From Anger to Healing

Sharon Leslie Morgan felt disillusioned with America and emigrated to South Africa in 1994. Despite Nelson Mandela’s presidency, this was not a place of refuge either. Her son was assaulted by a police officer and later she was held at gunpoint while people invaded her home. “It got much more dangerous because the last horrible thing was that my house was invaded and I was held at gunpoint and locked in a bathroom with my housekeeper, the gardener, me and my foster child,” she said. “And they said, after we were escorted to the bathroom at gunpoint, ‘We will come back and kill you after we pack up your stuff.’”

Since returning to the U.S. in late 2001, Morgan has been active in genealogy. She said the difficult part for her is the history of African American people is a history of pain. “I had accumulated a lot of hurt and anger about this,” she said. “I could either use that and just be hurt and angry which is destructive, or I can channel this in a productive way.”

To read this article by Abigail Murphy in The Outlook, Click Here.