Special Little Me

   My family is spread out, but at least now I know they’re there. I come from a very diverse background and I’m proud to be able to say that.  Having a mixed background gives me the chance to experience the diversity between different cultures. I feel like I don’t have to confine myself to one race of people, because I feel comfortable around anyone, because I know somewhere down the line we are related. When people don’t see that we’re all the same it just shows complete ignorance.

     In my family there are many different surnames and I have found the origin for them all.  Surnames became necessary when government personal taxation was introduced in England. One of the surnames in my family is Thomas (which is my last name) Thomas is Hebrew for twin. Thomas was a popular surname to Christians in England, because Christian people wanted their children to be named after the Christian disciple, St.Thomas. Throughout my father’s side of the family you will find that surname it goes back many generation. My families names are Michael Thomas (Dad), Raymond Thomas Jr.(Grand-Father), Raymond Thomas Sr. (Great-Grandfather), and Frances Thomas(Grandmother),and Remora Jewel (Great-Grandmother), That concludes my fathers side of the family as listed on my family tree. My great-grandmother Remora Jewel was a full blood Cherokee Indian and she only went by the name Jewel, which means, “Joy”. My Grandmothers maiden name was Fannie Mae and she came to California from Kansas. My grandmother has four children but my father is the only child of my grandfather Raymond Thomas.

     

Another surname in my Family is Earle, which is my great-grandparent’s surname on my mother’s side.  The surname Earle was known for being a rank of nobility in Britain.          

 My great-grandmother’s maiden name was Yavone Galipez but that changed when she married my grandfather of course. My great-grandmother on my mother’s side was born in Honduras as a laborer, after marrying my grandfather she moved to the U.S. and immediately separated from her husband after becoming pregnant with her first child, Anthony Carson. She gave my grandfather that surname because that was the surname of her second husband, even though he had no relation to my grandfather. Yavone always kept my great-grandfathers name a secret, and because of that he was not shown on my family tree.  My grandfather has three children, Antonia Carson, Daniel Carson, and Kandika Carson. Kandika Carson is my mother and was born in California. Her mothers name is Wilhelmina Barnes, and that’s obviously my grandmother. My great-grandparents on her side are JuanitaBarnes and William Barnes, My grandfather stems from London and my grandmother stems from Spain.