Michelle Obama Reunites with her Family in Georgetown, SC
January 15, 2008
Michelle Obama (center), her brother Craig (left), and the extended Robinson family in Georgetown, SC this afternoon.
While she grew up on the South Side of Chicago, Michelle Obama’s trip this afternoon to Georgetown, SC was really a homecoming. Michelle’s grandfather, Fraser Robinson Sr., was originally from Georgetown and, while she was growing up, Michelle and her family regularly spent part of their summers visiting their extended relatives in the Low Country town.
Joined by her brother Craig, Michelle’s afternoon in Georgetown started with a reunion and some sweet tea with her cousins Connie Jones, Dorthy Robinson, and Harolyn Siau at the Robinson family home near downtown Georgetown.
The meeting also provided Michelle and Craig with an opportunity to take a look at fmaily photos Cousin Dorthy keeps on top of her piano.
After meeting with her cousins, Michelle went down the street to her grandfather’s old church, Bethel A.M.E., in historic Georgetown, where she spoke to a packed house of South Carolina Obama supporters that included over thirty-one of her own family members from the area.
During her speech, Michelle touched on the concerns that some have about whether or note Barack has enough experience to be President.
While he may not have the long Washington resume of other candidates, Michelle noted, with Barack’s background as a community organizer in Chicago — working right along side the people he sought to help — and eight years as a State Senator (more years in the kind government that’s closest to each of us than anyone else in the race) in the rough and tumble world of Illinois politics, he clearly has the kind of experience that the country needs right now.
It’s not that Barack isn’t ready, Michelle said,
The challenge for us is to ask, “What are we ready for?” This one is on us — see, we like to talk about change, but we don’t really like change. We want easy change, we want change that will make us feel comfortable, but that’s not how change happens, it’s not something that’s just going to come to you passively.
Things aren’t gong to get better when you wish for it or you hope for it: Things get better when regular folks take action to make change happen from the bottom up. Every major, historical moment in our time it has been made by folks who said “Enough,” and they banded together to move this country forward — and now is one of those times.
How about you? Are you ready to answer Michelle’s call to action and help Barack Obama win Palmetto State on Saturday, January 26? If so, sign-up right now to help Get-Out-the-Vote for Barack in the South Carolina and an organizer from the campaign will contact you shortly.
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13 Responses to “Michelle Obama Reunites with her Family in Georgetown, SC”
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Good to know that Michelle Obama visited Georgetown. Good to see her photo and the Robinson family. Good to know that I am a distant cousin and a supporter of her husband. I too am a native of Georgetown County, SC.
God Speed.
Oliver L. Reown
5969 E FM 875
Waxahachie, Tx 75167
God is absolutely amazing! I followed politics and got into discussions with my dad, Andrew L. Nelson, and cousin, Thomas Robinson, as a young teenager but never thought that a relative of mine would be this involved in the Presidential race. I pray that the Obamas will have a successful and victorious campaign. My wife, Janice, and I are natives of Georgetown, SC and when the Obama campaign comes to Middle Georgia we look forward to supporting you.
May God continue to bless you.
Thomas & Janice Nelson
237 Hatcher Road
Warner Robins Ga. 31088
I am a native of Georgetown, South Carolina. I am the sister of Oliver Reown and the cousin of Thomas and Janice Nelson. I pray the Obamas continue to be bless in great and mighty way.
May God continue to bless you.
Yolanda Reown Gregory
Columbia, South Carolina, 29223
may the almighty GOD bless obama and family , i am far away from his family but just love to hear his word
john okafor
lyckselevagen 96 16267 vallingby
stockholm -sweden
Dear Mrs. Obama (Michelle),
For a very long time, I’ve wanted to tell you that my late mother, Viola Grant Wilds, and your grandfather, Mr. Fraser Robinson, were classmates. My sister and I recalled that when my mother was speaking of her classmates, she would often mention Fraser Robinson. My mother was the aunt of the late James Wilds, former owner of the Wilds Funeral Home in Georgetown, and I, of course, am a native Georgetonian (now living in Laurel, MD).
I am so proud of you and your husband. I supported him very early in the Presidential race, and now that I know that his wife has family in Georgetown, there is no doubt at all that he will receive my vote. May God continue to bless you and your lovely family. Your daughters are simply adorable. After seeing them at the Democratic Convention, I adopted Sasha as my own: for, she seems to be so fiesty. “Where are you daddY?” she asked.
Blessings always,
Benzena Wild Lewis
I am a graduate of Howard High School class of 1955. Met some Robinsons while in school. I visited the Bethel Church on several occasions.I went on to attend and graduate from Oakwood College(now University) . I am a retired minister and church administrator, much international travel including Africa. I am so thankful to be able to witness this historical event, We pray that God will continue to give the Obamas wisdom, guidance and protection. My wife and I now live in Atlanta, GA.
