Tulleesha Burbage, an Upper Darby social worker, suffered a case of sleep paralysis after dreaming about running through an open field near an old shed, writes Stephanie Farr for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Her friend concluded her ancestors were trying to send a message and researched her family history.
He discovered something that Burbage’s father had once tried to tell her as a child but she never took seriously.
“You got famous people,” he told her.
Burbage’s paternal grandfather was Knowlington Burbage, aka K.O . “Buddy” Burbage, a star outfielder in the Negro Leagues. The Philadelphian played from 1929 to 1945.
Now she takes more meaning from her father’s words.
“He’d say ‘You are a beautiful woman and you don’t understand the genes you carry,’” Burbage said.
She never met her grandfather.
“I was very, very surprised and really excited,” Burbage, 26, said. “I felt like Black history really ran in my family because of my grandfather.”
During the day, Tylleesha Burbage helps kids going through adoption and leads a caregiver support group.
At night, she’s a supervisor for Catholic Social Services’ St. Gabriel System, teaching juveniles on parole how to make better life decisions.
Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer about Tulleesha Burbage.
