Reclaiming the Voices Lost in History's Shadows

America's history is often defined by the voices that recorded it, leaving many untold stories in the margins. 

Today, I challenge the conventional narratives and bring to light the essential contributions of women, Native Americans, African Americans, and immigrants whose stories have been overshadowed. 

I, Carmen Cauthen, invite you to explore these overlooked perspectives, sparking a necessary conversation about reshaping our historical understanding. We'll examine the biases present in traditional histories and recognize that every family's story is a vital piece of America's complex puzzle.

Embark with me on a transformative journey as I uncover my own heritage and its place within the tapestry of American history. This introspection has fueled my passion as a citizen and advocate, driving me to ensure that diverse voices are heard and honored. I'll address the significant gaps in educational representation and discuss how bringing these stories to the forefront empowers us all. As we connect through these narratives, we forge a path toward a more inclusive and truthful representation of our shared history. 

Join this empowering dialogue and be inspired to reconnect with your own roots.

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Carmen Wimberley Cauthen is an author, speaker, and lover of history, Black history in particular. As a truth teller, she delights in finding the hidden truths about the lives of people who made a difference - whether they were unknown icons or regular everyday people.

To Learn more of Carmen:
www.carmencauthen.com
www.researchandresource.com

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Unseen, unheard.
We've lived like that far toolong.
I'm Carmen Coffin and this isQuiet, no More.
So let's talk about history inAmerica.
I have some questions and Ihave some answers for me, but

(00:27):
they might not be the same asthe questions and answers that
you have.
Let me ask this one when didthe history of America come from
?
Now, think about that, becauseyour answer might be different
from mine.
I remember what I was taught inschool from the first days that

(00:49):
I went to school, but what I'verecognized today is that the
history of America was writtenby people who could read and
write.
That was number one.
And people who were doing thatreading and writing to make sure
that their economiccircumstances were captured that

(01:12):
was white men.
Now, you might not agree withthat, but I promise you it's
true.
So for me, if you are anythingother than a white man, if you
are a woman of any race or coloror creed, if you are native to,

(01:33):
if your family was native tothis country before white men
showed up, if you were animmigrant, if you were an
immigrant, you need to bewriting your family history down
, because that history is partof America's history, but it
wasn't necessarily recorded, itwasn't necessarily considered

(01:56):
important.
When you think about most ofthe things that happen in
America, it's behind money.
Now a lot of us say that it'sbehind religion, but the people
who could afford to come here,who were white from other

(02:17):
countries, they had to havemoney to come.
They didn't come because theywere just trying to get away,
unless they were indenturedservants, and that was still
about money.
And so you know, most AfricanAmericans didn't come here on
their own.
They were stolen from othercountries or sold from other

(02:39):
countries and brought here.
And so whose history have welearned?
This is not about telling youthat you need to practice
critical race theory, because Idon't know anything about that
except for what I've read.
This is about the truth ofAmerica's history.
What I learned at school waswhat was in school books that

(03:06):
were written by white people andin some cases, were passed down
to my school after white peoplehad finished using them because
they weren't considered anygood anymore.
But my family history wasn'twritten into that history, and

(03:33):
so that's what I do now is I tryto search and find and share
the history of America from myfamily's point of view, not just
my Grady, winn, wimberly,wilson family, not just from my
Coffin family, but from my Blackpeople's family and from my
Native American family, becauseall of that is in my background.

(03:58):
How much of what you know aboutyour family's history is part of
America's history.
Know about your family'shistory is part of America's
history, and did you ever thinkabout that?
Your family's history was animportant part of America's
history.
Have you considered that if youpulled your family's part of
American history away and it's apuzzle which it is, it's a

(04:28):
puzzle which it is then thepuzzle can't be completed
because that piece has beenremoved.
Your family's history is soimportant and so, if you've been
thinking about it from agenealogical standpoint, dates
and facts, think about itdifferently.
Think about this is a piece ofthe puzzle of America's history.

(05:01):
My part, my family's part,needs to be a part of that
storytelling and we all do havethat.
How do you start to write thatdown so that it can be
documented, so that it can be apart of America's history much
longer than what you willremember to tell or the parts

(05:23):
that you will remember?
How did you learn aboutAmerica's history?
There are so many ways to havelearned it.
We watched TV to learn it, butwe actually started learning it
when we first started school,whether that was you started in
nursery school or daycare orkindergarten or elementary

(05:48):
school.
We have been learning aboutAmerica's history all along.
If you had time at your familytable, dinner table during
holidays, or just sitting aroundand having conversations with
your grandparents and yourparents, you've learned some

(06:08):
American history, but thatprobably wasn't what was in your
textbooks or what was talkedabout when you were at school.
So you have to be sure to putyour own pieces of America's
history together, and that'swhat I'm working on.

