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Article: Woman finds part of self in Canada, where blacks share in painful past.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- February 26, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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DETROIT _ Barbara Hughes Smith was raised on fairy tales.
Growing up in Detroit, she'd heard stories about her ancestors, enslaved Africans who had escaped the South and come North in search of a better life. That search eventually took them across the border to Canada, where Smith's great-great-great uncle Anthony Binga ministered to the former slaves in Amherstburg, 18 miles south of Windsor.
After the Civil War, many of Binga's offspring returned to America. Others, wedded to the land that had sheltered them against the ravages of American slavery, stayed in Canada. In that way, Binga's family _ along with many other black families _ found themselves ...