WHO WE ARE

A Black American lineage-centered collective institution built to verify, connect, protect, and strengthen our people.

TBAT Taskforce — The Black American Tribe — was founded in August 2021 to help Black American descendants establish trusted lineage, protect our cultural identity, and build stronger pathways for collective participation.

TBAT serves as a national resource center for individuals, families, businesses, communities, leaders, and institutions committed to preserving Black American culture, history, lineage, and futures. Our work brings genealogy, education, community care, cooperative networking, standards development, and protected infrastructure together under one collective mission.

We are not here to replace the work Black Americans have carried forward for generations. We exist to strengthen that work by connecting descendants to trusted resources, verified networks, cooperative opportunities, and safe spaces designed with our lineage and long-term interests in mind.

Our lineage identifies us.

Our legacy connects us.

Our collective work moves us forward.

LINEAGE VERIFICATION: OUR VANGUARD ROLE

Delineation requires lineage verification.

TBAT stands at the forefront of the 21st-century grassroots movement to establish lineage verification as a trusted standard for Black American identity, representation, and collective participation.

Lineage verification protects the integrity of our communities by establishing a documented connection to Black American ancestors whose lives, labor, and history are rooted in the United States. It creates a clear foundation for determining who may speak for our people, receive grassroots support, participate in lineage-centered networks, and help direct the resources and institutions being built in our name.

Why Verification Matters

Identity must be supported by lineage.

Lineage verification helps protect Black American descendants from misrepresentation, cultural claiming, resource diversion, and individuals attempting to gain authority within spaces that were not built for them.

It also gives verified descendants a trusted pathway to connect with one another through shared history, documented lineage, and collective responsibility.

The TBAT Standard

Verification must be trusted, documented, and protected.

TBAT uses professional genealogical research and historical United States records to document Black American lineage. Our process is designed to preserve dignity, protect personal information, and provide descendants with verification that cannot be casually questioned or revoked.

TBAT does not require individuals to upload their private family documents to prove who they are. Our genealogists conduct the research, review the historical record, and walk each person through the findings.

Lineage verification is not exclusion for the sake of exclusion.

It is protection, accountability, and cultural continuity.

EXPLORE GENEALOGY SERVICES

OUR MISSION AND VISION

We preserve what identifies us, strengthen what connects us, and build what future generations will inherit.

Our Mission

TBAT’s mission is to advance trusted Black American lineage verification, protect our cultural identity, and strengthen the people, networks, and institutions working to preserve Black American history and futures.

We develop standards, resources, education, partnerships, and protected pathways that help Black American descendants verify their lineage, connect with intention, and participate in cooperative systems built around shared history and collective responsibility.

Our mission is not simply to gather people, it is to build trusted connections that can support lasting collective work.

Our Vision

TBAT envisions an interconnected national ecosystem where lineage-verified Black American descendants, families, businesses, communities, and institutions can safely connect, share resources, develop leadership, and build for generations to come.

We envision a future where Black American identity is protected by documented lineage, our history is preserved by our own people, and cooperative infrastructure allows descendants to turn connection into cultural, social, and economic strength.

Our vision is a protected and connected future built upon verified lineage, shared responsibility, and generational continuity.

Lineage is our foundation.

Legacy is our responsibility.

Leverage is what we build together.

WHAT WE DO | WHO WE WORK WITH

TBAT connects trusted lineage, people, resources, and infrastructure so collective work can move with greater protection, accountability, and purpose.

What We Do

TBAT develops and supports the standards, services, networks, and protected pathways needed to strengthen Black American lineage-centered work.

Our work includes:

Professional genealogy and trusted lineage verification
Lineage education and genealogist development
Cultural preservation and historical documentation
Standards for lineage-centered participation and representation
Community care and protected connection pathways
Business care, cooperative networking, and marketplace development
Support for verified communities, networks, and institutions
Cultural compliance documentation and corrective action
Volunteer, leadership, and infrastructure development
Consulting and resource support for aligned collective projects

We bring these areas together so descendants can move from identifying their lineage to building upon it.

Who We Work With

TBAT works with people and institutions committed to protecting Black American lineage, culture, history, and futures.

