Until We Meet Again
Healing tools for managing loss came back in focus this week following news about two people transitioning to ancestors. Jesse Jackson was a national hero. Joe Randall was a treasured friend.
Honoring Jesse Jackson (1941-2026)
Honoring Joe Randall (1946-2026)
Savannah’s Chef Joe Randall, YouTube 2019.
Link to Chef Randall’s arrangements & obituary from Adams Funeral Service, Savannah, GA.
Healing Words
After suffering a big personal loss in 1996, I avoided funerals and rarely addressed other people’s grief, except for mailing polite sympathy cards. This changed after my mother made her transition to ancestor two decades ago. As a devastated daughter, I learned first-hand the comfort provided by familiar faces in trying times. Handwritten notes, plants and other compassionate gestures expanded my gratitude.
Decades later, I still recall my close friend ringing the doorbell with a cloth-covered basket. Following her gentle hug, she mouthed the words, “comfort food,” adding, “You know how to reach me when you feel like talking.”
The basket included these books I still reference and share with you today.
“If I’d known how long I was going to live, I would have taken better care of myself.”–Dying (attributed to Eubie Blake)
“My loved one is as much a part of my life as the air and food and water that nourish my body. Therefore I shall not fear losing someone who has been, and is, a part of me.”-Healing After Loss
“The missing link in finishing with grief is often forgiveness. Sometimes we cannot forgive another, but we human beings are slowest to forgive ourselves. We also tend to take on responsibility for life-and-death matters that are not in our hands.”-The Courage to Grieve
Today, I keep a cultural artifact in my Great Migration Library. It’s lined with a rotating selection of funeral programs, clippings and printed quotes, which serve as joyful reminders that all are still with me. My “Cowrie Shell Ancestor Basket” represents a spiritual link to our ancestors.
Celebration of Life
“Our nation is a rainbow – red, yellow, brown, black, and white – and we’re all precious in God’s sight.” –Jesse Jackson
“The only time you should look down at someone, is when you are helping them up.”–Jesse Jackson
“I learned to cook Southern up North. I’ve had a wonderful culinary journey.” –Chef Joe Randall
“In order for a good chef to pass on what he knows to you, you have to be serious enough to receive it.” –Chef Joe Randall
“Chef Joe is remembered for his generosity, vision and unwavering belief that cuisine is both art and history. His legacy lives on in the countless chefs he inspired and the traditions he worked tirelessly to celebrate.”-Savannah Tribune, 2/18/2026.
There Is No Death There is a plan far greater than the plan you know; There is a landscape broader than the one you see. There is a haven where storm-tossed souls may go— You call it death — we, immortality…–Unknown (from Words of Comfort).
Thank you for reading this week’s Great Migration Library notebook.
“I am very grateful when you help spread the word about the Great Migration Library by clicking the Like (heart) button and sharing this message with friends, neighbors and family. I welcome comments.” -Donna Battle Pierce
Bookmarks
Northern Protest: Martin Luther King, Jr. , Chicago, and the Civil Rights Movement by James R. Ralph Jr. (Harvard University Press, 1993).
A Dream Deferred: Jesse Jackson and the Fight for Black Political Power by Abby Phillip (Flatiron Books, 2025).
A Taste of Heritage: The New African-American Cuisine by Chef Joe Randall and Toni Tipton-Martin (John Wiley & Sons, 2002).
Healing After Loss: Daily Meditations For Working Through Grief, edited by Martha Whitmore Hickman (Perennial, 1994).
The Courage to Grieve: The Classic Guide to Creative Living, Recovery, and Growth Through Grief by Judy Tatelbaum (William Morrow, 1984).
Dying: A Book of Comfort edited by Pat McNees (Grand Central Publishing, 1998).
Words of Comfort: …For You in Your Time of Loss, a Blue Mountain Arts collection, (SPS Studios, 2002).
The Great Migration Library’s highlighted links often connect you to new books at AbeBooks, or other independent booksellers, available at the time of our posting. Note: Before selecting from a link, sort through available offerings for desired condition; new or used.
Contact me at (dbpierce@icloud.com) for permission to reprint Great Migration Library photos, or photos from the Battle Family Archives.
Please note: I often reference Wikipedia.com as a second source for dates, locations and other information.
Join the Book Search
Please join in my continued search for information regarding From the Plantation to the Doctor’s Office by Dr. H. Roger Williams, published in the mid-1920s. Contact this great-granddaughter with any tips (from libraries, old media, elders and more — including psychic readers).
© 2026 Donna Battle Pierce and Great-Migrations.com. All photo rights reserved by Battle Family Archives.
“You know how to reach me when you feel like talking.” That line carries more healing than any abstract reflection. I also appreciate the ancestor framing. its like a small alter built along a public roadside.
Thought provoking article, timing tribute with great quotes, and thank you for the wonderful rrsources.
I love your basket, Boomer guide and crowdsourcing for your book search, all great ideas!