Show Notes to Follow

Welcome to the Legacy of our African American Lives podcast, where our stories

become oral histories created to uplift, empower, and enrich the next generation.

I amt Iby, and I am your host and I am pleased to be with you today.

And I would like to introduce you to our guests.

We have Keisha PORs.

Who is going to tell us a little bit about herself, and then we're gonna get

into talking about her connection to g's.

Ben Boy Alabama.

Welcome, Keisha.

Thank you for having me.

My name is Keisha Porsche.

I'm the owner and operator of Sweet Martha's Holistic Wellness llc.

I was born and raised in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

I spent most of my summers here and Mobile, Alabama.

But I currently live here in Mobile and I've been here for the past three years.

I basically built a mini medicinal farm on my grandparents property.

So you have a business called Sweet Marthas.

Where did the name come from?

Actually, Sweet Martha's, a lot of people think it's basically talking

about my great-grandmother, Martha Jane.

They don't realize that I have a great-grandmother

whose name is actually sweet.

So my business is named after two of my great-grandmothers who

were original GS Bank quotes.

When I first started my business, it was geared towards our natural

skincare products to a certain extent.

Of course we know that the residents of gene's been, were pretty much

self-sufficient for a very long time.

A lot of what I do when it comes to the holistic aspect of my business, The

farming aspect of my business, growing my own medicine, my own food, that kind

of, all of that comes from basically my great-grandmother, Martha Jane.

She instilled in all of us, to literally be self-sufficient when we were little

and we went down there, we always participated in stuff like that with her.

It's all passed down.

I always say it's a generational, talent

My great-grandmother, Martha Jane actually lived for a very long time.

She lived like three months shy of her hundred and fifth birthday.

So when I was coming, My great grandmother still lived in G'S

bin and most of my grandparent, my grandmother and her sisters and

brothers, most of them lived in Alabama.

I only had like maybe I think one of my great uncles and two of my great aunt.

Stayed in G's been everybody else.

I think they left, either they passed away before, or they left.

So my grandmother and most of her sisters lived here in Mobile.

So we drove down regularly.

Like for weekends, it's only two out two, like two and a half hours away from here.

The thing that I loved about G'S bin was the freedom.

When we were in G'S bin, , we were free to literally do pretty much

almost anything we wanted to do.

It was all family.

All of my great grandparents literally lived in this one little circle.

So like my great-grandmother, Martha Jay lives basically like right off of Martha

Jane Petway Road there, boy, they just got addresses or whatever, street names

or whatever, but she lives right there.

And then my great-grandmother suite lived on the corner of that street and then, the

street right behind that my grandfather.

Has a store, Roman Petway, he has a store right there.

And right behind his store is my other great-grandmother, my

Bendolph great-grandmother's house.

So I would literally be running all over the bin.

And then I had an aunt on my biological father's side, she would come get me

anytime she knew I was in the bin.

So it was like we had this freedom there that we really didn't have, cuz

I grew up in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

So it was like we really were.

Able to , be free to just roam and run the streets like that.

I think it was a culture shock for me.

I always fantasize g Ben, if that makes sense.

It was always Going back in time kind of unreal to me.

Like I would go home and tell my friends about stuff we did in g's,

been and the red clay dirt roads.

And to us it was like, It's up the country that's what we basically called it and

they were like, That didn't happen.

I'm like, Like that's not real.

And I'm like, Yeah, it really is.

It's like going back in time.

But so I fantasized it to a certain extent.

So there's nothing I didn't really like, but it was definitely a culture shock.

I remember like the first time I went there and I had this cousin I remember

, my first time meeting her, and she was running around barefoot, and I'm from the

city and I remember I was really little.

And that really stuck out to me.

Like, why aren't they wearing shoes as hot as like, it's summertime and

we know how summertime and g like, I'm like, Why don't they have on shoes and.

Once I started going there, I understood, that basically they pretty much had

a whole different culture from us,

As soon as you hit that corner to go in, everything slows down, your

phone cuts off, like you no longer have access to the outside world, and

it's just like everything slows down

I think because we have parents, who were from that area, it made it a safe space

for us they were so happy to be back.

Right.

So, and that became home even now that is, When are you coming home?

That is home interesting to me is when you talked about, Roman store.

there was a path behind that.

If you walk down that path and you cross the road, I would say street.

Most people would say street, but no, that was a road.

That was my grandmother's house.

And so we would walking back and forth to the store often when we were there.

Cause we have to be talking about the same place because there was only one store.

Right.

It's the same that it's only one.

Yeah.

. So it's almost like that's a way of confirming what someone

says that they're from G'S Bend.

The first question is you start talking about, you ask them something

about the store or something about the post office and you know that

they know what they're talking.

Or the church.

And there are a couple churches, ? But we all know when you talk about

the church, everybody knows what church you're talking about.

So what church?

You tell me then.

So what church is Pleasant?

Grove.

The one where most of our ancestors are buried.

. Well, I have to say, Keisha, I really enjoyed sitting with you and reminiscing

and talking a little bit about your experiences and making connect.

Absolutely.

And , again, I wanna just say thank you for your.

Thank you for having me.

I'm grateful.

. And then for the last thing I just wanna ask you, so when you think about

raising children in the next generation, because that's why we're doing this, and

so that the next generation can, go to whatever, be it Spotify, be it, Amazon,

wherever they go to listen to podcasts.

And they may not be listening today, but they may listen tomorrow.

So if there was something that you've learned, About being a descendant,

being a G'S Ben legacy, what is something that you wanna make sure

that the next generation passes on?

In today's society, in today's day and age.

And I think that they deserve recognitions because they were

the pioneers of all of this.

If it wasn't for those original set of women, we literally would

not have the legacy that we have

always write down the history and just make sure to pass it on.

I think that it's a shame that everybody knows the value.

Of our history except for us sometimes.

That's sad to me and I hope and pray that we continue on passing the legacy

down generation and generation because it's absolutely a very valuable legacy

to have and I don't think a lot of people re realize that or recognize.

And so that is why we are doing what we're doing right now.

So we can make sure that we never forget.

Thank you for joining us on the legacy of our African American Lives podcast.