Congrats to President Barack Obama, First lady Michelle Obama and the First Family. What a great day it was to be in Washington and witness the swearing in and parade. This is a day that I’ve waited for since moving to downtown DC 8 years ago. This is a day that we’ve all waited for since the dark days of slavery. I was born and raised in Georgetown County. My mom taught 3rd graders at Sampit school under the leadership of principle T. J. Robinson. I recalled many days on good behavior so I would not be sent to Mr. Robinson’s office. Lol. Georgetown County is celebrating the success of the first family and is proud that a fellow “gee-chee” descendent is bringing life to the White House. What a blessing! I have a few photos speech and parade route photos available on-line at http://www.cumberlandame.org/bobama/
Sincerely,
Wayne Smalls
1234 Massachsuetts Ave NW
Washington, DC
Hi, I’m curious if anyone knows the late John Henry and Hester Robinson? They are the parents of my Grandmother Julia Robinson. She was the youngest of nine sisters and 1 brother.
Blessings to you all.
Shirley
My parents and grandparents lived and worked in Georgetown, SC. My mother was a soloist, then chorister at Bethel A.M.E. Church. One of her relatives helped to establish that church. Also, Nelson Thompson, one of my great-great-grandfathers, was born (1830) on Friendfield Plantation — the same plantation where Mrs. Obamas g-g-grandfather was born.
Prof. Diana R. Thompson
New York City
Brief statement and purpose of Chief’s visit to the United States
“History is produced by human beings, for human purposes, to share human meaning.”
-Honorable Father Chief Pa Komrabai Mbompa H. Dumbuya, Sierra Leone
Greetings,
You may be wondering why a man by the name Pa Komrabai Mbompa H. Dumbuya has traveled from Sierra Leone to the United States. His mission is clear. To bring prosperity to Sierra Leone, her children and beyond. The most effective way to do this is to get the support of the most prosperous country in the world. Fortunately for both countries, Sierra Leone and the United States are historically intertwined like the breathing cycle of a living organism. His multi faceted mission is achieved by exposing the historical, political and financial connections between Sierra Leone and the United States. You may ask, who is Mr. Dumbuya? Where is Sierra Leone? What significance does Sierra Leone hold with the United States? There may even be more questions to answer but this brief is being written to answer a few of the questions that led you to read this factual, enlightening, historical information. History has its own way of revealing itself but without the proper translation will become obscure to the point of non existence. Please read this and understand that history is not being rewritten, but being translated into action. Let us begin our never ending journey of enlightenment and interpretation.
Origins of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
In the 1430’s the Portuguese began to explore the Atlantic coast of Africa looking for gold in territories controlled by the Islamic Empire. Muslim trade routes existed in sub-Saharan Africa for centuries with a wide variety of goods. As the Portuguese elongated their influence around the coast, they organized trading posts. Expanding market opportunities in Europe and the Mediterranean resulted in increased trade across the Sahara. The Portuguese merchants gained access to the interior via Senegal and Gambia rivers which bisected long-standing trans-Saharan routes. The Portuguese found it profitable to transport slaves between trading posts. As there began to emerge a market for agricultural workers for plantations on Madeira, Canary and Cape Verde Islands off the coast of West Africa, they no longer traded slaves back to Muslim merchants. By 1500 the Portuguese transported about 81,000 enslaved people from their families and homelands.
The Era of European slave trading was about to begin… (Reference) http://www.africanhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa101101a.htm)
Bunce Island
Bunce Island is off the coast of Sierra Leone and was first settled by English slave traders about 1670. The Bance or Bence Island Castle (as it was formally known) was first operated by two London-based firms, The Gambia Adventurers and Royal African Company of England. The castle was not commercially successful for the British during this time as their demand for slaves in agriculture has not yet hit its apex. Bunce Island served as a symbol of British influence in that region. After being raided in 1728 by a competitor in the slave trade, it was not advantageous to rebuild because the British were more focused in gold rather than slave trading. This small island had no true impact of significance with the slave trade to N. America until 1748. A well contained group of influential men forged an alliance in business and finance in London, England. They are to include Henry Laurens (Second President of the Continental Congress of the United States of America Nov. 1, 1777 – Dec. 9, 1779) and Richard Oswald (co-founder of Grant, Oswald & Co.) of Scottish decent. As Bunce Island-Charleston agent, Henry Laurens contribution to the Atlantic slave trade conclusively carved the social, political and financial landscape of today’s United States of America. Laurens brokered and advertised the enslaved people of the “rice coast” or the region encompassing Sierra Leone due to their technically proficient cultivation of rice which was a principal commodity in the 18th century. While being processed through Bunce Island like cattle, enslaved people were bound for places foreign to them to be sold for innumerable purposes to slave owners. Through the chart below, it can be concluded that the majority of African Americans in the U.S. can trace their ancestry directly to Sierra Leone. (reference http://www.henrylaurens.com) (www.famousamericans.net/richardoswald/) (www.bunce-island.org/)
Estimate of Enslaved Survivors 1450-1900
Brazil 4,000,000
British West Indies 2,000,000
Danish West Indies 28,000
Dutch West Indies 500,000
Europe (and Islands) 200,000
French West Indies 1,600,000
British North America and United States * 500,000 Total 11,328,000
Does not include estimates of non-survivors
*According to Sierra Leone resources, over 400,000 enslaved people were forcibly abducted directly from Sierra Leone.
