My great-great-grandmother Emma was the last slave in our family, and she also was the first free person on these lands in our family.

And I know the story of her that she knew how to write because it was a dangerous proposition for a slave to be able to read and write.

And especially as a child, the slave master tried to hammer off all of her fingers, but she still could write until she passed away.

And I know the story of how great-great-granddad Bradford earned his freedom in Alabama and walked to Mississippi and purchased the freedom of great-great-grandma Emma, and they walked back to Alabama.

They didn't wait for emancipation.

And I also know their story of emancipation is also a love story.

And I wonder, does that ring true to you? Did this practice kind of give you a sense of agency?

Yes, because one of the things that I was feeling a lot of strong tension and disorientation after my dad's passing, like that first month, was as large of a question and as cliche as it is, I just kept asking myself, who am I? My dad just died.