Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to outline an instructional design approach for further development of an African ancestry learning center in order to enhance its educational utility. This is being done in an effort to use technology in transformative ways that extends the practices and opportunities for African Americans. Design/methodology/approach: Assessing the needs of learners, performing a content analysis, and designing online resources and systems that meet learner's needs accomplished this goal. Findings: This paper identifies a design process whereby technology can be used to connect people of African descent to a lost history. Originality/value: This paper provides a method to leverage technology for people of African descent to engage in genealogy research, while acknowledging their unique historical journey.