Aqueea's parents purchased a piece of land - "the place," a name her dad called the farm, which has links to the founder of the town of Clarksville, Mecklenburg County, Virginia, and William Byrd II, a relative of George Washington through marriage who named an area not far from the farm. The day her little sister was born, Aqueea was confronted with the question "Who am I?" It haunts her until she discovers that she is a product of American slave practices. She credits the spirit of her ancestor for driving her to find the answer to her youthful question, "Who am I?"

The book sets forth the ideation that America's dark history has created the foundation for The Third Emancipation: A New People - A New Clan.

About the Author

Hallie L. Gamble has a Master of Arts in Education and more than thirty-two post-graduate credits. She is certified in English and English-as-a-Second Language (ESL). Her career in education spans forty-five years. Before going into the classroom as a secondary teacher, she worked with parents of Title I children, organizing Title I parent councils in the school district's Title I schools and training parents in educational decision-making. She also assisted with parent training in several New Jersey Title I school districts as well as Title I schools in New York, Mississippi, Kentucky and Missouri. She is a frequent speaker for organizations such as the Council of Negro Women, Inc., of the Oranges, panels and churches on community advocacy, education and personal/spiritual development.

Among her notable life experiences are staying on a kibbutz while participating in an archaeological dig in Israel, attending the 1963 March on Washington and the second march twenty years later. She was accompanied by her late husband, Rev. George W. Gamble for both marches and their sons, Glenn and Eric for the latter. She received a prestigious Fulbright Exchange teacher grant to teach American Literature and ESL to high school students in Moscow, Russia. While there, the Russian Ministry of Education sent her to Sochi to conduct some teacher training workshops. Following her return to America, she was invited to Washington, DC for the opening of the Library of Congress Russian Orthodox church's exhibition. At this event she met Presidents Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin.

Mrs. Gamble has a Major in sociology and a Minor in psychology. As an adult education instructor, she taught Adult High School English & Reading, GED, ABE, ESL, Employability Skills and literacy to mothers in a "Mothers are Special" project. As a secondary education teacher, she taught English in an alternative high school program. She has received numerous work-related awards locally, statewide and nationally.