They say that history is written by the people in power. And for centuries in the Western world, that meant that stories by and about people descending from Africa were barely touched upon in the history books. The Digital Diaspora Family Reunion (DDFR) is trying to change that. A web-based multi-media project, the DDFR encourages people with African ancestry to submit family photos, along with stories, from their own attics and shoeboxes. The goal is to assemble a more complete picture of African American life and diasporic life in particular, as well as American life in general. The DDFR is the brainchild of Thomas Allen Harris, a documentary filmmaker, who joins us to talk about the project.
Bernice Alexander Bennett is a participant in the project. Through the DDFR, she’s shared her family photos and story on our blog and with a global online community. She joins us from Silver Spring, Maryland.
Add your photos here.
Thomas Allen-Harris tells us more about the project, and we hear one listener talk about the photo he sent us.
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