Dear Friends,

Thank you for embarking on this journey with me as we enter a new era of identity transparency. 

Unexpectedly discovering an unknown biological parent and new siblings is a shocking awakening.  It is also a gift. While family secrets are kept secret for a reason, there comes a time when it's "safe" to come out.  Knowing "what were made of" is a way to start conversations that have the power to build and maintain common identity and common ground in families, local communities and around the world. 

In the midst of escalating global fragmentation and polarization there are also millions of stories of hope and discovery waiting to be sewn into the fabric of our collective identity. 

Eric Liu of Citizen's University is one of my favorite authors. Eric has written extensively about power. He teaches that knowledge is power, and power is like fire: inherently neither good nor evil. Power is a tool. It doesn’t corrupt character so much as it reveals it. We don't just receive power as it passes through us or acts upon us. We generate it. We give it in the form of ideas, stories, and relationships. 

As I look to the future, these are a few of the questions on my mind:

• How can my story be told in way that promotes a shared sense of identity in an age of demographic flux and severe inequality?
• How can consumer DNA testing create a sense of shared fate across increasingly rigid class and race divides?
• How do we, as citizens of humanity, create a sustainable story of “us”?

I have a questions for you too: As a keeper of your family flame, what will you do with the knowledge of your ancestry? What will you do with your flame? 

Thanks again for your steadfast support. It means the world to me!

My very best,

Joanne