The dark side of the Great Migration

#ancestry #louisiana #creole #findingyourroots #heritage #africanamerican #familyhistory
The Great Migration: a massive movement where African American families, including my own, ventured across state lines in search of new opportunities. This journey wasn't just geographical; it involved crossing the deeply entrenched color lines of American society. Through the lens of my family's experiences, this video uncovers how they navigated a nation divided by race, confronting and challenging the racial barriers of their time.
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Watch the Episode 1 that started the whole journey:
• In 1930, our ethnicity...
Watch Episode 2 here:
• Our ancestry was hidde...
Watch Episode 3 here:
• I learned why my famil...
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Come join me on a new docu-series that explores identity, racial tensions in the South during the 20th century, and the unique experiences of those who historically called Louisiana home.
My name is Danielle Romero, and all my life, I have romanticized Louisiana.
Growing up in New York, it represented a place where I could step back the sepia-toned life of my great grandmother, Lola Perot, who died before I was born.
Now, it was time to go back to Louisiana--although I had no idea what the truth would be or what questions to ask---who was Lola really? Who were we?
Amazon links are affiliate links. If buy something through these links, we may earn affiliate commission. Thank you for supporting this project!

[@nytn]

Let me know what you think! Send me a coffee!: ko-fi.com/nytn13#linkModal

[@Minnie_Robbie]

The link to buy you a coffee does not work! the wheel keeps spinning and the page does not open. Will try later!

[@pariahnation1284]

return to your mother landand removethe board from. Its eye before you ask America to remove the spec in its eye. right? Talk about africa and its freedom.

[@Minnie_Robbie]

@@nytn I was trying to buy you a coffee!! And make a donation to your channel because I love your work so much. I tried to but the link wasn’t working. I didn’t mean anything bad. Maybe a misunderstanding?

[@nytn]

oh gosh that was not to you!! Im sorry. Someone saying something mean to me :( sometimes I ignore but not all the time. I appreciate you@@Minnie_Robbie

[@basedunicorn896]

Does the coffee go to the laptop or your cup. I too understand the need of coffee the headaches are unreal. If it goes to your cup I'll donate for shizzle. Just let us know. I'll probably donate towards the laptop too but I wanna make sure you get that caffeine lol😅

[@analisamendmentblog]

My family was part of the Great Migration. My father's mom was from the islands off South Carolina and moved to Boston circa 1920's I think. My father and I were born in Boston. On my mom's side, my great-grandmother moved from Virginia to Boston, circa 1890s. My grandmother and mother were born in Boston. It's interesting to me that my family has found that when we tell people how many generations we've been here, some people don't believe us. They don't understand the history. My father told me that his mom left South Carolina after she saw a lynching - a man being quartered. So when African Americans were migrating, it wasn't just because they wanted more opportunity. They were fleeing for their lives. They had a "well-founded fear of persecution" which is the legal standard for seeking asylum in this country. Basically they were refugees fleeing for their lives, just in the same country.

[@nytn]

Such a chilling history. Thank you for adding to this conversation! I hadnt though about it like being refugees but you are 100% right

[@dirkdillary4925]

All Facts! The "American Colored" Folks were Migrating because their towns, cities and their Political Figures were ACTIVILY being MASSACRED, DROWNED, and BURNED! Also, remember that the American Colored Folks were Running the Republican Party of the South during the 1800s in Congress! See Below and look at the years! Colored/Negro Led Republican Cities Massacred! WILMINGTON, NC Massacre of 1898 CAMILLA, GA MASSACRE 1868 COLFAX, LA MASSACRE 1873 THE SOUTH CAROLINA CIVIL DISTURBANCES OF 1876 HAMBURG, SC MASSACRE 1876 NEW ORLEANS MASSACRE OF 1866 CLINTON, MS MASSACRE 1875 EUTAW, AL MASSACRE 1870 St. Bernard Parish, LA Massacre 1868 Opelousas, LA Massacre 1868 Kirk-Holden war 1868 Meridian, MS Massacre 1871 Vicksburg, MS Massacre 1874 Coushatta Massacre 1874 Clinton, MS Massacre 1875 Hamburg, SC Massacre 1876 Ellenton Massacre 1875 (Aiken,SC) Red Summers (1919) Cincinnati riots of 1829 Cincinnati riots of 1841 Atlanta Massacre of 1906 New York anti-abolitionist riots (1834) Snow Riot Washington, DC 1835 Cincinnati Massacre of 1836 Detroit, MI Massacre of 1863 New York City draft riots 1863 Memphis, TN Massacre 1866 Thibodaux, LA Massacre 1876 Phoenix Election Riot 1898 (Greenwood County, SC) Newburg, NY Race Riot 1899 Sour Lake, TX Massacre 1903 Argent Race Riots 1906 (Little Rock, AR) Springfield, IL Massacre 1908 Slocum, TX Massacre 1910 Lynching and Racial Expulsion Forsyth, GA 1912 East St. Louis, IL Massacres 1917 Ocoee, FL Massacre 1920 Tulsa, OK Massacre 1921 Rosewood, FL Massacre 1923 Blanford, Indiana Massacre 1923 Submerged Towns: In Alabama you have the all Colored/Negro towns of Benson, Kowaliga, Sousana that we were told were established in the late 1800s were all submerged under Lake Martin. Henry and McKee Islands, AL are submerged under Lake Guntersville. In Georgia you have the all black town of Oscarville that is submerged under Lake Lanier. Redford, MT - Submerged Under Lake Koocanusa - Nagos, MT - Submerged Under Lake Koocanusa Dansbury CT - City of Jerusalem The Great Flood Of Mississippi 1927 Free Negros were placed in RED CROSS CONCENTRATION CAMPS!! Yale University wrote an article about it you can look up titled “THE RED CROSS IS NOT ALL RIGHT!” HERBERT HOOVER’S CONCENTRATION CAMP COVER-UP IN THE 1927 MISSISSIPPI FLOOD!!

[@anticssmantics8446]

they don't want to understand

[@Ama94947]

Wow... You can USA almost see as one continent on their own..

