It has been a long journey learning about my genealogical history. After tons of investigations, I witness more of the truth about my family. For a long time, I didn't understand the long, complex composition of my family tree, especially beyond my grandparents. I heard of stories and did a little research, but there was always a limit in what I found out previously. That would change. In the year 2018, I learned about my family tree on another level. Today, there are even more discoveries about my ancestry. This discovery relates to DNA. DNA is the molecule that has the instructions for the development and reproduction of human life. We all have it. I took 2 DNA tests from Ancestry.com and 23 and Me. I found out that almost 90 percent of my DNA is sub-Saharan African, and over 1/3 of my DNA is Nigerian. So, most of ancestry came from West and Central Africa originally as much of my DNA is Congolese too. As an African American, learning more about myself is opening a door to find more about my own soul. My paternal ancestors came from North Carolina including parts of Virginia in America, and my maternal ancestors came from Virginia (at Southampton County) in America. So, I know about Virginia and North Carolina a great deal. Exciting facts has been found by me about my distant cousins living in California, New York, Texas, Florida, Georgia, and other places of the Untied States of America. The irony is that many of them don't know anything about me, but I know numerous facts about them. I researched this topic in an in-depth fashion, because I also believe in the truth that the keys of wisdom shouldn't be restricted from the people. In my perspective, the people have the right to know the truth.
In our time, more than ever health experts are abundant. Health is wealth. These following human beings have sacrificed their time for one goal. That goal is that they earnestly desire more their neighbors to be more healthier and stronger from an emotional including physical standpoint. There is no way that the mind and body is nourished without the soul being bettered. Improving the soul details that we honor the dignity among ourselves and the human race in general. Many of these people have gone through the rain. They had ups and downs just like any other person in existence. Yet, they had profound gifts to build in their communities and to use their wisdom of fitness plus health to improve their own lives plus other human lives the world over. Many of them have done conferences, studies, and some have licenses at it relates to nutrition and exercise. They are among many walks of life. Yet, they are unified in their love of exercise, and their goal of human improvement among many endeavors concretely. It is now a new decade of the 2020s. Many of the same issues remind from the past, and new issues have risen up in the world too. That is why we should appreciate these heroic health advocating heroes who has inspired our generation in enumerable ways.
Ernestine Shepherd is an inspirational human being. She overcame so much to achieve magnanimous contributions to the world. She worked hard to fight for change and building up humanity in her community. Sister Ernestine Shepherd is a very blessed black womanal and she is 84 years old. She is from Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore is a city that I have been to before in real life as it has links to the paternal side of my family. Ernestine Shepherd was at one point of her life the oldest competitive woman bodybuilding in the world. She is inspired to exercise by the passing of her late sister Mildred Blackwell back in 1992 after a brain aneurysm. She has worked out hard since she was 56 years old. For years, she has inspired seniors at the Union Memorial United Methodist Church in Baltimore. Her 2016 book entitled, "Determined, Dedicated, Disciplined to Be Fit," represents her credo. She runs 80 miles a week, and Ernestine Shepherd has a zeal for living life. Ernestine's story is a remarkable story about how we should never relinquish our dreams. Miracles woman all of the time, as living life is a miracle in it of itself. As a mother and grandmother, her life has been filled with monumental blessings. Her spirituality has guided her, and her community has strengthened her all of time. She loves her husband and her family. She fully is helping her neighbors prodigiously, and that is admirable. We all wish more Blessings for Sister Ernestine Shepherd.
Vynnessa Alease represents for the black women fitness world. She not only has her own Youtube channel. She is the person with a constant motivation to enrich the lives of the people. Her workouts are fun. Also, she recovered from a brutal ACL injury. Her advise on diet and food habits are always important. Since she was 7 years old, she was involved in track and field. Track helps any human being to develop endurance, strength, teamwork, and powerful discipline. She is an expert, internationally certified personal trainer via the PTA Global and national certified as a USA Track and Field coach through USATF. Throughout her life, she is a woman who have overcame a lot of adversity. Today, she is continuing working in the field that she loves greatly which is fitness.
Gabriel Sey is a fitness expert who loves his child and his wife. Loving a wife is a blessing. He has worked on Youtube to give videos, food advice, and information on the culture of fitness. He was born in England, and his wife is Nyisha. He owned the apparel line called True Beast Athletics.