This includes:

Black American descendants and families
Genealogists, historians, educators, and researchers
Lineage-verified businesses and entrepreneurs
Cooperative communities and descendant networks
Grassroots organizers and cultural advocates
Activists, civic leaders, and elected officials
Content creators, media professionals, and influencers
Reparations-aligned institutions and initiatives
Community builders and emerging leaders
Organizations seeking trusted lineage-verification support

Partnership with TBAT requires respect for Black American delineation, cultural integrity, documented lineage standards, and the autonomy of the communities we serve.

We support those preserving our past, protecting our identity, and building responsibly for our future.

HOW TBAT WORKS

TBAT turns lineage-centered vision into standards, services, protected spaces, and cooperative infrastructure.

TBAT operates through an interconnected structure designed to move work from an idea into an accountable and sustainable practice. Each part has a distinct responsibility, while remaining connected to the collective mission.

The Collective Institution

Direction. Standards. Stewardship.

TBAT Taskforce serves as the collective institution responsible for establishing the mission, standards, priorities, and long-term direction of the work.

This includes advancing trusted lineage verification, protecting cultural integrity, developing policies and procedures, building partnerships, and ensuring that TBAT’s services and projects remain aligned with the descendants they were created to serve.

TBAT provides the institutional foundation that allows the work to remain documented, protected, and capable of continuing beyond any one event, platform, department, or individual.

TBAT Headquarters

The office where connection becomes coordinated action.

TBAT HQ is a virtual headquarters, community resource center, and cooperative office supporting lineage-verified individuals, network partners, departments, and aligned projects.

It provides a central location for genealogy services, community care, appointments, training, meetings, partner support, administrative coordination, and virtual office access.

TBAT HQ also serves as an office for verified network partners—one of the practical benefits of cooperative networking. Eligible individuals and partners may reserve or establish virtual office space based on their needs and level of participation.

Departments and Cooperative Infrastructure

The people and systems that carry out the work.

TBAT departments transform institutional standards into direct services, education, care, documentation, training, and community support.

Department managers, genealogists, care representatives, administrators, volunteers, processors, and network partners work within defined areas of responsibility while contributing to the larger mission.

TBAT also develops cooperative infrastructure that allows aligned communities, businesses, institutions, and initiatives to access trusted resources and work together without surrendering their autonomy or identity.

TBAT establishes the standard.

TBAT HQ coordinates the work.

Our departments and partners carry the mission forward.

Our History

TBAT began through preparation for reparations, bringing Black American descendants together to establish lineage, organize responsibly, and prepare our community for the moment reparative justice moved from demand to distribution.

August 2021: Reparations Readiness Becomes TBAT

TBAT Taskforce, The Black American Tribe, was founded in August 2021 while Black American descendants were preparing to establish an upcoming reparations taskforce.

As we gathered, developed plans, met in person, and worked to move the taskforce forward, we repeatedly encountered challenges that exposed deeper needs within the Descendant Community. It became clear that our people could not wait until reparations were approved or distributed to begin documenting who we were, establishing our lineage, and building the infrastructure necessary to protect our participation.

Genealogy became one of the earliest priorities. TBAT began holding free lineage classes every week to help Black American descendants research their families, document their ancestry, and become reparations ready.

Through that preparation, the urgent need for delineation became increasingly clear. Reparations required more than a broad racial classification. The descendants of United States chattel slavery needed trusted standards for identifying our specific lineage, protecting our political claims, and determining who could represent, organize, and receive support in our name.

TBAT emerged at the beginning of the modern Delineation Movement, when Black American descendants were working to define our identity with greater clarity and defend it with documented lineage. At the same time, the repeated disruption of public organizing demonstrated an equally urgent need for safe, protected spaces where descendants could gather, learn, organize, and build without being displaced, misrepresented, or spoken over.

What began as preparation for reparations developed into a broader mission: establish trusted lineage, protect Black American identity, and build the protected infrastructure our descendants would need for the work ahead.

December 21, 2021: The City Opens

On December 21, 2021, TBAT opened The City—a protected cooperative community created to give Black American descendants a safer place to connect, organize, receive support, and build together.