[@patriciabennett6465]

Yes, please tell it like it was . People don’t even think it was easy for us. My great grandfather left Georgia in the early 1900’s because of the lynching and massacring of black people, burning and buring towns of black people when they began to refuse to be taken advantage of by whites. Let’s get this straight. That’s the main reason that catapulted The Great Migration. My great grandmother refused leave because she was the youngest girl in her family and she stayed to take care of her sick and dying parents . My grandfather first went to Cleveland with relatives and then moved on to Philadelphia, PA. He came back and get my uncle but my great grandmother wouldn’t let him take my grandmother. He only went back when his parents died, but he supported the family as best he could from afar. Eventually my grandmother who was married and had my mom,and aunt later came to Philly and married . My uncle stayed in GA and we always went down home via the Green Book situation . Let me say my great grandmother eventually came to Philly, but she would go back and forth to manage her very large family that stayed in Georgia. I must say THANK FATHER GOD for Grandpa Rufus and Grandma Katie and all my ancestors from my Dad’s side that had a similar plight. Their families are huge in PA, NJ,NY, DE, MD and all over the USA because of The Great Migration. We have to give GOD ALL THE GLORY for giving our ancestors a chance to get out of a bad situation and thrive . It was only because of HIM knowing we had a right to survive in a place where freedom came not necessarily sooner but eventually. Might l add our determination as Black People in deep rooted in familial love of each other no matter who wants to divide us. We have determination and self preservation just like every other race of people. We will not let anyone take it away not when GOD’S given it to US ever. PEACE,LOVE AND HAPPINESS!🙏🏽

[@pamela2761]

My Great Grandmother & her 7 sisters & their families all migrated from Mississippi to Chicago in 1947. And the stories they would tell about that journey & transition from Mississippi to Chicago were mind blowing. But they always would say at least in the South you KNEW your enemies, in Chicago, folk would smile in your face while plotting against you.

[@nytn]

I wish I could sit down and ask them some of those stories!

[@pamela2761]

@nytn , they have all passed on now including my Mother, who was 4 yrs old when they migrated.

[@beaujac311]

pamela2761:. I hear you. My mother said that she went up north from Georgia to visit some of her relatives up in Philadelphia in the 1950's. She said that they went to a restaurant and waited to be served. She said that they waited and waited and no one came to take their order, so they got up and left. She said that she was humiliated. She said that in Georgia they had signs up letting you know that they did not serve black people but up there they had no signs nor did they ever say that they would not serve you. They just did not serve you. She said that she preferred knowing that they would not serve you instead of you thinking that they will serve and sitting there wasting your time and being humiliated.

[@pamela2761]

@@beaujac311, hidden dislike & disrespect with smiles.

[@vanessapete1091]

​@@pamela2761Those are the worst kind. I'd rather know so that I can act accordingly.

[@zigm7420]

My great-grandmother migrated and crossed the color line during the Great Migration. She was different, though, since she migrated from Wyoming back to Georgia. Her father was a Buffalo Soldier who ended up out West because that’s where he mustered out. She ended up moving to Georgia in the early 1900s and claiming an identity as a “Blackfoot Indian”. I never understood why she would do this until looking deeper in Wyoming history - she moved as violence against Black people was rising greatly in the area she lived, so she, too, migrated to escape danger and discrimination.

[@LonnellRich]

Alot of people migrated south to FL from sc

[@viyahtastinyhousevillage2727]

My father and his mother migrated from New Orleans to Chicago in 1933. He lived there all his life until his death in 2019 at the age of 95 years old. I wrote a book about his life, which included his stories about living in the Jim Crow south til the age of 9 when they left. Glad to see you discussing this significant event.

[@nytn]

So beautiful that you did that. I’m amazed! You should leave the title of the book here

[@sandrasmith7091]

I appreciate how you've searched for Lola's reasons and the sacrifices she made to accomplish her dreams for the future of her family. ❤

[@evaabdullahi5240]

My parents moved from Kentucky headed to Detroit in 1939. But, my mom had family who’d migrated to Ohio in the early 1900’s, so in 1939 she ended up staying in Ohio. She said she was never going down south and didn’t until 1974 she went to Atlanta. Moms Mabley,a famous African American comedian, use to warn black folks who’d made it north this way: “Yeah, the Greyhound it’ll take you down there, but the bloodhound’s will run you back.”

[@nytn]

whoa, that gave me chills to read

[@hereforit2347]

My African American family is from New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut since they were colonies. Some came from the Caribbean: St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad, and Barbados. Some I know for a fact we’re slaves. People forget this whole nation had slavery, North and South.

[@donaldlyons180]

My father is from Columbia SC, he moved to Philly. My mother was born in Philly but her mother my grandmother was born in Abbeville SC and came to Philly in 1935.. i was born in Philly

[@maranathasos3381]

I am profoundly comforted to hear your journey. I don’t feel so alone. You understand what soul-breaking pain is. I am in my sixties and just recently went through the same type of realization - that my DARK Irish family, although forced onto coffin ships, also ran away psychologically from Ireland, ran away from who they were, ran from what they looked like and ran from their language and culture. They stayed out of the sun , became hyper vigilant about speaking English correctly, kept a low profile, finding ways to live but never draw attention to themselves. But if our ancestors hadn’t made these choices, WE might not have gotten the chance to be here. They were white-knuckling to survive. So i bear my ancestral trauma with pride - i’m busy learning Irish to recover the most important things of my people - to break the curse of the English colonizers- i have promised my children this. ❤

[@elliejayjayusa]

I came across Dr. Marie Charles in these KZbin streets, she is delving into family crest, etc. of ancient Europeans, fyi.

[@elainegoad9777]

Peoples from ancient Turkey migrated (sailed) and made it to the land now called Ireland. These people had dark eyes and dark hair and became known as "black Irish". The influx of Scandanavians (Vikings) from about 300-1000 AD brought in fairer, lighter complexion people with red and light auburn hair, blue and green eyes. Then there, of course was some mixing of these peoples. Also, an Egyptian Princess, Scoti, has a burial grave in Ireland. Supposedly, Scoti married a Greek man and wasn't allowed to stay in Egypt so Scoti and her entrarage sailed and spent time in ancient Scotland ( named for Princess Scoti) and continued to the land now called Ireland. All these peoples mingled and became the Irish and their culture. Patrick, a Roman Catholic priest, came with the Romans (Romans were in England for about 300 years -200-300-400-500 AD) into Ireland and "drove out the snakes" (No Snakes in Ireland !) Patrick was involved in the Roman forced conversion to Christianity of the Irish Pagan Cultural Spirittual Beliefs ( the pagans were the snakes). With Roman Catholic priests, soldiers, and government officials, I'm sure there was mixing with the people. I think anyone these days could be 100% anything in their ancestral line. British persecution of the Irish to take the land forced many to flee to America and face more persecution for being Irish. Both Irish Gailic and Scottish Brogue was greatly influenced by the influx of the Scandanavians (Viking) who settled both lands and married into the existing populations. Scandanavains can be traced back to migrating from Germanic tribes as far back a 10,000 BC to what is now Sweden, Norway, Denmark, etc... The truth is we are all related within a few generations, all homo sapiens. I wish the bigots could stop their hate and racism. Learning history and our ancestry is much more interesting and worth sharing than putting energy into hating. Best Wishes !

