Black History Month: How Sonya Miranda's Family Reclaimed Their Past

In honor of Black History Month, this episode of GKG on Air dives into a unique and special story of a GKG family member. GKG’s Lynsee Gibbons is joined by Sonya Miranda, GKG’s Senior Training & Organizational Development Consultant. Sonya shares an incredible story about unveiling a family legacy and reclaiming their past - a journey that was recently featured in The Washington Post. 

Sonya and her family grew up in Pittsylvania County -  a small county in southern Virginia. In their hometown, there was one particular house that held secrets for over 160 years, and now, has been the answer to questions Sonya had her entire life. It wasn’t until her cousin, Fredrick, purchased the house, known as Sharswood Manor, that finally some of those questions were answered. What began as a real estate endeavor,  suddenly became a walk through the past, as Sonya and her family discovered their very ancestors were enslaved on that property - a former plantation.

Join us as Sonya tells the story of Sharswood from her perspective, and find out what will become of this historic landmark that her family now owns.

To read more about this story, please check out the Washington Post Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/01/22/virginia-plantation-slavery-owners-history/

To learn more about Sonya, please check out the Women’s History Month video we did on her last year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFgzS46SOGY

Chapters:

• 0:08 - 0:25 – Introducing Sonya 
• 0:25 - 1:45 – Background on The Washington Post article
• 1:45 – 3:05 – Sonya’s family history and finding the link to Sharswood 
• 3:07 – 7:11 – Fredrick’s purchase and the research behind the history of Sharswood 
• 7:13 – 9:11 – The Miller name lineage, and finding family roots after being set free
• 9:13 –12:09 – Sarah Miller - Sonya's Great Great Grandmother 
• 12:10 – 13:58 – How it feels to reclaim the past  
• 14:00 – 16:17 – What will become of Sharswood for Sonya’s family 
• 16:18 – 19:13 – Sonya’s journey to discover her lineage in Africa 
• 19:20 – 19:59 – Thanking Sonya and where to find out more about Sharswood