Harriet Beecher Stowe, born in 1811, moved with her family from Massachusetts to Cincinnati in 1832, and Stowe encountered fugitive enslaved people and the Underground Railroad for the first time. Her anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, written in reaction to...

The New York City Draft Riots of 1863 were not a single protest gone wrong, but rather the explosive result of overlapping social, economic, and racial tensions intensified by war. While the immediate trigger was the federal government’s Enrollment Act, the deeper...

The Fort Pillow Massacre in Tennessee on April 12, 1864, in which some 300+ African American soldiers were murdered by Confederate soldiers, was one of the most controversial events of the American Civil War. Though most of the Union garrison (both White and African...

The 16th President of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln, was born in Kentucky, grew up in Illinois, and became the leader of the United States during the most tumultuous time in its history. He has monuments erected for him in Washington, DC. I've sat at...

Frederick Douglass, the preeminent speaker for African Americans during the middle 1800s bent President Lincoln’s ear every chance he got.  It wasn't for Lincoln to allow African American men to fight in the war – they were already doing that in droves with horrible...

Harriet Tubman, one of the most famous African American figures in the mid-1800s was born, raised, escaped, and returned over and over again to antebellum Maryland. Reports are that she rescued over 100 slaves during the time leading up to the Civil War. Additionally,...

Oh my God! Not “OMG”, but OH MY GOD. Spoken, whispered, shouted, and posted with reverence to EL Shaddai (Lord God Almighty), Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Will Provide), Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals), Jehovah Rohi (The Lord My Shepherd), and other appellations that...

Hi. I’m AJ Sam, author and self-publisher of A Journey Far: Ibere. This blog regarding my first novel, A Journey Far: Ibere, shares the challenges I faced bringing this work to fruition. But first, I’ll begin with an outline of the story. Spanning the 15 years...

As I think about the goodness of God, I think about my journey during the 50+ adult years of my life. I’m beginning to realize just how much God has been in my life. Planning my directions. Orchestrating my decisions. And giving me the space to make mistakes, the sense to correct those mistakes, AND the time to overcome those mistakes! Because now, as I continue my journey I am seeing things differently. It’s no longer self-centered where I believe I’m in control, but God centered where I know God is in control. I’ve become more aware that God is with me all the time. I’m more aware that God knows my journey. I’m more aware that God is guiding my journey. I’m more aware that God’s plan for my journey is for my good, and not for bad.

History Drives the Fiction The writing of A Journey Far: Ibere, has been quite a journey for me. For 20 years - first putting pen to paper, then fingertips to keys, then rewrites and revisions - this book developed from a college assignment to random thoughts and...