[@stephanienwadieiiamhybasia]

My family is a part of this migration. Some left Louisiana to California and became “white passing “. They did return to their families in Louisiana if a close “loved one “ died. I once asked my grandmother, “who are those white women?”. She said, they are our cousins. They live in California. I don’t know about the ones who probably never came back. I get new DNA relatives who are white. ( who knows how many generations before we actually become identified as “something else?”. Economics and fear are powerful motivators for change. I don’t judge them. It is about survival and getting to “another level “. I’m sure it was a lot of sacrifices made. I heard that if you were “too dark”, they left you with relatives in the south. I remember going to a funeral in Louisiana and one of my cousins wanted to “keep my baby “because he was cute 🥰. “You can get yo baby sha, whatever you want him back “.

[@user-nc2bf9vx5y]

I now have a different view of Emmett Scott. He worked with Booker T. Washington for many years and even visited my old school in the early 1900s shortly after it was founded by the late Dr. James E. Shepard, who I admire a lot. The school is now called North Carolina Central University and is the school that many of my mom's family graduated from including myself and a wonderful cousin who is now working on her master's degree in voice at South Carolina State University. Young lady, you are doing a wonderful and brave job with your research on your family.

[@JustFluffyQuiltingYarnCrafts]

We are truly more similar than we are different across all races. If we were to stop a random person on any street and speak for 5 minutes, those similarities would come clear. Thank you Danielle, for keeping the discussion about our similarities and differences alive and making the discoveries of how random division by race can be. ❤

[@Minnie_Robbie]

This channel is so interesting. I can relate to Danielle's story so much. My great-grandfather was Sicilian and came to this country through Louisiana and ended up in Clarksville, MS.. His son, my grandfather hopped a train and ended up in NYC to later move to NJ where he married and raised his family. I have been embraced by my Italian cousins and this has lead to new family and relationships. I love to compare her Black great-grandmother to my Sicilian great-grandfather, these people are a part of us. *Sidebar, my grandfather was light-skinned but he could not pass! Lola would be so proud of you!!!!

[@nytn]

Im so glad you are here with me!

[@japeri171]

In most cases, migration north was necessary. A real matter of survival and security.

[@LynnT39]

My Grandparents migrated from Mississippi to Chicago. The racism was different because in the south Whites and Blacks lived near one another, (many due to Blacks were sharecroppers and lived on white’s property), but they didn’t want you to achieve anything, while Northern Whites didn’t want you to live around them. Both sides didn’t want you to surpass them. My Grandmother rarely visited Mississippi again only sometimes to visit family for a weekend, but she always told us she hated the south and would never want to return there to live ever. The racism was awful, they were poor, and they had to pick cotton for whites.

[@keisha4620]

Poignant ❤ Keep up the good work. I remember there was a PBS documentary called, "Slavery By Another Name". In the film, it describes laws that were passed that made it illegal, in some areas, for Black People to stand near a railroad track. They didn't want the labor to leave and jailed many.

[@EyeOfTheWatcher]

Also, some black people had to leave at night because the local government was blocking black people from leaving the area.

[@nytn]

I never heard of this! Whattt

[@nytn]

this is new to me, too. Oh man

[@keisha4620]

@@nytn kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5SmqaaCedKUaNEsi=5Qm9CFVCeenIP5ix

[@r.j.mayers529]

Great point! I actually borrowed that book from my local University Library, and read it - after listening to a radio podcast of the author : Douglas Blackmon on his promotional book tour visit to Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. *** I couldn’t sleep for days after reading that book! *Blackmon did a well documented, and; Herculean research job in uncovering - well preserved and detail records of the tacit approval of the U.S. Government’s role in preserving secret and “quasi-continuation of slavery conditions” across “selected key industries” in the South for the Economic benefit and recovery of the South, and the whole U.S. Economy after the Civil War, and it lasted for well into Civil Rights Era! - I hope the PBS Documentary did justice to Mr Blackmon’s work!

[@337Brian]

I'm from St. Mary Parish in Louisiana I heard of the great migration, but not many folks from area left and we thank the ones that did. We still have some of our country traditions, glad to learn of this subject

[@houseofmayim5557]

@nytn You are doing Ms. Lola a great justice! Whether you know it or not, you are her redemption story. Keep pushing. GOD bless

[@patrickdeady410]

You have such a poignant personal story! Yet there are those in this country today who would forbid you to tell it! Thanks for all of your work!!

[@nytn]

I think so many of us have these stories if we just realize they're there for us to uncover. I hope hearts and minds can be changed as we share them. Thank you for being here :)

[@beaujac311]

@@nytn I don't know if anyone has ever asked you this, but when growing up before you knew your great grandmothers story did any black people ever say to you that you looked black? When I look at you from certain angles I see black but for certain I see your Italian heritage.

[@nytn]

Yes, pretty frequently. Usually they'd ask if I was "mulatto" (.....). I think mostly in the summer. But to be fair people ask my dad questions all the time and he's Southern italian :D Im in my winter makeup right now LOL.@@beaujac311

[@beaujac311]

​@@nytn True you could have gotten those questions from both sides.

[@marciamartins1992]

I have her coloring, as far as I know, I'm white. I always resented those fill in the bubble questionares we got in school, always asking what is your race. I always felt like it was excuse to discriminate, because we were very integrated in the poor urban sections of New Jersey.