When The City opened, TBAT went underground to support and protect its development. The public-facing movement became the infrastructure behind the community.

This transition established a defining principle of TBAT’s work: visibility is not the same as progress. Some of the most important work happens quietly through documentation, care, standards, systems, and sustained collective responsibility.

Building Underground

While operating underground, TBAT continued developing the systems necessary to support lineage-centered community building.

This work grew to include:

Professional genealogy and lineage verification
Lineage education and genealogist development
Community-care and onboarding systems
Departmental policies and operating procedures
Business care and cooperative networking
Cultural monitoring, documentation, and compliance
Volunteer, leadership, and infrastructure development
Support for aligned communities, institutions, and network partners

Through this work, TBAT developed into what we describe as a Black American Lineage-Verified Underground Railroad—a protected system of people, resources, pathways, and safe spaces helping descendants move from public connection into trusted lineage-centered infrastructure.

Today: A Collective Institution and National Resource Center

Today, TBAT is positioned as a Black American lineage-centered collective institution and national resource center.

Our work extends beyond any single community, service, platform, or network. TBAT supports descendants and aligned institutions working to preserve Black American lineage, history, culture, identity, and futures.

What began as a grassroots taskforce has grown into an interconnected system of verification, education, care, standards, departments, partnerships, and cooperative infrastructure—while remaining rooted in the descendants and history that made the work necessary.

Founded in August 2021.

Built underground.

Growing through verified lineage, protected connection, and collective responsibility.

OUR PARTNERSHIP PHILOSOPHY

TBAT believes collective progress requires trusted relationships, shared standards, and respect for the autonomy of those doing the work.

TBAT works with individuals, businesses, communities, leaders, initiatives, and institutions whose efforts align with the preservation and advancement of Black American descendants.

Our purpose is not to absorb, rename, control, or claim ownership of the work others have built. We create pathways for aligned people and institutions to share resources, strengthen infrastructure, coordinate action, and support one another while maintaining their own identity and leadership.

Four Partnership Principles

Alignment Without Absorption

Cooperation should not erase autonomy.

TBAT partners may maintain their own identity, mission, leadership, and internal structure. Partnership creates a trusted point of connection—it does not transfer ownership of another person’s or institution’s work to TBAT.

Standards Before Access

Trust must be supported by accountability.

TBAT partnerships are grounded in respect for Black American delineation, documented lineage standards, cultural integrity, confidentiality, and responsible representation.

Those who speak for, lead within, or receive lineage-specific support through descendant-centered spaces must meet the standards established to protect those spaces.

Resources Must Circulate

Collective work should create collective benefit.

TBAT believes partnerships should do more than exchange names, logos, or public endorsements. They should move information, opportunities, services, referrals, education, and resources toward the descendants and communities the work was created to serve.

Protection Is a Shared Responsibility

Cultural integrity requires active stewardship.

Partners are expected to respect Black American history, identity, intellectual work, community boundaries, and cultural standards. When harm, misrepresentation, or misuse occurs, responsible partnership requires documentation, communication, correction, and accountability.

TBAT does not measure partnership by proximity, popularity, or public visibility. We measure it by alignment, responsibility, reciprocity, and the ability to build something that continues serving our descendants after the announcement is over.

We connect without controlling.

We support without absorbing.

We cooperate without surrendering our standards.

THE CITY: WHERE THE MISSION BECAME A MODEL

TBAT began the work. The City became the first place where that work could live, grow, and be practiced collectively.

TBAT was founded in August 2021.

As reparations preparation, genealogy education, delineation, and grassroots organizing continued, one need became impossible to ignore: Black American descendants required more than a public gathering space. We needed a protected community where documented descendants could connect, organize, receive care, share resources, develop leadership, and build without repeatedly defending the legitimacy of our identity or the purpose of our work.

December 21, 2021

On December 21, 2021, TBAT opened The City.

The City became TBAT’s flagship cooperative community and the first working model of the protected, lineage-centered infrastructure TBAT was developing.

When The City opened, TBAT went underground to support its growth, establish systems, coordinate care, create departments, document standards, and protect the community behind the scenes.

