{"product_id":"finding-peoples","title":"Finding Peoples","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eA picture is worth a thousand words.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eSo, picture this:\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eA troubled, poverty-stricken, violence-laden marriage with five children and a sixth on the way. Not an ideal situation to bring a new-born baby into.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eAdd to that the information that the baby will be born sickly and will likely require significant medical attention. The parents think of a solution – adoption.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eNow, this is in the late 1950s and Black families were not into the whole adoption thing!\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eIn fact, formal adoption within Black families in the United States remains a rarity.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eInstead, most Black families utilize what author Sojourner Ahebee calls, informal adoptions or fictive kinship.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eFictive kinship is when at least one individual who is unrelated to the birthchild by blood or marriage takes on the responsibility of raising\/nurturing the child outside the formal adoption process. Fictive kinship personifies the African Proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child”.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eSlavery tore mothers from their babies and fathers from their families.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eHettie Williams writes that African American fictive kinship arose out of the chaos of enslavement.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eAccording to Williams, the separation of blood kin from children and families made fictive kin a survival tool for Black families. My birth mother and father, Dorothy Jean Peoples and Charles Peoples, decided not to utilize fictive kinship options that were available to them.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eMy mom’s extended family would have taken in the baby she had in 1958.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eMy dad’s mother probably would have gladly raised that baby. \u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eIt is reported that adoption can prevent a life cycle of poverty and even death by giving the mother and the child a new chance.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eIt is believed that adoption can be an empowering decision for the expectant mother who knows in her heart that adoption is the right choice for both her and her baby. Perhaps that is what convinced my mom to keep her pregnancy in 1958 a secret from her family and agree to give her newborn baby up for adoption.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eFor whatever reason, they decided to go against the norm for Black families in that era and give their sixth child up for adoption.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eThat decision impacted the trajectory of that baby’s life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eCharles and Dorothy Peoples knew the perfect couple to give their sixth child to– an older couple who have been unable to have a baby after 17 miscarriages.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eThe formal adoption is arranged.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eThe baby is born, but the birth mother isn’t sure about the arrangement.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eThe couples agree that the newborn baby girl should live with the birth parents for a few months.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eDuring that time, Dorothy called the baby Heretha.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eWithin three months, the birth parents realize they cannot afford to care for the Heretha – financially, mentally, or emotionally.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eThey proceed with the planned adoption.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eThis story is the about the outcome of that decision made by Charles and Dorothy Peoples.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eThis story is about the impact of their decision on the five children they had who lived with them.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eThis story is about the impact of their decision on their sixth child.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eThis is my story—the sixth child.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eThis is the story of my siblings.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eThis is our story:\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFinding Peoples\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"GriotSpeaks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44819644645446,"sku":null,"price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0719\/5869\/1910\/files\/BookCoverll.jpg?v=1774964829","url":"https:\/\/griotspeaks.myshopify.com\/products\/finding-peoples","provider":"GriotSpeaks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}