[@Ribcrickett]

I don’t know anything about my black ancestry but I do know some of my Native American ancestors. My 4x great grandfather’s entire family traveled the Trail of Tears except him as far as we’ve been able to find out. He passed as a teenager of a white couple who had lost a son the same age. I’ve also found a Census that has him as Mulatto. I have at least 3 great x grandmothers who were also Native American. My AncestryDNA has me at 1% Indigenous. One of my great grandmothers was full Creek. I found another on the Dawe’s Roll as part Cherokee. I am still researching but have taken a break the past year since my mom passed away. She and her 84 year old sister are the only ones of my family who truly enjoy hearing about my findings. A couple of my siblings have become more interested lately so I’m slowly getting back into it.

[@debismith6239]

Our maternal grandmother's ancestors were supposed to have come over Trail of Tears, I believe the most northern route, according to the paper trail but both of my sister's ancestry dna results so far does not show any native american. It has confirmed so paper trails. It was said she did not want to admit to her Native heritage living in KS, Ok and TX from 1894 to 1976. I have been following Danielle's channel since Finding Lola. Always interesting. Debi from SW Ohio.

[@Ribcrickett]

@@debismith6239that’s because Native American DNA doesn’t show up much in females. Plus, we don’t get all DNA from each parent. We get a mixture of some from each parent. The Native American DNA gets diluted given each generation less and less until now where one sibling can get 2% and the next none. Also, keep in mind that Ancestry doesn’t test all your DNA. They only check a sample bit of your autosomal DNA. With all that said, my Native American DNA didn’t show up right away. It took 2 or 3 years’ updates until it finally showed just 1%. I have tested with FTDNA’s mtDNA. I need to upload the raw DNA data from those results to GEDmatch to find out how much Native American DNA it shows. I got 7% from my AncestryDNA raw data on GEDmatch.

[@user-rd9pi7ye3c]

IF YOU WANTED TO STAY IN THE SOUTH AND REMAIN ON YOUR LAND YOU CANNOT CONSIDER YOURSELF AS A NATIVE AMERICAN THEY CALLED US COLORED I'M CHEROKEE

[@karenblack2869]

I think many of our families may have had harsh stories behind why they left AND may have experienced trouble when they got to their new "home". It's sad that most of us never thought to ask. But I agree, Danielle, a video touching on stories about how blacks saw and treated each other after migrating (based on color) would be fascinating. I know a woman here in Louisiana whose kids are mixed (black and European white) and they are ostracized by both races at their high school, right now in 2023. It would be great if color didn't matter across and within all groups, but it still does even today.

[@3737raider]

My family was part of the migration out of Mississippi. Many crossed over into whiteness. With the internet we are connecting again. A distant cousin who is white went to the same college as my father at the same time. Neither one knew they shared common ancestors.

[@nemomarcus5784]

I find it insane that some people believe there is a distinct color line between the races. Two parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great grandparents. 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024. If each generation is 20 years take a guess how one needs to go to find those 1,024 different family lines? America is not a collection of separate boxes, but more like a shuffled deck of cards.

[@nytn]

I love that shuffled deck metaphor, so apt

[@marciamartins1992]

Beware of school districts that hand out questioners to kids asking what is your race. I think it's for nefarious purposes.

[@Buv82]

Hi Danielle, Italian Canadian from Montreal and I love your channel. Keep up the great content👊🇮🇹

[@nytn]

I love this, thank you for being here. I have spent a few great trips in Montreal, I used to go over the holidays when I lived in NY :)

[@Buv82]

Where may I ask do you live now and is there a visible Italian community there?

[@marciamartins1992]

I'm not part of the great migration, but I am an immigrant, and I can relate to your story. I am from South America, and considered white in my country. In the US I didn't always feel white. I can relate to being cut off from family, history, culture, language, customs etc. As a child, I had to deal with this all on my own. Assimilation was the only way, to the detriment of my identity, and sometimes psyche. I'm not sure what to do with it either.

[@r.j.mayers529]

South America, if not; all of Latin America has its own “sordid and neurotic issues” with racism. I was indirectly exposed to it, by a college girlfriend from Venezuela who appeared to be “white”, but; she privately confided to me that she lovingly carried a photo of her Grandpa who was Black, and; her most favorite person in her world! She never claimed to be “Black, or White” she just dealt with the “contradictions” of society and life as it was presented to her - and she resolved to navigate her way through the racial climate without making any waves - unless the subject of race was brought up, and she would proudly pull out a photo of her most favorite person in her life: Grandpa.

[@josho5860]

I would like to hear more about how the darker side of these families felt and were impacted by this. No doubt, it hurt, especially considering the severity of living at the bottom of racial cast. I also wonder when those that couldn’t pass migrated north and interacted with those that they knew we’re passing, how did they feel about them?

[@lauriewerts3687]

😢this is my families story. Looking at cousins that were passing and you were struggling while they went on to marry white people. Those that passed will never be accepted back again. Stay where you landed and dont come back. There is NO reunion here for you or you passing generations!!!!

[@martinimaven94]

I have been seeing your videos for quite some time. Very interesting and thought provoking. Excellent work!!!

[@lyndaclough3462]

Me. Alabama here. I am like you which I didn't know until I was 55. My daughter did the ancestry and we were clueless where the sub Saharan lineage was. She found it in Minneapolis back to Mississippi. I think most Southerners have this lineage but they just don't know it.

[@eileenmcgovern9193]

Well if we have reparations … a lot of Americans will look for black ancestors

[@lyndaclough3462]

@@eileenmcgovern9193 I actually wasn't referring to reparations. I was referring to lineage.

[@johnnyearp52]

White Southerners are more likely to have Black blood than White Northerners.

[@sammiesmith6690]

@@eileenmcgovern9193You have identify as black to get reparations. Only FBA can qualify for reparations based on lineage.

[@user-rd9pi7ye3c]

MY GREAT-GREAT GRANDFATHER WAS NATIVE CHEROKEE HE PURCHASED AND OWNED OVER 900 1870 ALABAMA HE ON THE WORKING FARM WITH EMPLOYEES. MY MOTHER AND FATHER BIRTH ALL 6 OF THEIR CHILDREN ON THIS LAND FIVE BOYS AND MYSELF AMONG MY GREAT-GRANDMOTHER AND GREAT-GRANDFATHER AND GRANDPARENTS AND TODAY ME AND MY BROTHERS ON 37 OF THOSE SAME ACRES

[@stephantartamella4989]

I was born in Detroit in the early 60s and have 4 sisters and 1 brother.My brother got shot in the head and passed away.my 2 sisters got brutally raped so my father said we have got to move and we were never in a gang or selling drugs.We were forced by our own government.