More Than a Community

The City demonstrates what becomes possible when lineage verification, cultural integrity, community care, and cooperative responsibility work together.

Through The City, descendants can move beyond public conversation and begin practicing collective life through:

Protected lineage-centered connection
Community care and mutual support
Cooperative participation and shared responsibility
Volunteer service and leadership development
Cultural education and preservation
Local City Hubs and community organizing
Business, family, and generational development
Collective projects built for long-term impact

The City is not the entirety of TBAT’s work. It is the flagship model that demonstrates what TBAT’s mission can produce when the infrastructure is given a protected place to grow.

The City is where verified lineage becomes protected connection and protected connection becomes collective possibility.

Explore The City

LEADERSHIP AND STEWARDSHIP

At TBAT, leadership is not measured by visibility or title alone. It is measured by responsibility, service, consistency, and what is protected and built for those who come next.

Visionary Founder

April Showers

Visionary Founder | TBAT Taskforce
HQ Director

April Showers is the Visionary Founder of TBAT Taskforce, The Black American Tribe, and serves as Director of TBAT Headquarters.

She founded TBAT in August 2021 while helping prepare Black American descendants for reparations through genealogy education, lineage documentation, grassroots organizing, and the development of protected community spaces.

What began through weekly free lineage classes and preparation for an upcoming reparations taskforce grew into a broader system of trusted lineage verification, cultural protection, community care, cooperative networking, standards development, and descendant-centered infrastructure.

As Visionary Founder, April established the founding direction of TBAT and continues to guide its institutional development, long-term vision, and responsibility to Black American descendants.

As HQ Director, she coordinates the development of TBAT Headquarters, supports departmental operations and leadership, strengthens partner infrastructure, and works to ensure that TBAT’s services, standards, and continued growth remain aligned with the descendants the institution was created to serve.

Founder’s Guiding Principle

We must verify who we are, protect what belongs to us, and build what our descendants will need next.

Stewardship Across the Institution

TBAT’s vision may have begun with its Visionary Founder, but its work is not carried by one person alone.

TBAT has been strengthened by Founders, department managers, genealogists, care representatives, administrators, processors, educators, facilitators, volunteers, partners, and community builders who have contributed their time, knowledge, skills, and service to the mission.

Each person entrusted with TBAT’s work shares responsibility for maintaining its standards, protecting confidential information, preserving cultural integrity, documenting institutional knowledge, and preparing others to carry the work forward.

Our Leadership Standard

Service

Contributing meaningful work that strengthens the collective and serves Black American descendants.

Accountability

Accepting responsibility for decisions, commitments, conduct, and outcomes.

Consistency

Remaining present beyond announcements, public moments, and temporary recognition.

Documentation

Creating systems, records, and procedures that others can understand, evaluate, and continue.

Integrity

Protecting confidentiality, institutional standards, cultural boundaries, and community trust.

Development

Preparing others to lead, manage, teach, serve, and carry the mission into the future.

Leadership builds the moment.

Stewardship protects the legacy.

Succession prepares the future.

🧭 Next Steps

TBAT’s history explains why we began. Our work shows where we are going. Your next step determines how you connect.

Whether you are beginning your genealogy journey, seeking trusted lineage verification, looking for protected community, exploring cooperative opportunities, or interested in supporting the infrastructure being built for Black American descendants, there is a pathway forward.

You do not need to understand every department, service, network, or opportunity before getting started. TBAT Info Orientation introduces you to the work, explains the available pathways, and helps you determine which next step fits your needs.

Begin Info Orientation

Learn who TBAT is, how our connection process works, and which community, educational, or network pathway may be right for you.

Schedule Now

Explore Genealogy Services

Begin researching your family, document your ancestry, prepare for professional lineage verification, or learn about the free Lineage Basics Class.

Explore Genealogy

Connect With TBAT Headquarters

Connect with TBAT HQ for general questions, appointments, Community Care Support, partner assistance, department connections, or virtual-office information.

Visit TBAT HQ

Learn who we are. Verify where you come from. Discover where you can build.

LINEAGE. LEGACY. LEVERAGE.

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