(reference http://www.africanhistory.about.com/od/slavery/ig/Slavery-Statistics-and-Maps/SlaveryTable002.htm)
Sierra Leones Slavery Ripple Effect
Sierra Leone’s population in the 18th century was less than 1,000,000 people. Only the strongest and able bodied were chosen and kidnapped which included the estimate of 400,000 of the strongest citizens of their time. The socio-economic and cultural damage was nearly fatal for those who remained to carry on the family living, customs, agricultural proficiencies, traditions, intertribal and interstate trading practices necessary for survival.
Sierra Leone today is a country healing from a 10 year civil war (1991-2001). According to the United Nations Human Development Index, Sierra Leone has been listed at the bottom at least for the last 10 years. It is now governed through President Earnest Bai Koroma. Sierra Leone is struggling financially to support its citizens due to the war that totally destroyed every sustainable lifeline of the country. Today unemploymet rate and infant mortality rate is stunningly high. Many parents cannot properly school their children. School aged children are often utilized to earn income through street trading of goods acting as breadwinners for their families. Majority of Sierra Leoneans live far below the poverty line. Sierra Leone today is struggling to regain financial independence. Through the history of the United States, it is our obligation as a nation and as a family to help the country that historically built America. Without Sierra Leone, America would not be the country it is today.
Pa Komrabai Mbompa H. Dumbuya and The Sierra Leone Gullah Kinship Association
With no regard for personal political power or intentions for a political office whatsoever withstanding even today, in 1994 Komrabai Mbompa H. Dumbuya founded and served as President of the Sierra Leone Gullah Kinship Association. This organization has a viable, active relationship with the government and people of Sierra Leone, to include President Earnest Bai Koroma as well as the Mayor, Herbert George-Williams, and the city council of Freetown. The Association established branches in over 400 communities and 200 secondary schools in the Western Area of Sierra Leone and beyond. The organization proudly boasts a staggering membership of over 20,000 members of which 70% are women and contends to be the largest independent organization in Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone Gullah Kinship Associations headquarters is located at 37 Jennerwright Road Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa. Since its inception, it has completed over 200 successful activities consistent with its agenda including educating diplomats, visitors, and Sierra Leoneans on its historical, political and financial connection to the United States of America. (www.cottontreenews.org/content/view/666/34/ )The Association has over 20 cultural groups, artists, craftsperson’s and 2 histo-musical groups that tell the history of slavery and the connection between the U.S. and Sierra Leone in song. One of the groups ‘Bra Rabbit Players’ has produced the histo-musical CD and DVD album ‘Bunce Island-Root Connect’.
On August 2, 2008, Pa Komrabai Mbompa H. Dumbuya was crowned by the 16 Tribal Heads of the Western Area as The Father Chief of Sierra Leone. Shortly after his commencement as Father Chief of Sierra Leone, Chief Pa Komrabai Mbompa H. Dumbuya made his first visit to the U.S. and participated in the Gullah/Geechee Nation International Music & Movement Festival, held Aug. 22-24, 2008 in Charleston. (reference http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2008/sept/11/africa_lowcountry_connect_gullah_geeche54015/) In April 2009, The Chef has returned to the U.S. to further his mission. His time is running out. With intentions of returning after satisfying obligations in Sierra Leone, the Chief will return to Sierra Leone on August 10, 2009.
Mission Objectives
The Chiefs overall agenda is to:
-Accomplish the following primary mission:
Effectively promote, interpret and translate into action the historical, political, financial and family connections between Sierra Leone and the United States of America with a concurrent resolution to heal wounds and restore deteriorated associations incurred during slavery on both sides of the Atlantic.
Other principal objectives include:
-Inaugurate a sister organization to the Sierra Leone Gullah Kinship Association called Kinship Society in the United States. This non profit organization is to be established primarily to open a gateway of resources through her sister association in Sierra Leone. This has never been accomplished and is intended to aid and assist Sierra Leone using American businesses and resources.
-Establish a rice ministry for the poverty stricken families of Sierra Leone. Families right now are in desperate need of food and proper nourishment. It is vital that families in Sierra Leone receive life sustaining food and supplies especially from the U.S. to express humanitarian gestures and a willingness to support a country that historically shaped the United States of America.
