Rashida Jones-Aiken grew up in Mt. Airy in Philadelphia, and she went looking for her family’s history after her grandmother, her mother and her uncle died.
What she found became a memoir, The Rhythm That Remained, about grief, faith, ancestry, and identity. “What began as grief became a journey of discovery,” she said.
She did not stop at her own book. She founded Kiren House Publishing to help other people get their family stories into print, and the memoir has been displayed in Times Square. She also does ministry work.
“I wanted to turn my personal journey into something meaningful that others could connect with,” she said.
The part of this a reader can act on before the week is out is the part she puts plainest. Document the stories while the people who carry them are still here.
“We often do not realize how valuable our stories are until someone who could tell them is no longer here,” she said.
“This is only the beginning,” she said.
