Hey everyone, you're listening to Code Switch. I'm BA Parker.

Lately, I've been trying to figure out what kind of descendant I want to be.

Knowing that I come from enslaved people is a crucial part of who I am.

I want to honor my ancestors kind of looms over everything I do.

Which is no big deal. Just the weight of generations of ancestors towering over me and who I choose to be.

But I'm only one person.

So I'm choosing to focus on one ancestor.

And I think that's how she would have wanted it.

I appreciate you helping me, Gramps.

I don't know what I did.

You just spoke with me. That's all.

That's my Gramps. She helped raise me.

In fact, she was my kindergarten teacher.

And for the longest time, she was my main interview subject because it was just me and her hanging out during the day.

Grandma, that's all I'm doing for this job.

Getting interviews.

Like, what's wrong with learning how to do?

But I'll sit with somebody and we'll talk about a specific story or whatever.

Grandma's specific story always started with where she's from.

I was born in Christel, North Carolina.

Gramps grew up in farming country and Cresswell.

I grew up dead in farming.

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