Jeanette Jenkins is almost 50 years old now. She was born in Ottawa, Canada. Every since I saw her in the BET commercial promoting heart health for the black community, I knew that she would do even more great things. She has. She is a committed fitness expert and she is part of her life's work to inspire, help, and transform the lives of fellow human beings. She has been on television to promote exercise and healthy eating. Also, she has numerous fitness videos that deal with kickboxing, Pilates, plyometrics (which is popular in our generation), boxing, stretching, and other types of workouts. She has many great friends from Kelly Rowland to Tia Mowry.
She has inspired a generation of young people to be involved in building their body, mind, and soul. Jeanette Jenkins has certainly studied about these issues, and she has a down to Earth personality. She loves what she does and you can tell that by her smile and by her countenance. She's a great person. Micah Baisden is a business owner and trainer.
Lenda Murray is certainly the perfect example of a hero among the fitness world. It is sacrosanct to honor a great woman. Changing lives precipitously in a positive direction represents her modus operandi. Sister Lenda Murray back then was ahead of her time. She is now almost 60 years old and she was born in Detroit, Michigan. As a trailblazer, she overcame many obstacles. She has always taught the world that femininity is never monolithic and it's diverse. Femininity can be expressed in STEM fields, athletics, economic endeavors, and bodybuilding. She was a legendary woman bodybuilder whose career spanned decades. When she was in high school, Lenda Murray was both a record holding sprinter and varsity cheerleader. She earned a degree in political science from Western Michigan University. She was the 2nd African American to be shown as the university's homecoming queen in 1982. She started bodybuilding in 1984 and competed in 1985. Lenda Murray won 8 overall Ms. Olympia titles and 2 professional wins in her weight class. She is the greatest woman bodybuilder in history along with Iris Kyle. Lenda Murray was ranked 1st on the IFBB Women's Bodybuilding Professional Ranking List. She promotes Wings of Strength and hosts competitions involving fitness. She loves her husband and family. Today, she has been part of a movement to help anyone to improve their fitness goals. She was a great sprinter too. When it is all said and done, our legacy deals with things beyond dealing with ourselves. It deals with how we have enriched or helped the lives of others and how we have made the world better. Throughout her programs and words of encouragement, Lenda Murray has made the world better. Today, more women and men are being open minded and progressive about fitness culture. True fitness culture is about respecting people and blessing people. It is about seeing that our common humanity should be cherished and our diversity is a honorable gift. It is fundamentally about lifting people up with a sincere motivation. That is why we're born on this Earth. I wish Sister Lenda Murray much more success in her life.
Tiffany Rothe has more than 25 years of fitness experience. She is a fitness coach of many years. She knows kickboxing, boxing, and exercise. She is not just on YouTube inspiring people to exercise at their homes. She has a program called TRFC program that helps people to increase flexibility, improve organ function, reduce stress, develop a healthy heart rate, and grow the human soul. Her goal is to allow people, who follow her, to have a greater emotional, confident energy. Tiffany Rothe is a very powerful expert as she has a Juris Doctorate from USC. Her goal is to help and inspire women to achieve their complete destinies, and that is certainly a blessing.
Tamasia From Curvylista Fitness is a fitness coach from New Jersey. Her goal is to help women achieve their goals using their minds, bodies, and souls. She is a certified fitness instructor, health coach, social entrepreneur, and activist. She uses her experiences to help women achieve their aspirations.
Ellen and Lana Ector are the mother and daughter duo who promote exercising. Ellen Ector is a mother of five children and a grandmother of four people. She inspires human beings worldwide. She worked as a social worker for 20 years. Later, she pursued fitness training since 2008. She changed her eating habits, started to exercise, and the weight came off. She became to feel more energetic. She wants to give a voice to African American women involving fitness culture. Her daughter is Lana Ector. They work on the philosophy that the body is a machine that must be respected. Ector owns Gymnetics Fitness and gymJUICE in Atlanta, Georgia. She has released a workout DVD series called Black Girls Workout Too! with her daughter Lana. Their new DVD is called Ector-Cize that promotes exercise. Ellen organizes walks for adults with diabetes and trains young people in track, plus cross country running.
Nicole Monroe is the founder of No Pretty Workouts. It has workouts that help people to escape from their comfort zones. She loves to lift weights, stretch, jump, and motivate athletic training. She enjoys the HIIT routine. Her brand is called Raw Fitness too. HIIT stands for high intensity interval training. This exercise is done for people to burn fat rather quickly. These exercises can help the glutes, quads, hamstrings, and calves. It deals with jumping lunges, jumping squats, etc. It focuses on explosiveness to burn calories.
Magda Civil is a personal trainer from New Jersey. She has a meal plan, online coaching, and other services to help human beings. She is a NPC nationally qualified athlete. She is a certified ACE trainer. Magda knows about anatomy, nutrition, and physiology. No one's body is identical, so she established her programs to develop the lives of human beings. She loves fruits, vegetables, and functional training.
