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How Thinking About Your Ancestors Can Help You Thrive

Contemplating our heritage can make us feel more belonging, gratitude, and confidence.

Oral historian Mi’Jan Celie Tho-Biaz knows the profound impact the past can have on the present. For our show, Mi’Jan tried a lab-tested writing practice that took the historical facts she knew about her own family further – by way of her imagination. She journaled about her great-great grandmother Emma, the last enslaved person in her family, and her late father, Njoroge , imagining what they might say to her today. We also hear from psychologist Susan Moore about how learning about your ancestors can help you feel a sense of self-knowledge, gratitude and belonging.

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19 minutes