[@carolynwright4554]

💦

[@stephantartamella4989]

@@carolynwright4554 It was all white when I was growing up there.

[@gazoontight]

Another fascinating video. Please keep up your work.

[@MsMaureen1975]

Danielle, I learn so much from you and the amazing commenters sharing their families stories. As always, I encourage you to continue this project.

[@nytn]

Thank you so much! Comments like this are so encouraging

[@MsMaureen1975]

@@nytn You're welcome 😊

[@leoscheibelhut940]

I wish I could get a shirt with the historical map you showed that described the South with ---"God's Curse--Slavery". As a college student back in the 80's, I worked a summer for a moving company. Everyone except the owner and the dispatcher were black. I was the only white kid. One man was from Jamaica, one was local to Connecticut, the others had come up from various East Coast southern states for better opportunities. I was incredibly luck to get to work with those men, they taught me so much about how to work and how to treat other people. Some were clowns and cut-ups, others were kind, some were always sad and serious--just like people everywhere. One of the many, many things I learned was how to be respectful without being servile. At some point over that summer, I saw each one of the dozen or so men face overt racism, either from customers or our dispatcher. They deserved much better. None of them just knuckled under but they all wanted to keep their jobs so none of them 'blew up' either. It was difficult to watch as an outsider. Other than sometimes being made the 'point man' with the customer despite being the youngest and least senior person on every job, [normally when the customer was frightened of these good men just because they were black.] they told me to 'stay out of it'. They didn't need protecting by 'the white kid'. I owe those men so much.

[@nytn]

That's such a cool idea....I could definitely make it. I wonder how that would be received though LOL

[@leoscheibelhut940]

@@nytn Let's find out! Way less offensive than the Confederate flag of traitors.

[@jouhsagreen1627]

The book, warmth’s of other suns. Is a good book o it tells three stories of three people that left the south.

[@shotelco]

Isabel Wilkerson's book: Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, is also a _Must_ for everyone's home library. It is the most difficult book to read, but in conjunction with Warmth of other Suns, the strategy for the Diaspora becomes crystal clear - Great Migration 2.0: Get the hell out of the insane asylum that is America now, while you still can. Those that are left behind will be trapped, and get exactly what they deserve.

[@johnnyearp52]

Caste is a good book. Not everyone can leave.

[@shotelco]

@@johnnyearp52 I respectfully disagree. Everyone Can leave if they _Wanted_ to. 50% of *All African Americans* in the South during the Great Migration proved beyond any doubt - in a time where it was exponentially more difficult to escape the South than it is today to escape America - that we have true Agency whenever we want. We have been generationally indoctrinated by American culture to beleive that we should remain on the Plantation. It is understandable that the vast majority of the American Diaspora don't want to leave, for viable reasons. But stop complaining to "Master" and stop attempting to bring our case for justice to the very criminal that has perpetually continued to victimize us for 400 years.

[@johnnyearp52]

@@shotelco I thought about it. You are right. Most people can leave. Just a few disabled and elderly people might have problems.

[@shotelco]

@@johnnyearp52 Again reviewing the _Logistical Brilliance_ of the Diasporas Great Migration, we see how nobody that wanted to leave, was left behind. Even the disabled and elderly were relocated by the family and community once they had become established outside of the South. Of course that was then, and this is now - and your suggestion of the disabled and elderly having problems *today* has merit. Unlike the "pre-Civil Rights" era, where the Diaspora was a fairly solid community that valued honor and the common goal of freedom and dignity for all - *todays* "Black community" is generally self-absorbed and fully embedded in the Westernized me-me-me, all about me, materialistic consumption mindset. Blindly pursuing make-pretend lifestyles, buying pretentious junk with money they don't have (debt), to impress friends they don't like, simply doesn't bode well with respect to mutual assistance. I conceded to your point.

[@SpanishEclectic]

Your channel is like a college-level Sociology course, with a focus on open discussion and sharing of personal histories. The stories in the comments on this video are indeed heart-wrenching. You've spoken about shame, but I believe truth is good for the soul, and that the bravery of people who did what they had to do to survive is something to be proud of. Having grown up in Southern California suburbs, I was unaware of many racist practices perpetrated here, as they not publicized openly as those in the South. But then I read of Willa and Charles Bruce, who built a seaside resort in Manhattan Beach where Black people could enjoy the ocean and shore. They were forced out in 1924, and after 100 years, some reparations are finally being made. Zora Neale Hurston was an amazing writer, and her book Barracoon (only published in 2018) is a fascinating read.

[@michaelmerritt9891]

There was alot of segregation in the north. Segregation was Federally encouraged and subsidized, through convenants and laws such redlining. Detroit, Chicago and Boston were and still are heavily segregated.

[@AdelTheForsaken]

1:26 we don't like the cold🥶🤣 My grandmother fled Alabama. She was born in the thirties. I can only imagine what she had to endure.

[@Teho231]

Thank you for this download, you always have interesting and informative information to share.

[@nytn]

So nice of you

[@d-alando7902]

My mother and father migrated to Joliet, I'll in 1949. When I was 7 (1975) she decided to move back to Mississippi, where I finished high-school in the 80's...

[@sr2291]

Im glad you have support in your endeavor to discover your family history.

[@paulomilan515]

I love your channel it's eye opening

[@slowjamz4life]

My father was part of the Great Migration period.

[@zaidagrace2263]

My great grandfather was part of the Great Migration. He moved from Tupelo Mississippi to Chicago. There he met my great grandmother. Her family was there before the great migration. Nobody knows how they got there or how long they’ve been there.

[@DeborahYa]

It becomes so confusing when we keep changing what we call different groups of people. The new trend to do your genealogy, I found out that we went from American Indians, Negros/Mulloto, Colored, to black now African American. I thank you for going public with this I grew up with a black experience, not one of an indigenous person.

[@TheRealZarp]

My wife's grandparents migrated from Louisiana in the 1940s, same with my own grandparents on my Dad's side. They were able to get a good paying job in manufacturing and buy their own homes up here in Michigan. My mom migrated to Washington D.C from South Carolina at the age of 16, this was in 1966/67, and then she eventually moved to Michigan with my dad.

