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Many Rivers to Cross
African-American history has played an integral role in the shaping of politics, economics, and culture in the United States. Growing up, how did you learn about the accomplishments and struggles of African Americans? Were you in a classroom? Reading a book? Talking with relatives or friends? How has your understanding or knowledge of African-American history changed and/or developed over time? What do you think is the most effective way to pass along this rich and growing history to future generations?

Diane Blackmon – Bailey

Lost History Hunter
Diane Blackmon-Bailey

This story begins with my quest to trace my family ancestry. All my life I had asked questions of my father, but very little information was known. My father the ninth of twelve children born to James and Jimmie Blackmon of Tyler County, “Moss Hill,” Texas. May 20, 1919 in a small town on a big farm in eastern Texas, owned by my grandfather, James Blackmon. Purchased in 1906 from James Barclay ( America’s first “official” Indian Agent), appointed by President of Texas – Sam Houston.
“Were did we get all the land” I would ask growing up well into adulthood. “I don’t know. It was there when I was born” explained my father. This question would haunt me through out my lifetime, and as this story unfolds you will understand why. In 2005, I first heard of something called DNA testing! Could the mystery of our family of our family ancestry soon be solved? I wondered. I ordered a DNA kit had my dad swab his cheeks as instructed, placed it in a sealed vial, and mailed it back.
What unfolds, plays like fiction, but than they say most fiction is based on fact. And here are the facts. A story that even Hollywood could not have imagined. The most amazing, exciting, action-adventure saga and love story ever not told. A daring, heroic journey that spans from Sub-Saharan Africa, Eurasia, Europe, Wales, North and South America. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined the journey and untold family history lesson I was about to embark upon. What I discovered was a royal bloodline tracing back to the beginning of mankind on four or more continents. A Pacific Ocean migration route, by sea, Palo-Americans ( first people of the Americas), Egypt’s Ramesses lll, Shang and Xi Dynasties, President Barak Obama and more. Whoa!
My father David Blackmon, a 68+ year resident of Vallejo CA. Born in Tyler County, Woodville, Texas in 1919 has lived his entire 94 years not knowing his true cultural identify. His father and mother James and Jimmie Blackmon, raised twelve kids, on a 127 acre farmed purchased in 1906, where they were all born.
When I started my fathers DNA journey I was looking for our African American, European roots, slave descendants and African ancestral motherland. It was assumed we had Indian or European bloodlines, but we did not know for sure. Imagine my surprise to find out my father has a bloodline dating back to the first Americans, Ghana, Ethiopia, Eurasia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Western Europe and North and South America. Culture shock! It was the first time, I knew all African Americans were not slaves, as taught is world history books. Nor were we all decendents of what i thought were “Free Negros” or African women and white slave owners. Who knew!
Recent DNA and archeological evidence has discovered that, civilization is much older than anyone has imagined and much more diverse and technologically advance than currently being taught. Recent discoveries show, the first people in India, China, Australia, Melanesia, Papua-New Guinea, Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, North and South America were Black People of African Origins.
Haplogroup: E1b1, R1b, L2

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