Completing the circle
Like Araminta, you began with family. She went back again and again, and she never went back empty-handed. Now it’s your turn to go back with something in your hands.
At the Return, you give your family the piece you shaped in Stage VI. Your family and your support specialist offer appreciations and options for improvement. You say what you learned and where you want to go next. And your family and community tell you what they want to see in your next journey.
At the Araminta level, you return a recording or an illustrated story. When your support specialist or your family affirms your Return, you become a Djeli-in-Training at Level 2: Assata Shakur.
How-To Study: Planning the Return
Open the video in GHL
A Return is a family gathering with a purpose. It can be a dinner, a reunion moment, a church fellowship hour, or a video call. Give it an order, so everyone knows their part.
The order of the Return
- Welcome and call the namesWelcome everyone. Call the names of the elders and ancestors whose stories you carried.
- Why I did thisShare your mission in a few sentences, from your Stage I commitment.
- The giftPlay your recording or show your illustrated story. Give the family its own copy.
- AppreciationsFamily members and your support specialist say what they appreciated.
- Options for improvementThey offer what could make it stronger next time.
- Lessons learned and next stepsYou say what you learned and what you want to explore next.
- What we want to see nextFamily and community tell you what they hope to see in your next course.
- AffirmationYour family or support specialist affirms your Return. Close with a song, a call and response, or a family saying.
Receiving appreciations and options well
- Listen all the way through. Say “thank you,” not “but.”
- Write it down, or ask someone to write it down for you.
- An option for improvement is a gift for your next journey, not a grade on this one.
- If an elder corrects a fact, thank them. Your piece just got more true.
Ask for options, not criticism. You can open that part of the Return by saying: “What would make this even stronger next time?”
Check yourself
Answer each in your head, then open it to compare. Your graded quiz is in GHL.
Why is the Return necessary?
Because the stories came from the family. Giving them back with dignity completes the circle. Without it, the work only serves you.
What’s the difference between an appreciation and an option for improvement?
An appreciation names what was strong. An option for improvement offers what could make it stronger next time.
Who can affirm your Return and move you to Level 2?
Your support specialist or your family.
An elder says a date in your piece is wrong. What do you do?
Thank them, note the correction, and fix it before the piece is shared further.
Family Research: Hold the Return
Return plan
Your plan saves in this browser only.
Appreciations and options
Record what each person says at the Return. Ask a relative to type while you listen.
Lessons learned and next steps
Write these before the Return so you’re ready to share them, then add what your family says.
Demonstration: The final telling
First, respond to two tellings
Answer before you call. Respond to two final pieces from classmates or from the Ancestor Shelf, using the four moves:
- Name itGive the piece a name.
- Take itSay one thing it taught you.
- Ask itAsk the performer one question.
- Link itConnect it to your own family or adopted line.
Then, post your final piece
Post the finished recording or illustrated story, with a few sentences about how the Return went. Choose your tier with the teller’s blessing. The Showcase tier needs a parent’s sign-off and goes through moderation.
The yearly Family Lore Project ebook draws from final pieces. If you and your family would like your piece considered, mark it for the ebook when you submit it in GHL.
Bring to your weekend session
The circle celebrates every Return. Bring your piece and your appreciations. Classmates will share theirs, and your support specialist may affirm your Return there.
Affirmation
After the Return, your support specialist or a family member affirms your work. Record it here, then submit it in GHL, where AYA confirms your level.
The AYA EOTT Family Lore Project
Araminta Level
Djeli-in-Training
- Listen
- Investigate
- Preserve
- Interpret
- Heal
- Perform
- Educate
- Return
The strings light when your affirmation is recorded and your checklist is complete.
Awards
- AYA FLP certificateIssued by AYA once your affirmation is confirmed in GHL.
- The yearly Family Lore Project ebookStudents may be mentioned or featured. Families purchase three copies: one as a gift to the student, one for the family, and one for a church, community library, or educational program.
Your next journey: Level 2, Assata Shakur
Named for courage and the defense of our people.
- Gather 3 lore categories, with Lessons and the struggle required
- Go deeper into family decisions (warrior, healer, and builder choices) and Touched by Blackness
- Learn to recognize the five broken stories told about our people
- Return a family timeline or a corrected family tree
For the family
Your Djeli-in-Training is ready to give back the stories you shared. The Return is your gathering as much as theirs.
“You trusted me with our stories. Now I want to give them back. Will you come to our family’s Return, hear what I made, and tell me what you appreciated and what would make it stronger?”
Help by hosting or joining the gathering, offering honest appreciations and options, telling the student what you hope to see next, and, if you are the one affirming, writing your words of affirmation.
Stage VIII checklist
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