The Story Behind the Message
Still Here Is 60,000 Years Old
Before the dialysis chair. Before the pulpit. Before Mama Fanny slept on a back porch in hay with dogs — there was an unbroken line of women who survived. This is the heritage that shaped Pastor Nicole Washington.
Generation Two
Francis "Mama Fanny" Perdue
Daughter of a plantation owner and an enslaved woman. Product of rape. She belonged to two worlds and was claimed by neither. She slept on a back porch in hay — with dogs. But when she married and left the plantation, her life changed. And she was happy.
"My family's story begins with a woman who belonged to two worlds and was claimed by neither. Her name was Francis Perdue. But everyone called her Mama Fanny."— Pastor Nicole Washington
Generation Three
Ada Blanche Perdue Mitchell
Spelman College Honors Graduate
Drew the floor plans for the family home. Founded the Progressive Arts Study Club — taking young Black women to concerts, museums, and cultural events to expand their world. She was a woman who believed exposure was education, and education was liberation.
She gave Nicole Psalm 23. That Psalm has now become the anchor of an entire ministry.
Generation One — Through Six
Written in the Blood
DNA confirmed what faith already knew. Maternal haplogroup L3 — originated in East Africa 60,000–80,000 years ago. An unbroken maternal line stretching from the dawn of humanity to a dialysis chair in Georgia.
The East African L3 woman → West African kingdoms → the Middle Passage → Mama Fanny → Blanche → Gwen → Pastor Nicole
"The life of the flesh is in the blood."
— Leviticus 17:11
48.2% Sub-Saharan African · 50.5% European · Still Here.
Six Generations · One Unbroken Line
The Generations Before Me
When a woman chooses to carry a child anyway — that is an act of resurrection. And through six generations, through slavery and survival, through illness and endurance, that is exactly what happened. They survived. And Pastor Nicole is still here.
The Wright Name
A Refusal to Be Erased
"The Wright name is about refusal. The refusal of my father's mother to let shame silence her. The refusal of my father to let denial destroy him. The refusal of my aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Harold Supriano to let their family disappear. And my refusal — a Wright who writes — to let anyone in this family be erased."
— Pastor Nicole Washington, I'm Still Here
The Legacy Lesson
"When a woman chooses to love anyway, chooses to carry a child anyway — that is an act of resurrection."
Through slavery and survival, through illness and endurance, through six generations of women who refused to let their stories end — the unbroken line continues. And Pastor Nicole is still here.