July 25, 2008
Cover Story
Reunions bring families together
African-Americans reconnect across miles and generations - with some advance planning
Benetta Thomas-Jones still remembers the day she first realized the importance of keeping her family's history alive.
"My daughter was home in the summer 2006 from North Carolina Central University in Durham, N.C., and I was talking about Aunt Pat and Aunt Bobbie," recalls Thomas-Jones of the conversation with her daughter Janay. "She looked at me and said, 'I don't know who those people are.' She did not know my family."
That mother-daughter chat motivated the 47-year-old personnel security specialist at Fort Meade to take on the challenging task of planning her family's summer reunion in Baltimore.
The Thomas-Ellis reunion in June drew about 60 relatives -- a far cry from the 125 people she had expected -- from Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Mississippi and Maryland.
Related links
Still, Thomas-Jones was pleased with the family reunion that this year expanded from its familiar backyard surroundings.
"They thought they'd come to a hotel, go to a picnic, go to dinner and go home," Thomas-Jones says of the event-filled weekend. "But I had planned card parties of spades and bid whist in the hospitality suite of the hotel. Bingo, the kids had crafts and a swim party, and they were playing horseshoes and volleyball on Saturday morning.
"It went very, very well," she says.
"You need to know your family. Elders are out there with all this history and knowledge, and one by one that knowledge and history is going with them," says Thomas-Jones. Younger generations "need to know who they are, and where they came from."
In an era when families are fragmented by distance, the African-American reunion is helping to strengthen the extended family bond. Many of these gatherings expand beyond the down-home picnics with Grandma's potato salad to include hotel banquets with dinner and dancing.
"Summer is a big time for family reunions. It's popular for African-American family reunions," says Ione Vargus, the founder and chairwoman of the Family Reunion Institute at Temple University in Philadelphia.
Vargus says that, proportionately speaking, African-Americans have more family reunions than other groups.
"The major significance of the family reunion for African-Americans is that it's serving as a catalyst to bring back the extended family in a new way," explains Vargus.
"We're moving away from the picnic, the cookout. The African-American family reunion extending to two to three days really has to do with people coming from across the country. It's made like a vacation and has become institutionalized."
Undoubtedly, the hotel and tourism industry has taken notice that the African-American family reunion is big business, with convention and visitors' bureaus promoting historic and cultural sites dedicated to such events.
"It has become very big commercially. The reason: The reunions you see fill hotels in the summer when revenues are down. Family reunions are filling that void," says Vargus.
"You are looking at millions of dollars being spent in Baltimore," says Fields, who does business with as many as two dozen family reunions a year. "They go to the [National] Great Blacks in Wax Museum, the Reginald F. Lewis [Museum], and they go to the Inner Harbor.
"African-American family reunions want to venture out in the neighborhoods," he says.
With the majority of these travelers visiting relatives or friends, it's no surprise that each summer, families across the country pack up their bags and drive, fly, bus, or ride trains to their hometowns or to centrally located cities to celebrate family through fellowship and food.
Get home delivery of The Sun and save over 50% off the newsstand price
Copyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun
'Dark Knight'
Review, showtimes, photos and more
|
|
Columnists: Kevin Cowherd | Edward Gunts | Rob Kasper | Rashod D. Ollison | Susan Reimer A&E reviews: Concerts | Theater | Art | Classical Music | Movies | Television Extras: Birthdays | Sudoku | Lottery | TV grid |
Features |
Popular stories
- Lewis says he's built to last
- Gunman opens fire at intersection, kills 2
- A step back in hopes of a leap forward
- Fla. man gets 10 years for driving heroin through Md.
- Ray Frager: A news look for WMAR
| |
Backyard EdenShow off your garden and view photos from other gardeners. More: Pets | Family reunions | Beach photos | |
Shooting of 'My One and Only'
Read coverage of the filming of the Renee Zellweger film around Baltimore.
Photo galleries
Flip through celebrity and lifestyle photos.
