From Guardian Newspaper
Former heavyweight boxing champion, Deontay Wilder, stunned fans globally after he revealed on Saturday he had traced his roots to Edo State.
Continue reading “Deontay Wilder reveals he has traced his roots to Nigeria”
Category: Ancestry
By Taarifa Rwanda
More than 20 African Americans and other blacks of African descent have decided to make Rwanda their home after spending several days traversing the East African country.
“Today, Minister of State Prof. Nshuti Manasseh received returnees of African descent from the USA and other parts of the world who are working to settle and make Rwanda their home,” reads a tweet by Rwanda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Read more from source Americans-in-Africa.com
By Punch Newspapers
Popular American preacher, Bishop T.D Jakes of the Potter’s House, has revealed how he discovered that his ancestors are from the Igbo tribe of Nigeria. Jakes, who is a renowned author, in an interview with BBC Igbo said his Igbo ancestry was discovered after DNA test.
Continue reading “Pastor T.D Jakes | How I traced my ancestry to the Igbo tribe in Nigeria”
By Biba Adams | The Grio
Akon, the Senegalese-American musician, business mogul and humanitarian says that African Americans blame slavery for every ‘mishap’ and should just come back to Africa where they are not the minority. In an interview VladTV, rapper Akon said that Black Americans would benefit from “letting go” of the past trauma of slavery.
Continue reading “Akon |Rapper tells Black Americans to let go of the past and come back to Africa”
BBy Nylah Burton | Vox
Porsche Little, a Brooklyn-based artist, diviner, and aborisha — or someone who serves the Orisha, a group of spirits central to the Yoruba and other African Diaspora religions — says that she has received a huge increase in requests for divinations and readings throughout the pandemic.
Continue reading “How some Black Americans are finding solace in African spirituality”
By Isoke Samuel | NBC
The genes of 50,000 descendants of slaves reveal the effects of the global slave trade generations later, according to a study published Thursday in the American Journal of Human Genetics. Researchers analyzed data provided by thousands of 23andMe customers who agreed to share their genetic information to better understand the impact of forced migration on the genealogy of the descendants of enslaved Africans in the Americas.
Continue reading “High percentage of Nigerian ancestry found in Black Americans in the U.S. as study reflect the hardships and realities of slavery”
by Joseph Omotayo | Legit
A senior government official in Nigeria has said if George Floyd had taken an ancestry DNA test before he was killed, he probably would have found out he was a Nigerian. This was said when two Nigerian agencies joined forces to hold a memorial in remembrance of the slain African-American in Abuja, Nigeria.
Continue reading “If George Floyd had done his DNA, he was probably from Nigeria”
BY BRENDAN COLE | Newsweek
The debate about race following the killing of George Floyd has reverberated across the Atlantic Ocean, spurring the tourism minister of Ghana to appeal to its diaspora, including in the U.S., to “leave where you are not wanted,” and return home.
Continue reading “Ghana Minister Invites African-Americans to Re-settle in Africa If They Feel Unwanted in the U.S.”
By Rosie Bell
AS PART OF MY voyage of the heart to heal from the sudden loss of my mother, Grace, I headed far afield to Brazil, a country she loved wholeheartedly yet never visited. During my mission to forget her passing, I encountered many a reminder of her aliveness, the dishes she cooked, and the tales she told of the place she was born: Nigeria.
Continue reading “After my mother died, I reconnected with her Nigerian heritage through food at Rio Carnival”
African-American rapper, Lil Wayne, has said that he is 53 per cent Nigerian. He said this during his chat with hosts N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN as a guest on the “Drink Champ” show that airs Revolt TV.
According to him, an ancestry test conducted by a website he shared some of his details on proved that he’s more Nigerian than American.
Continue reading “I am more Nigerian than American – Lil Wayne”
Drummers, dancers and local residents welcomed the NAACP delegation at Kotoka International Airport, as the group made their long-awaited arrival in Ghana for the Year of Return.
The excitement was palpable as almost 300 African Americans touched down in Accra for an eventful week that is akin to a homecoming.
Continue reading “NAACP Group Arrives In Ghana Exactly 400 Years Since First Slaves Were Brought To U.S.”
By Alessandra Prentice and Siphiwe Sibeko, Reuters
In a clearing at the turnoff to Assin Manso, a billboard depicts two African slaves in loincloths, their arms and legs in chains. Beside them are the words, “Never Again!” This is “slave river,” where captured Ghanaians submitted to a final bath before being shipped across the Atlantic into slavery centuries ago, never to return to the land of their birth. Today, it is a place of somber homecoming for the descendants of those who spent their lives as someone else’s property.
The popularity of the site has swelled this year, 400 years after the trade in Africans to the English colonies of America began. This month’s anniversary of the first Africans to arrive in Virginia has caused a rush of interest in ancestral tourism, with people from the United States, the Caribbean and Europe seeking out their roots in West Africa.
BY VANESSA MBONU
This week marks 400 years since the first African were forcefully brought to the United States. To memorialize this history, more than 200 African Americans made their way to Virginia, the first leg in a week-long journey retracing the steps of their ancestors dubbed Jamestown 2 Jamestown.