[@genehammond7239]

Always enjoy your history lessons !!!

[@divinej802]

One side of my family left the Mississippi Delta in the mid- late 1930s. Life was very hard and jim crowe was very real, it was an extension of slavery.

[@KimDelight]

All of my great-grandparents migrated from the South (Virginia, North and South Carolina) and moved to NYC, and they came as children. I can see one of my great grandmothers (and her sister) didn't come with their parents. They were boarding with another family as children. Most of my grandparents went to Harlem and others Brooklyn. I am the first generation since the 30s that moved back to the South.

[@Richard-gp5tg]

Kudos to this young lady for bringing out these issues, many of them painful, in such a fair and thorough way. I would like her to delve into her Irish ancestors as well. Where/when did they come on the scene? What was their experience and what obstacles did they encounter? Not all white people share the same story and I don't think the Irish in America should be simply filed away as "White", because its a lot more complex than that. Lastly though, you are doing a great job and making a strong contribution to racial understanding. Keep going!!!

[@nytn]

Thank you so much. I agree with you! I am working on my Irish side, as well. I have done one dedicated video so far, but working on some others.

[@bkmeahan]

sadly growing up in the 70s, I didn't learn about the great migration until my jazz history class in college.

[@aspeltaofkush3540]

My ancestors were among that first wave of Exodusters that left the South during the 1870s to settle the Great Plains of Kansas.

[@hotbreakers94569]

This is the most profound time I love studying about when it comes to African American history during the Great migration because it led to the Harlem Renaissance and It was such a great time from what I understand. Danielle you have grown so much in your journey and this video was on spot, but why did this remind me of reparations for the simple fact that for those that made me think of the people who specially don't want to to admit of their black ancestry if they're passing as white all for the simple fact of money being on the line which is going to make them by proxy expose their identity because we all know money will make people do all types of things .I believe if they actually do reparations for us which (is necessary) that money will definitely show you who is and who isn't 😂. Great topic as per usual

[@IAmElDaoud]

Good Job. I am writing to confirm for you that you are on the right track, keep going. The work you are doing is needed for the next step. You already know that everything you see and hear is wrong. Close your eyes and continue to follow your heart. As you do your research you will eventually see the play clear as day (if you haven't already) Hang in there & keep up the good work!

[@thepicturemandannydannytho5711]

THANK YOU PRETTY PERFECT. YOUR INTELLIGENCE IS APPRECIATED.

[@TheFifthWorld22]

Amazing commentary 💞✌🏽

[@Kalagenesis]

Love your content

[@autumnsmom1117]

My maternal great grandparents were part of the great migration. They came to Chicago in the early 20"s. They were from Mississippi. One paternal aunt from TN moved to Chicago, while two paternal uncles left Tennessee moving to MO and after WW11. I also had relatives that moved to California and MI. Never had the opportunity to ask why they left the south, but no doubt they were looking for better opportunities for themselves and their families. Chicago had a undercurrent of racism such as redlining, restrictive covenants etc. It was only certain areas that blacks could reside. My parents told me some of the obstacles they faced. I'm now noticing persons are returning or moving back south to states such as Georgia, Texas and Arizona.

[@insulaarachnid]

I have read that since the mid twentieth century, there has been a return by many Black Americans to the southern states of America. I don't know proportionally how much of the BA community has done this but I find it interesting.

[@Benny_San]

I have many relatives on my mother's mother's side who migrated during the great migration to places like Chicago and NYC. My mom's mom with I think at least one of her siblings moved east-ward towards Florida instead. Even though I'm a living benefactor of that experience I didn't learn about the concept of the great migration until my mid 20's and was amazed for one that it was like a huge puzzle piece that explained a lot about how we spread throughout the country and two that I didn't hear about it until my mid 20's, history is something that can bring us so much clarity.

[@nytn]

Like a puzzle piece! Love how you said that

[@doubleutee2100]

Danielle, you remind me of Adrienne Bailon formerly of "The Real". After she took her DNA test, and it came back with European, Mid-Eastern, African, and Native American. She shouted, "I can talk about all of ya'll, because I have a little of all ya'll in me"! I like the video. Thank you.

[@ivyjackson8695]

What was so profound about what she said???

[@doubleutee2100]

@@ivyjackson8695Phenotype doesn't always reflect genotype, and not everyone wants a person discussing their genotype who doesn't reflect their general mediocre idealized majority phenotype. As far as my Danielle comment goes, I was mostly joking around more than anything else, but you seem to want to push it as an issue. Is that so?

[@jeffjustlookin]

Thank you for all your hard work. Thank you for telling more of the untold TRUTH.

[@nytn]

You are very welcome, so thankful you are here

[@kareldebures7006]

You are ever so fascinating, freaking awesome too, and don't change that!😊

[@stephenjames2690]

Have you ever read Chesnutt's "The Wife of His Youth"? It's an interesting study of the problems faced by lighter-skinned Black people in the post-Civil War period. It's about the choice to accept or reject one's identity.

[@nytn]

I have not heard of it! I would love to read this, thank you

[@stephenjames2690]

@@nytn nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/maai2/identity/text1/chesnuttyouth.pdf

[@stephenjames2690]

@@nytn Since you have Louisiana roots, you'd be especially interested in Beaumont's "Marie or, Slavery in the United States: A Novel of Jacksonian America." Beaumont accompanied De Tocqueville on his visit to the US. He was struck by the racial caste system in LA. Btw, another interesting bit, is that the literature of "passing" has been a uniquely US genre.

[@user-ne5ns7sd6x]

Happy Thanksgiving 🦃

[@bassman777]

My family went from Virginia (where they were owned), to Alabama, then escaped to Oklahoma (due to lynching that happened nearby in 1907).

[@ashleyvaughn5213]

I couldn't imagine facing what they had to, such upfront and bold hatefulness. Hatefulness still exists, it's just more subtle and disguised as something else but it can be easily ignored or moved away from. From my point of view. Like Tyler perry's movie "A jazzman's blues" Things get murky.

[@cheleftb]

This was the second Great migration caused by Europe nations.

[@mauricejones6193]

I know the feeling,born in Alabama and now in Ga😂😢life is different down here till this day,my folks are in Michigan though moved away

[@SalomeBMedia]

My great grandfather and his family were from Georgia migrating, they went to Detroit and they became Muslims trying excluded themselves from being harmed by racist.