(06:29):
So when I talk about the historyof Raleigh's Black
neighborhoods something that Ididn't learn about until I was
in my late 50s I just assumedthe neighborhoods had always
been there.
That wasn't true.
There was a reason that theywere where they were.
There were reasons why blackpeople were situated in
Southeast Raleigh.
If you look around in your ownneighborhood, in your own

(06:54):
locality, you're going to seethe same things that I see, but
you might have an issue in termsof not ever having thought
about how did thoseneighborhoods get to be,
especially if you don't live inthose neighborhoods.

(07:16):
You just drive throughoccasionally.
You have no idea what's in thedepths of the neighborhoods.
You have no idea of thestruggles that people had to buy
homes, to lease places to stay.
You have no idea of the kindsof occupations that people had

(07:36):
or what they had to do in orderto be educated.
Those are the pieces ofAmerican history that have been
left out and we have to be surethat they are part and parcel.
I learned about the presidentsand you know I could only learn
about white presidents when Iwas growing up up, because

(07:57):
that's all there had been.
When I hear young people tell metoday they don't know anything
about Martin Luther King, that'san anomaly to me.
But it also says why is thereonly Martin Luther King that we
need to talk about?
Martin Luther King that we needto talk about.

(08:20):
Why aren't there other blackmen and women in all walks of
life that we don't talk about inthe classroom?
They did things.
Why aren't there NativeAmericans that we talk about in
the classroom other thanPocahontas, if we talk about her
?
And a lot of people think thatPocahontas is a cartoon
character.
That's not true.

(08:42):
She was a real woman and sinceI mentioned her, let me ask you
if you knew that, whatever themother was during a long period
of time.
In terms of race, themanufacturer of race children

(09:05):
followed the race of the mother.
So in the case of someone likePocahontas, who was a Native
American who married John Smith,and they at some point lived in
England, but the land that JohnSmith had in Virginia was not
his, because their childrenfollowed the race of the mother

(09:29):
and that was Native American,they were not allowed, those
children were not allowed toinherit their father's land.
Did you know that?
Did you also know, if youdidn't know that, did you know
that the legislature in thestate of Virginia passed a law

(09:51):
to allow only John Smith'sprogeny or his children to
inherit his land?
Otherwise they would have notbeen allowed to inherit the land
that their father owned, thathe had bought, that he had.
I don't know how he got theland.

(10:12):
I'm just going to assume hebought it from somebody who took
it from Native Americans whenthey came here.
But is that something that youwere taught in school?
I didn't learn that in school.
I didn't learn that until muchlater.
I didn't learn that in school.
I didn't learn that until muchlater.

(10:36):
I get concerned now because Irealize that so many of the
things that we have taught ourchildren, that we have been
taught ourselves, that we havebeen I don't want to say
indoctrinated, but that's whatit was, because the things that
we teach we expect young peopleto memorize facts, and when it
comes to history and geographyand those kinds of things we
don't tell them they get todispute it.

(10:59):
This is what we're teaching,and a lot of the things that I
learned I learned because I camehome and read books that were
on the shelves at home.
Because I came home and readbooks that were on the shelves
at home, One of them, one ofthose books being Carter G
Woodson's Negro Makers ofHistory, which was an important
right in 1927, because peopleeven in 1927 were not learning

(11:24):
the truth about our history, andso I'm fortunate that I have
that book in my library that hasbeen on the shelves at my house
, where I was growing up all mylife and we were able to read
the truth of American history,like when we talk about the
Revolutionary War, I always knewthat Crispus Attucks was a

(11:50):
Black man who was part of theAmerican Revolution, but not
until the last two years have Irealized how many more African
Americans were part of theAmerican Revolution, and it
didn't matter if they wereenslaved or not.
It didn't matter if they wereenslaved or not, and that's how

(12:12):
so many African Americans wereable to gain land during that
period of time, because thepayment for being a soldier in
the Revolutionary War was agrant of land, a good-sized
chunk of land.
And I didn't know that and, asyou know if you've been
following me, I'm 65.

(12:33):
So I should have known that,but nobody taught it to me.
So I have learned that on my own.
And it just amazes me all thethings about my country when
I've pledged allegiance to mycountry, that I didn't know,

(12:54):
that, I wasn't told about mycountry, and so it is so
important that I acknowledgewhere my family fits in to the
history of America.
If it's personal for me, thenit makes me think differently

(13:14):
about the things that happenhere.
It makes me recognize theimportance of my commitment, of
my being a community advocate,of my being able to stand up and
speak for myself and those whodon't know that they can speak
up for themselves or who aren'tready to do that, because I see

(13:39):
where I fit in and I'm not able.
You can't come and tell me thatI'm not part of this country,
and that's why I teach all thesethings, because I'm not going
to be quiet anymore.
You've been listening to Quietno More where I share my journey

(14:02):
.
So you can be quiet, let'sconnect at wwwcarmencoffincom.