Black Belt African American Genealogical & Historical Society, Inc.

About BBAAGHS

alabama african american
heritage book

submit your story

The Alabama African American Heritage Book is now open for submissions of your family stories and available for pre-orders. Go here for information and details. The deadline for submitting stories is January 31, 2009.

The Heritage Book Committee meets on the first Monday of each month at 4:00 PM at First Baptist Church, 709 Martin Luther King, Jr. Street, Selma, AL. All are welcome.

WELCOME

The Black Belt African American Genealogical & Historical Society, Inc. ("BBAAGHS") welcomes you to our home on the Internet.

BBAAGHS is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study and exchange of information and ideas among people interested in African American genealogy, family history and historic preservation in the twelve counties of Alabama's Black Belt Region--Bullock, Choctaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Perry, Pickens, Sumter and Wilcox.

We hold meetings, workshops and seminars and present speakers on a wide range of topics of interest to our membership and to the general public.

BBAAGHS' Board of Directors meets on the 3rd Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM at the Selma-Dallas County Public Library, 1103 Selma Ave., Selma AL. Programs are held periodically in Selma and in other locations throughout the Black Belt Region.

BBAAGHS is a member of the Federation of Genealogical Societies and the Alabama Cemetery Preservation Alliance.

THE MEANING OF SANKOFA

"se wo were fi na wosan kofa a yenki"

The BBAAGHS logo incorporates the Adinkra symbol Sankofa which literally means, "return and get it". It is also translated from the Akan language as:

We must go back and reclaim our past so that we can move forward; so we understand why and how we came to be who we are today
We must return to our past in order to move forward
No matter how far away we travel we must always return home

Sankofa teaches us that we must go back to our roots in order to move forward. That is, we should reach back and gather the best of what our past has to teach us, so that we can achieve our full potential as we move forward. Whatever we have lost, forgotten, forgone or been stripped of, can be reclaimed, revived, preserved and perpetuated.

Photo Gallery
[click photos to enlarge]

BBAI Grant Ceremony

Arzula Johnson presents a Black Belt Community Foundation Arts Initiative Grant to (L. to R.) Elvin Lang, Vice President, Jo Ann Smith, Secretary, B.J. Smothers, President, Phyllis Armstrong, Historian on May 31, 2008

2008 Conference

Louretta Wimberly (center) shares her Preservation Award with JoAnn Smith and Lovie Warren

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