[@SalomeBMedia]

I realized looking at my mother's family my great grandfather has a weird look idk if he is mixed or what. He was born 1879 according to his marriage records. I don't know any black history on Georgia's black population.

[@deb6659]

At "KevRow University Live" I am learning the facts behind years of migration. John 16 in King James Holy Bible has brought me the Comforter and the Spirit of Truth. He has 100s of hours of history. Come see.

[@michaelmitchell5098]

Coffee is bad for you so I will send you greetings and salutations. Thank you so much for what you do mostly for telling your personal stories.

[@ericcherry4184]

I truly appreciate the stories and content that you are sharing. As I've watched your presentations, I've shared the main points with my mother (nee 1930, now 93 years old). She is of a generation where these issues just weren't discussed among most whites. As a kid, I grew up during the 1960's and 1970's during one of the most expressive periods of the civil rights and women's rights movements. My mom and I are both lift-long-learners. So, I am very grateful to you for sharing your personal/family story as well as the social and cultural events of the past century.

[@jeffreyalanday7432]

The Great Nadir was the period from the end of Reconstruction in 1877 through the early 20th century, when racism in the country was worse than in any other period not only in the nation's history. During this period, African Americans lost many civil rights gained during Reconstruction. Anti-black violence, lynchings, segregation, legal racial discrimination, and expressions of white supremacy increased.

[@TheMariemarie16]

My grandmother migrated to Chicago from highly segregated Alabama but she met a smooth talking Texas man in Chicago that convinced her to move to Texas and that was that. We've been in Texas ever since. So I guess we almost migrated lol. The rest of my grandmother's family went to Detroit and stayed.

[@hellooutthere8956]

This is so fascinating and the comment section each is their own novel.

[@MyTruth1771]

My parents: South Carolina and Virginia to DC.

[@jeremiahdavisj]

On my father’s side a lot moved from Georgia to New Jersey but eventually moved back. On my mothers side a lot moved from Tennessee and neighboring counties to Detroit between 1920 and 1923 and on other lines some moved from South Carolina to Connecticut later back to New York. On both sides however, a lot just stayed in the same places our family has been since the 1800s.

[@leg414]

I remember my family's migration stories from the South to the Midwest and it was the best move ever for upward mobility as the South just exploited Black people and others, even other ethnicities like Italians and Eastern Europeans. There was discrimination and if they joined against the Blacks...This made them acceptable and "with them" as "honorary Whites", and some participated in egregious crimes against Black people and mixed peoples [creoale, cajun, etc.] They wanted some to replace in the South to "replace" those Blacks and others they lost...Hence they trying to get the Chinese to take up this for their "work" and labor there...But the Chinese refused to be exploited, and that really fell through for the majority of them. I remember so many different scenarios and talking to people who went through this era. There is more I could say, but good video and make more of these, please. Peace

[@coolbreeze2.0-mortemadfasc13]

My mom’s family left South Carolina for New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Others stayed.

[@fortgrove3166]

I grew up in Spanish Harlem and went to high school in Harlem and now Blacks are moving south due to jobs, low taxes and better standard of living.

[@Me2Lancer]

I have no connection to the Great Migration but have one observation as a child that disturbed me. While with my family at a doctor's office I stepped outside for a drink of water. I was shocked when I noticed one of the water fountains had a sign above it labeled, COLORED.

[@danielcraft3727]

There was also quite the migration of southern whites and blacks to Southern California during the Great Depression and WW2.

[@alphaomega203]

When you mention the interconnectedness few people realize the relationship with the great migration and the explosion of norther industry and its need for workers where immigrants from Europe and those moving northward from the South grasped for the same job at times. It was a period where professor Stewart Tolnay writes "native whites with native-born parents were a numerical minority in virutally all major metropolitan areas..." as the ethnic diversity in the northern cities increased.

[@nytn]

YES! I was drafting a video about the relationship between those coming up from the South and the immigrants who were vying for the same work in the cities. It's amazing the ripple effects from this

[@techallday8168]

That's exactly how it was taught in school for me

[@sammiesmith6690]

My grandparents, great uncles & aunts made the great migration from the Deep South to West Coast & Midwest.

[@clementmckenzie7041]

You know passing for white was not always an individual's personal choice. Most actively chose to pass, but many also had passing thrust upon them. Often a parent would decide to pass and their child or children would have to also pass, sometimes a white parent may decide to take custody of a child and that child/teen might be required to pass for white as a condition of living with their white parent. Often times an individual might be sent away by the family to pass so as to have more opportunities. Sometimes a family may decide it needs a white person to help them navigate the world and may send a white-passing child ahead of the family's migration to become established as a white person and then later send for their siblings and act as their white sponsor. The most common kind of passing especially in places like New York was day passing. Where an individual was white at work and returned home to the black community to live after ( often called the Harlem 2 step at the time) Still many wealthy and influential black families had members who chose to live lives of less standing, wealth, and influence than their black families enjoyed to be white. Senator Blanch Bruce's grandson made that choice. Complicated huh.

[@nytn]

This was really helpful to read, thank you, The harlem 2 step, wow. I NEED to read about this

[@clementmckenzie7041]

@@nytn The Harlem two-step is, You take the train uptown as black, you get off and take the train back downtown for work as white, and then at the end of the day, you do it all over again in reverse. literally two steps. My great-uncle and his wife did it for 25 years. That is how I first heard the term.

[@Visionary0001]

Danielle, thank you for sharing this heartfelt and very touching story. Please note that there were TWO waves of the Great Black Migration away from the deep South, and that both were sparked in part by the lack of male labor outside the deep South, at the conclusion of World War I, and again at the conclusion of World War II. My Grandparents left Mississippi and Alabama as teenagers, right after World War II.

[@nytn]

Thank you for adding that! I appreciate you being here

[@brenkelly8163]

Well, this is pretty bizarre, just last night I was looking at some old registration documents and in Lousiana and New York. My grandfather emigrated from New Orleans with his father (or mother) and sister and took care of them. The records have a strange ambiguity in them, and since the mother was mulatto, or it's hard tell. It still remains a bit of mystery.

[@nytn]

Sounds like our family story!