Mocha Lee is a well known fitness expert and co-host of Heart and Soul back in 2000. She is the mother of 2 daughters, and she is a Christian black woman. She was born in Northern Virginia and lives in Maryland.
Wendy Ida is a woman with a lot of joy. She is almost 70 years old, and she looks decades younger than her actual age. She is a fitness expert and a 5 time award winning fitness pro. She works hard in Los Angeles, California. She had many children. She lost over 50 pounds to achieve her own goals. As a nutrition specialist, she loves to teach people about the truth on minerals. Her book is called Take Back Your Life. Wendy Ida is a well known influential speaker. She knows about helping people. She has toured with actors Boris Kodjoe and Nicole Ari Parker. She has worked with BET, KCAL, Essence Magazine, NBC, Inside Edition, Dr. Oz, CNN, etc. She is a fighter against cancer. She is also a supporter of the Real Men Cook Foundation. She says that it is never too late to exercise, and she is right. Her Youtube pages are filled with joy and happiness.
Adrienne Galloway is a black woman on a mission to help society and the world. She speaks with a Northern accent, so she is from New York. She is a motivator, trainer, educator, and mother plus grandmother. She loves to have her clients reach their exercise goals. For over 25 years, she has been in the physical fitness industry. She travels the country, go to events, and has a great personality. She has worked with Donna Richardson, Kurt Thomas, Syleena Johnson (or the R&B singer and commentator of FOX Soul), and other human beings. Adrienne Galloway wants people to be fit physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Right now, she is almost 60 years old. Angelique Miles and other people are acting like heroes in their fitness journeys too.
Donna Richardson, for decades, has been involved in fitness and other arenas. She is a world famous fitness instructor. She knows aerobics and has been an author plus ESPN television sports commentator. She was born in Silver Spring, Maryland in 1962. Silver Spring is just to the north of Washington, D.C. She graduated from Hollins College with a degree in Health Education and Dance. Also, she is a spiritual woman who has given motivational speeches all over the world. She's a beautiful black woman who is expressing her gifts in a loving, inspirational way. Her spirit is filled with energy, positivity, and joy. I wish the best for her. She has served on the Women's Sports Foundation board of trustees and is an Advisory Board Member of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. She was Montgomery Blair High School's first African American homecoming queen. Her teacher Saundra Woods inspired her to achieve success and excellence. Donna Richardson-Joyner has lectured in 40 countries and spoke on religious matters as well. She is a religious woman.
One of the most interesting finds of my ancestry was finding out that many of my distant paternal cousins live in West Virginia and Indiana. Many of them don't know a single thing about me, but I know my ancestry. To start, many of my paternal ancestors came from the Eastern Shore in Virginia. My 4th great grandfather was George Perkins I who was born in 1815. His wife was Esther Perkins. Their son was George Perkins II (1847-1932). His daughter was Sophonia Perkins (1870-1926).She was my first cousin. She married Sam Casey (1863-1938) and the couple lived in North Carolina. Their daughter was Nannie Rebecca Casey (1890-1943). She married Charles W. Smallwood (b. 1888). This couple moved from North Carolina into West Virginia. The couple had many children like James Bethel Smallwood (1923-1981). James was my 3rd cousin. His wife was Geneva L. Cox (1922-1995). One of their children are Deborah Zoe Smallwood (born in 1955). She was born in West Virginia and moved into South Bend, Indiana.
One of my late distant relatives was my 3rd cousin named Elder Carol Lovette Cohen Robertson (1939-2019).She was born on November 20, 1939 at Eden, North Carolina. She was the fifth child born to her parents of the late Deacon William Henry Cohen Sr. (1908-1985) and Dr. Lettie Lee Perkins Cohen (1910-1997). Elder Carol Lovette Cohen's siblings are Doris Jean Cohen (born in 1929), Annie Pearl Hairston (1932-1994), William Herbert Cohen (1934-1982), Harold Lee Cohen (born 1937), Dr. James Roland Cohen (who was born in 1947. His wife was Carlene Dillard Clark. His son is James Roland Cohen Jr. born in 1966), Bishop Harry Cohen (whose wife is Elder Linda Cohen of Burlington, North Carolina). and Mary Esther Cohen (born 1942). Elder Carol Cohen Robertson married Elder Bobby Robertson (born 1961) at Leaksville, Rockingham, North Carolina on May 20, 1961. Their 4 children are Dr. Andrea Lovette Robertson Byers (born 1963), Valerie Denise Robertson Atkins (whose husband is Douglas Akins), Joseph Lamont Robertson (whose wife is Dennice), and Walter Dulane Robertson. Carol Cohen Robertson was an accompanist for her mother and Gospel Light Untied Holy Church in Axton, Virginia. She loved to play music being influenced by the jazz pianist Errol Gardner. In 2011, she earned an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity Degree from the United Holy Churches of America, Inc. Carol Cohen Robertson have 8 grandchildren. Their names are: Josef Akins of Brooklyn, NYC, Loren Byers of Greensboro, North Carolina, Jasmine Akins of Greensboro, North Carolina, Chelci Robertson, Ashleigh Robertson, Zachary Robertson, Caroline Robertson, and Quincy Robertson (all of which are from High Point, North Carolina). Elder Carol Lovette Cohen Robertson is related to me by sharing my 4th great grandfather named George Perkins I, who was born in 1815 at Northampton County, Virginia (at the Eastern Shore).
