About the Book

Embracing Your Past to Empower Your Future features four families whose loved ones were enslaved. Readers will learn about Pollee and Rose Allen who survived the Clotilda, the last slave ship to illegally enter the United States. They went on to co-found Africatown near Mobile, Alabama. The book also includes the Madison family of Montpelier, as well as the Brooks family of Maryland and Mount Vernon, which is the only African American family to produce three generals in two generations. This publication is filled with never-before-seen historical documents and photos.

Also included in this book are the Quanders, one of the nation’s oldest and consistently documented Black families. The Quanders have two family trees, the result of two brothers kidnapped in Ghana in the 1600s who were sold to two different enslavers. The first family tree has its roots in Virginia (including Mount Vernon), while the second family tree is rooted in Maryland. The Quander family has a long history of civil rights activists, educators, military, and faith leaders.

This new publication is a nonprofit book where all author royalties go to the "Each One, Teach One" book stipend. All descendants of the enslaved attending college can apply for monies to go towards college books. "Each One, Teach One" is a proverb that dates back to the days of slavery. If an enslaved person learned how to read, write, or learn arithmetic. They needed to pass on that knowledge for they knew education was key to their future success.