Sankofa bird; public domain image. "The “Sankofa” is a metaphorical symbol used by the Akan people of Ghana, generally depicted as a bird with its head turned backward taking an egg from its back. It expresses the importance of reaching back to knowledge gained in the past and bringing it into the present in order to make positive progress."  https://sankofa.org/about   Looking Back; Looking Forward Thoughtful week here. For many reasons, I've been looking back—and forward, and thinking deeply about both.  My term as president of the South King County Genealogical Society ends May 2025. If you are considering stepping up to ask the membership to entrust you with that responsibility, please contact me or another Board member for help to prepare you. Read about the duties of the President here .  Term Limits According to our Bylaws  Section 5.4.3: "No President or Vice President shall serve more than two consecutive terms in the same office." I want to choose how...

https://conference.ngsgenealogy.org/ Takeaways from the National Genealogical Society 2022 Conference NGS2022GEN Souvenirs This past week, I attended the NGS 2022 Conference, the first in-person event since 2019. Because everyone was vaccinated and masking was universal, I was comfortable attending. After hearing Andre Kearns' [1] keynote at the NGS Banquet Friday night, I am so proud to be an NGS Member, both personally and as Delegate for our Society. The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee [2] which Kearns chairs is doing the work necessary to come to terms with the exclusionary past of the NGS, and to begin instead to tell a far more complete story of our families' and nation's past. His story about searching his son's lineage back to 1619 and a free man of color was inspiring.  If Kearns could find those scarce, precious documents and prove that case, then there is hope for all of us researchers. If Harvard and Georgetown Universities can confront their p...