LaNier recalled a painful childhood memory from the second grade when he shared his lineage with his classmates.
"Sit down and stop telling lies!" a school teacher told him.
The incident deeply impacted the young student before his mother corrected the educator the following day. "That was a hurtful moment in my life," LaNier said.
The experience ultimately strengthened his resolve to understand and preserve his family identity.
"That helped me understand the importance of knowing who I am, being strong in the belief of who I am and don't let others define me," he said.
LaNier also credited Sally Hemings for her resilience and her success in negotiating the freedom of her children upon reaching adulthood.
"We know more about Jefferson but we have to give credit to Sally Hemings.
It's because of her that we know who we are today, that she didn't hide the story from her children, that she was able to negotiate for her kids to have freedom at the age of 21, that she was able to tell her story and make sure we were able to tell our stories," LaNier said.
He views the history of enslaved Americans as a testament to their strength and survival under brutal conditions.
"I commend all those who were enslaved.
A lot of people like to think of slavery as only a horrific experience but it was also an experience that proves that we come from a very powerful people, that we were able to survive the most horrible conditions on the planet, that we survived and we thrived and we still are surviving.