My ancestors didn't just stay in Virginia and North Carolina. They migrated all over America. In the South, my paternal 3rd cousins of Shua Fyffe-Wally and Marland Fyffe moved from Connecticut to Atlanta, Georgia. They are descendants of the late Beatrice Latrice William (1918-2010). Beatrice was born in North Carolina and moved into Connecticut. Her mother is Leatte D. or my 2nd great aunt. My 3rd paternal cousin Vernon Sessons Junior lives in Hampton, Virginia. My 4th cousin Shawkeen Johnson is my paternal relative living in Maryland. My 3rd maternal cousin April Brown-Gordon lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. My 4th maternal cousin Tony Sanchius lives in Washington, D.C. My 4th maternal cousin Rosina Therea Lowe lives in Georgia. My 5th cousin Willette Roundtree Shalishali livesin Georgia too. My maternal 4th cousin Dr. Kimberly Munro lives in North Carolina. In the Midwest, my 5th cousin Josina Pittman Greene lives in St. Louis, Missouri. My 3rd cousin Shelton Lamar Graves is from Cincinnati, Ohio. Felicia Anne Christian is my maternal 3rd cousin from Ohio. My maternal 2nd cousin Abdul Rashad-Diaab (formerly Ray Bernard Darden) was born in Isle of Wright of Virginia, lived in Brooklyn, NYC, and now lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In the North, my maternal cousin Lisa M. Cousins is my 1st cousin from Westchester, New York. Ericka Walters or my 2nd paternal cousin lives in Philadelphia. Danielle Parks lives in New Jersey and she is my paternal 3rd cousin. My 5th maternal cousin is Daryle Hundell and Doreen Hundell from New York City. On the west coast, my 3rd cousin Treana Renee Jones on my paternal side is from Ventura, California.
International Cold War Events were history making and time changing at the same time. By 1985, the Reagan Doctrine was real. In the same year, military rule ends in Brazil. Ramiz Alia took over as First Secretary of the Party of Labor of Albania, becoming the de facto leader of Albania. The Trial of the Juntas convenes to prosecute the members of the National Reorganization Process (the military junta that governed Argentina from 1976 to 1983) for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during its existence. Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Soviet Union begins what it has announced is a 5-month unilateral moratorium on the testing of nuclear weapons. The Reagan administration dismissed the dramatic move as nothing more than propaganda and refuses to follow suit. Gorbachev declares several extensions, but the United States failed to reciprocate, and the moratorium comes to an end on February 5, 1987. By 1986, France repeled Libya from its invasion of Chad. In 1986, People Power Revolution took place in the Philippines, overthrowing President Ferdinand Marcos. The Philippines' first female president, Corazon Aquino, was installed as president. In 1986, there was the Chernobyl disaster: A Soviet nuclear power plant in the Ukraine explodes, resulting in the worst nuclear power plant accident in history. America dropped bombs on Libya. By 1986, the public learns about the Iran-Contra affair: The Reagan administration publicly announces that it has been selling arms to Iran in exchange for hostages and illegally transferring the profits to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. In 1987, during a visit to Berlin, Germany, U.S. President Ronald Reagan famously challenged Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev in a speech: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" (The Berlin Wall). Mohammad Najibullah became the President of Afghanistan and implements a policy of National Reconciliation as a means of putting an end to the Soviet-Afghan War as well as beginning an end to Soviet influence in the country. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signed in Washington, D.C. by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Some later claim this was the unofficial beginning of the end of the Cold War. Gorbachev agrees to START I treaty. In 1988, Soviet scientist and well-known human rights activist Andrei Sakharov begins a two-week visit to the United States. The Soviet Union started to withdraw from Afghanistan. In 1989, there was the Tiananmen Square Massacre: Beijing protests are crushed by the communist Chinese government, resulting in an unknown number of deaths. Revolutions are in Eastern Europe, Indonesia have changes, and the bloody Romanian Revolution happened. In 1990, more democracy comes to Poland, Iraq invaded Kuwait starting the Persian Gulf War, and George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Helsinki, Finland and issued a joint declaration condemning the invasion of Kuwait. Mikhail Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. More nations in Eastern Europe including Armenia declare independence from the Soviet Union. Nelson Mandela is freed from prison in 1990. There was the event when George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Helsinki, Finland and issue a joint declaration condemning the invasion of Kuwait. Germany is reunited by 1990, and the end of the Cold War would soon happen by 1991.