[@AfricanTvFilmaker]

The fun part of our blended story, the "Funny Pages"!!! Find "Krazy Kat" and enjoy how George Herriman passed for White and secretly preserved our ancestors' idioms and dialects and racial struggles in the Sunday comics. His stories of Black Cat in love with a malicious White mouse was (I believe) his way of teaching the youth what is means to have mixed heritage in a changing America. Thank you for your important work.

[@chrishenry5665]

The blacks of old Chicago didn't want to be associated with the southern blacks that migrated.

[@RiLyGreen]

My mom is 92, and was a part of The Great Migration. Her parents passed away and she moved from Jacksonville, FL to Boston, MA with two of her great aunts in 1940. She remembers them packing fried chicken and pound cake for the train ride. I've been recoding her stories from childhood. I wish I had recorded some of my great great aunt's stories, but I was too young and we didn't have the tech we have now. She was born a slave in Ridgeway, SC in 1863. Before she passed in 1975 (yes, you read that right @112!) she told us about her "emancipation" and life during reconstruction and Jim Crow. Emancipation wasn't all sweet and Massa waved them off with fried chicken and pound cake. Massa and his brothers shot at them and told them to GTFOH! Her parents were killed while her two older sisters grabbed her and ran. I think of this story whenever I get gaslighted that we need to get over slavery. My mom's great great grandparents were murdered before they could experience freedom! I, literally, met a former slave. That is so wild to me!!

[@stephanienwadieiiamhybasia]

I can’t speak for our relatives in Louisiana. I just know that they stayed behind by choice. Segregation has separate everything. I loved visiting them and enjoying the reunions. All the special foods , sounds of everything different.( like zydeco music and Creole language… that I didn’t know). They seemed happy enough. I knew the “rules of engagement “ when around white people. In fact, I would give my money to my cousin to buy something from the store for me. ( no touching of anything, just pointing out and put the money on the counter). People like what they know. ( until you learn about something perceived as being better). A lot of them still live in Opelousas,Louisiana. The homes are beautiful now and opportunities are waiting for those who prepare.( education or training). I don’t like visiting the north or living there because the people are not friendly.( in general). I am in Texas. It is diverse. I can attend African events, PanAfrican events or simply an International quilt festival etc.

[@stephanienwadieiiamhybasia]

Ps. I grew up during segregation. I loved being with people who had something in common with me. I was a colored Catholic. School and everything. I didn’t see many white people except the priests. Our nuns/ teachers were colored too. Looking back, it was a little Africa but we knew nothing about Africa. We had wonderful social groups too.( Child of Mary- and the boys were “jr. knights of St. Peter Claver. ). When integration happened , I became a minority.( in my hometown). I thought most people were like me. ( what a culture shock). I love visiting Africa because it reminds me of how I grew up. I still love Texas but it will never be the same. We lost a lot of cultural identity, with the merger of everything. ( our black schools were closed or renamed). We have one High School. We used to have two. Guess whose high school was closed? It was actually a very nice school. They taught skills there as well. I once got my teeth pulled out there. Integration just meant we all learned to use what the majority of people use.

[@nytn]

I think you and I need to do a video together. What do you think?

[@marcuscole1994]

@@stephanienwadieiiamhybasiayou from east Texas

[@armonwilliams4735]

My family (from my mother's side) migrated from Mississippi in the 1950s after my grandfather served overseas in France during WWII in the segregated colored unit. And my father migrated to Arizona in the 1960s (leaving the rest of his family behind in Galveston & Austin, Texas). There are pockets of the South that I have lived in that are tolerable and even somewhat pleasant (New Orleans, Houston, Nashville, Orlando), but in general I'm not much of a fan of the South and the racism is far more prevalent than other places I've lived like Arizona, Minneapolis or New Jersey.

[@nytn]

If you stepped a toe outside of Nashville proper 12 years ago (where I live now) it was like stepping back into the 1940s but not in a fun way

[@armonwilliams4735]

@@nytn Yeah, Nashville, Tennessee was not one of the more pleasant places for me to live in. I was actually happy leaving Nashville to end up in Minneapolis shortly after leaving Tennessee with my profession at the time.

[@julieennis6929]

There are so many that don’t know. I totally get passing. But what bothered me most about my white passing now White cousins is that some took on racists ways as some White people. Became the same as the people they ran from.

[@johnnyearp52]

😥

[@r.j.mayers529]

That type of virulent racism is most common for “white passers, or passing”, in Brazil and Argentina, etc - where; “passers” feel; somehow, personally compelled to constantly “put on” ostentatious display of racism to prove their bonafides, and to distance themselves - to conceal any attachment to their black lineage.

[@LonnellRich]

My granny her sister and my gpa migrated to nyc from nc

[@Graeberwave]

Check out the book Passing Strange.

[@whoahna8438]

People often crossed the color in Louisiana itself. Oftentimes the lighter side of families didn't associate with the darker coarse hair side not always because a lot of times there were some who looked White but didn't like White people much. Louisiana is still kind of like that in some places with some families. A lot of people are upset that the TRI-CASTE isn't enforced like that anymore

[@Richard-gp5tg]

I have some Black friends from Louisiana who are racially mixed and they tell you some crazy stories. Oklahoma is an interesting place as well, virtually every Oklahoman I meet might be "white" but they are part Native American.

[@djmill8000]

Virginia

[@sharronewilson4761]

My family move from Mississippi owning land and business to nyc forcing the family to survive in the heart of capitalism competing with new arrivals immigrants. If you ask me that was the worst decision.

[@nytn]

That is such a good point. Im working on a video about that a bit but you said it really well

[@buzzlightyear3715]

"Sunnyside Plantation of Chicot County is synonymous with the immigration of Italian Catholics into the cotton fields of the Arkansas Delta. During the 1890s and early 1900s, Sunnyside Plantation was the largest Catholic colony of new immigrants in the state and the primary factor in attracting Italians to Arkansas. Almost all Italians had left by 1910, however, due to dissatisfaction with increasing poor working arrangements." Arkansa where there is a dark story of Italian immgrants.

[@nytn]

I'll research this, thank you

[@michaelalexander2141]

Same beat

[@jrp4352]

The picture of the people migrating has my moms great uncle in it….he’s the one that looks like he is holding a cigarette….they ended up in Cleveland Ohio…he was born in Eutaw Al

[@nytn]

that's amazing!!!