-Enact a national family reunion. Through the families of the United States directly linked to Sierra Leone and families or friends who choose to support this historical cause, finally recognize the need to rekindle ancestorial roots like the previous homecoming events and reunions before them. (1989 a delegation of 13 Gullahs and Black Seminoles made a historic “homecoming visit” to Sierra Leone as guests of the Sierra Leone government. documented in the film “The Family Across the Sea” http://www.africanheritage.com/gullah_and_sierra_leone.asp ) The difference would be a Final Homecoming or family reunion in collaboration with the two sister organizations would open the gates to allow anyone to “go home” and be received with opened arms by families and friends of Sierra Leone. In 1988, the late President Joseph Saidu Momoh of Sierra Leone made a family reunion visit to South Carolina. In 1997, Mary Moran made a homecomng to Sierra Leone (documented in the film “The Language You Cry In”).
-Institute popular education through a grass roots effort utilizing word of mouth, music and student exchange programs. The musical group Bra Rabbit Players share the history of Sierra Leone and slavery in songs and performances. It is the intention of the Chief to initiate their arrival to the U.S.. Also have the group tour in the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor an beyond in the U.S.
-Endow educational, religious, and cultural exchange programs. It is an objective to compose framework to allow people from Sierra Leone and people from the U.S. to engage in exchange programs. It is beneficial for the education of children to experience different cultures and customs while pursuing higher education.
-Stabilize business exchange programs. It would be advantageous financially for both countries to enlist into programs which allow Sierra Leone to function on its own economically. There are commodities Sierra Leone has to offer to become self sustaining however the means to retrieve them is beyond Sierra Leon at this time.
-Proactive Cementing Ceremonies are ceremonies to recognize the affiliation between international municipal communities. One primary ceremony is between the Mayor of N. Charleston and the Mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone. On behalf of the government and the people of the Freetown municipality, the mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone, gives a letter of greetings and gifts. This ceremony will be taking place on July 25th 2009 in N. Charleston. On July 15, 2009 the Chief met with the mayor of the city of Union, South Carolina, Harold E. Thompson. His Honor presented the Chief with a key to the city of Union, South Carolina. ( for article from the Union Daily Times click the following link http://www.uniondailytimes.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Ties+that+bind-African+chieftain+visits+Union+to+promote+connections+between+Sierra+Leone-+U-S-%20&id=2968341-Ties+that+bind-African+chieftain+visits+Union+to+promote+connections+between+Sierra+Leone-+U-S-&instance=home_news_lead) A public ceremony is intended to be scheduled after the Chief returns from Sierra Leone. (www.myspace.com/kinshipsociety See short video clip). He is scheduled back to Sierra Leone on August 8, 2009, intending to return to the U.S. within two months.
-Contact informaton For more information, or to assist in this historical process, e-mail RoundtableManagement@hotmail.com or kinshipconnection@gmail.com or call Franklin F. Hudson III Administrative Director/Contact for Father Chief Pa Komrabai Mbompa H. Dumbuya and Administrative Coordinator Elder Halim (864)908-2719
This mission and any action to accomplish said mission is not bound to any race, color, creed, nationality, religious backround or any other possible stipulation. The intention associated with this agenda is to enlighten so as to anyone who so chooses to coordinate with this mission or any act thereof towards accomplishing these goals may do so freely. The Honorable Father Chief of Sierra Leone said it best,
“History is produced by human beings,for human purposes, to share human meaning”.
July 16, 2009
Hi,
I am Ervetta GM Murphy a descendant of Georgetown, SC. I am very proud of the connection with Mrs Obama and her family who I happen to remember. May God bless all of them.
I just found out about The First Lady Michelle Obama’s trip Georgetown, S.C.. My family roots in from Georgetown off of route 17. I too have spend summers there as a kid and it feels so good to know that Georgetown is home to so many people. I still have family there. I can remember the bus ride down there on a Greyhound Bus and the old bus station that could not hold more then 30 people inside at one time. I miss going down there and I too shall return home and visit my family. Thank you Michelle Obama for being a wonderful woman and keep that President of ours in line (smile), he too is a wonderful person and is doing a GREAT job and keep up the good work, God bless you and your family and God bless GEORGETOWN, S.C.!
Nelson Thompson was my Great Great Grandfather ( Born 1830) . Even though he was enslaved on the Chicora Wood Plantation, he was born on the Friendfield Plantation, the same Plantation as Michelle Obama’s Great – Great Grandfather in Georgetown, S. C. Seeing the pictures of Michelle speaking at the Bethel A. M. E. Church of our Great Great Grandfathers was very touching. Our own daughter, Dr. Shirley Elizabeth Thompson and Dr. Stephen Marshall were married in the Bethel A.M. E. on May 29, 2004. The church is a historical landmark and a relative was one of the founding ministers.