them in the migration. Urbane and rural cultures clashed.

 The full video can be viewed on youtube.

From the book Light of the August Moon;

As if enduring the Great Depression wasn't bad enough, now there were wars to fight on both sides of the ocean. Panic stricken people couldn't go to the store and buy up everything. Families were issued Ration Coupons based on the size of the family so everybody had something and few went without. The war, the music, the racism, left and indelible mark on the psyche of our ancestors, our cousins.

Full video on you tube. Follow terriniteowl on Instagram. Light of the August Moon available on lulu.com

The country was flooded with consumer goods and economic success. People enjoyed the luxury of cars, electricity, radio and entertainment. Then the bottom fell out. Desperate times infected every corner of the country and the world. Strength and heartache behind the struggles of the 1930s.

From the book Light of the August Moon;

We cannot afford to become ahistorical especially during treacherous times. People, men and women, black and white, north and south fought for groundbreaking freedom we consider normal today. The residue from the past lingers as the struggle for equality and meeting basic human needs with some level of decency affect us all. 

Full video available on youtube.