there's no shame in what happened to our ppl. at least not for US. at least not for ME, i should say. i have no problem thinking of Black (capital B) history beginning w/slavery. b/c if not for slavery we'd just be black (lowercase b) and would have a closer identity w/various ppls in Africa. we still have that connection but when we were separated from Africa we became another ppl. we became Black. we became Us. and that we survived as well as we have is a testament to our strength. i think we do our ancestors a great disservice if we erase that history. our ppl fought HARD to survive so you and i could be where we are today. they could've given up - they didn't. and we dishonor them if we forget all that they went through to get us here. i won't do it.

you can feel how you feel and that's fine. i'm glad we don't all agree w/you though. b/c our history needs to be preserved. you don't have to participate in that preservation - it ain't for everyone. but don't get in the way either.