Many African Americans established a tradition of family reunions, an outgrowth of their post-emancipation search to connect with long-lost relatives and friends. Modern family reunions preserve and celebrate Black families’ history, resilience, music, and culinary traditions. The Tucker family are believed to be descendants of two of the first enslaved Africans from Angola who landed in English North America at Point Comfort in 1619, in present-day Hampton, Virginia. Historian Ed Ayers spent time with the Tucker family there, on the 400th anniversary of their landing.  In this video segment, Ayers discusses their family history and why they continue to come here each year as part of a larger descendant community. 

Descendants of the Tucker family, and others, participate in family reunions such as these as both a tradition and a commemoration. 

• What does the contemporary presence of family reunions tell us about Black mobility (forced and voluntary) and its relationship to the Black family? 
• How do descendant communities across the country continue to remember and commemorate their ancestors?
• What does it mean to be a member of a descendant community?
• In what ways are public spaces and historical sites such as Ft. Monroe part of this tradition?