Michael’s great grand father Nero Jackson was half Choctaw Native American and half black, and was a slave. He once attempted to run away and was beaten almost to death by the plantation owners. When he ran away for a second time, he was caught and this time they held a hot chimney rod over his nose to brand him, leaving him for dead, however he survived once again and continued working on the plantation. When the slaves were freed he took on work as a Native American shaman, skills he’d learned from his father. He managed to earn enough money to buy farm on land of his own, but when he became old, a white man said he would help take care of the land for him, and as Nero didn’t understand all the documentation, he tricked Nero and stole the land from him.

Michael’s great grand mother Mattie was the product of a slave and the handicapped white daughter of a plantation owner. Because the baby was part black, the plantation owners didn’t want her, and so they left her outside at night to die. They reconsidered only when they realized the baby would also be considered half white, and therefore they could be punished for having let her die. Still refusing to care for her because of her race, they then sold her to another family.

When Michael’s grandfather Samuel, married his wife Crystal, he was afraid of KKK reprisals as she was half white.