2020 is unlike any year of my lifetime. I have been on this Earth for almost 40 years. I have never seen a year like this ever in my life. This year is very similar to 1968 as people are fighting a war on the coronvarius, protests against police brutality are unprecedented since the 1960's, we have massive political polarization, and we have a President who is now one of the worst Presidents in American history. That is why sincere people are outrageous at the Muslim ban, the demonization of protesters, and the lax response to police terrorism. People were always warned about Trump too. For years and decades, heroic people have warned the public about his narcissism, his lies, his racism, his sexism, and his xenophobia. Trump is explicit in degrading mail in ballots,abhorring the freedom of the press, and desiring Biden, Obama, and others to be arrested. When you even have many Republicans desiring to vote for Biden instead of Trump, then you realize that Trump is a very passionate far right extremist. His embrace of Reaganomics and his love for authoritarian militias (like Trump tweeting to want the Michigan militias to liberate Michigan in response to the virus) expose him as a threat to democracy. The far right militias and hate crimes have grown in America since 2016. Some Michigan sheriffs and police people have refused to enforce a Michigan state government ban on guns at polling places. This comes after 14 militia members were arrested for trying to kidnap and harm Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The coup plot in Michigan is part of a large reactionary movement filled with Qanon, the Proud Boys, and others who hate progressive power. This is no time for compromising with an overt liar in the White House. It is the time to speak our minds, vote, and encourage more people to vote Trump out of office indeed.
The ancient story of Atlantis existed first in the fictional island tale outlined in Plato's works of Tameus and Critias. These stories described rivalries and power. Plato writes about how Athens repeals the Atlantean attack unlike any other nation in the ancient world. The story of Atlantis, as told by Plato, mentioned that Atlantis failed out of favor with the deities and submerged into the Atlantic Ocean. Atlantis has been used by many to describe an allegory of a highly developed civilization that ended by corruption or natural disasters. This allegory has been written about by many Renaissance writers like Francis Bacon's New Atlantis and Thomas More's Utopia. 19th century scholars in many cases believed that Atlantis actually existed like Ignatius L. Donnelly in his book called, Atlantis: The Antediluvian World. Plato's words said that these events that he described were more than 9,000 years before his time. Plato believed that the location of Atlantis was beyond the Pillars of Hercules. Scientists in the modern age have studied this subject for a long time. What is true is that similar civilizations destroyed by floods stories are found in the four corners of the Earth. Some people believed that the inspiration of the Atlantis story were about Egyptian records of the Thera eruption, the Sea Peoples invasion, or the Trojan War. It is no secret that Plato wanted a perfect society as documented in his Republic work that was written in ca. 380 B.C. Critias said that Atlantis was over 9,000 before his time, and that Atlanteans conquered parts of Libya into Egypt. Gunnar Rudberg said that the Atlantis account may have been inspired by the city of Syracuse. Many people back then and today view the Atlantis story as fictional or real. Aristotle thought the story was fictional, while Crantor believed that it was a fact. Occultists from Blavatsky, Edgar Cayce, and Manly P. Hall has written about Atlantis. What is the truth? The truth is Atlantis, so far, is a fictional location. Yet, it is true that the ancient world was a lot more complex and interesting than many people assume. Advanced technologies from clocks to building tools did exist centuries and thousands of years ago. Many occultists used the story of Atlantis to promote an Utopian society: "For more than three thousand years, secret societies have labored to create the background of knowledge necessary to the establishment of an enlightened democracy among the nations of the world ..." (Manly P. Hall, occult philosopher). Therefore, the mysteries of the ancients has been embraced by many Secret Societies like the Rosicrucians, Freemasons, the Skulls and Bones, etc. in order for some people to make radical esoteric changes in society. Later, I will show more information on this subject.
By Timothy