Continue reading “Participants Find Solace In Ancestral Tribute During The First Day Of The Jamestown To Jamestown Journey”
Written by TMZ
Steve Harvey had a hard time walking through a slave trade site in Ghana — where countless Africans were brutalized and tortured … and the photos are tough to see.
The legendary comedian and daytime talk show host was with his family Friday visiting the Elmina Castle on the Cape Coast — where they were getting a tour and being briefed on the dark past of the trading post that was erected by the Portuguese in the 1400s.
Continue reading “Steve Harvey BREAKS DOWN AT GHANA SLAVE CASTLE”
By Johnaé Strong
When it comes to being Black, queer and immigrant in America, there is no safety. The countless violent attacks on people of color, the lack of action against guns after repeated mass shootings and the unrelenting excuses for assailants who are predominantly white and male point to a sinister truth about America: Violence and murder founded this nation and remain deeply entrenched in the state ideology. The president has reinforced this ideology by inciting anti-Black and anti-immigrant sentiment through the call for ICE raids and a border wall and shouts for American-born, non-white government officials to go back to their countries.
Continue reading “Reclaiming “Send Her Back”: A Call for Black Americans to Voyage to Africa”
By Halligan Agade
American actor and film producer Samuel L. Jackson has traced his ancestry through Finding Your Roots, an American docu-series that uses traditional genealogical research and genetics to discover the family history of celebrities.
The Hollywood veteran found discovered his roots to the Bantu tribe in the West African nation of Gabon.
Continue reading “American actor Samuel L. Jackson travels to Africa to meet his relatives in Gabon”
By María Elena Romero, Producer Joyce Hackel
Jean Kapenda always hoped to help African Americans to find their African roots. That dream came true in a very personal way. Kapenda, a criminal justice professor at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, has been interested in genealogy and ancestry for a long time. A few years ago, he did a swab and sent it to a genetic testing site.
After getting the results, Kapenda, who is originally from Democratic Republic of Congo, has been able to trace hundreds of relatives in the Americas, most of them the descendents of people enslaved and sent on ships across the ocean.
Continue reading “A DNA test connected two distant cousins — and filled out a family history that slavery erased”
This month marks 400 years since the first African slaves arrived in the United States and the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade. Overall some 12 million enslaved Africans were transported across the Atlantic. This year is also Ghana’s ‘Year of Return’, an initiative launched by the Ghanaian government to encourage the African diaspora to come back to Ghana.
Sicley Williams moved to Accra from Atlanta in the US back in 2017. She told Newsday’s Bola Mosuro what about her personal reasons for making the move.
BY J.S. ADAMS
Close to the shores of Langma Beach in Ghana, West Africa, Carol Muhammad enjoys her six bedroom house with her husband, Robert Muhammad. The couple made the move from Phoenix, Ariz., to Ghana in May, after Robert Muhammad retired.
The two haven’t looked back.
Continue reading “Going Back to Africa a blessing: Blacks who live, work and play on the continent say returning to the Motherland is beautiful”
By Etsey Atisu
African Americans who have traced their ancestral roots to Ghana, and those living in Ghana with the hope of becoming citizens, have received another boost in their desires after they successfully received final documentation that officially makes them registered voters.
In December 2016, former president, John Dramani Mahama, granted 34 Afro-Caribbeans Ghanaian citizenship. In 2019, as part of activities marking the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in America, the government of Ghana launched the “Year of Return, Ghana 2019”.
50 African-American have arrived the Nigerian city of Benin on a mission to trace their ancestry. The tourists, arrived Benin from California, United States of America (USA), and were entertained by the Benin Cultural Troupe as well as been treated to delicious local African dishes, including palm oil fruits soup (banga), blended vegetable (black) soup, owo soup, pounded yam and agidi (corncake) among others.
By Imani Pope-Johns
The perception that African-Americans are moving to Africa, whether they have been or not, has become a trending topic for the past few years. Howard University Assistant Professor of Journalism, Mark Bedford, traveled to Ghana as an advisor for Alternative Spring Break, a week of local and international volunteerism by Howard University faculty, staff and students. He recently published a story for Narratively, after witnessing first-hand the increased number of African-Americans migrating to Africa, and the booming market for opportunities they’re taking advantage of, such as the technology industry.
Continue reading “African-Americans Moving to Africa? Howard Professor Publishes Article on Their Reasons for Leaving the U.S.”
Livingstone College was the only historically black college in North Carolina represented at the HBCU Africa Homecoming Initiative media launch June 10 in Washington. Kimberly Harrington, assistant director of public relations, endorsed the initiative on behalf of Livingstone President Jimmy R. Jenkins Sr.
Continue reading “Livingstone endorses HBCU Africa Homecoming”
By Nii Ntreh
Americans of African descent are open to knowing where in Africa they would have been had history not taken them to the US. Most of those in this category are celebrities. Here are some of America’s most famous black people who have known from DNA and background searches, the African countries they originated from.
Continue reading “Here are the African roots of some African-American stars including Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey”
Black & Abroad, an online travel and lifestyle platform, encourages African Americans to visit such ancestral countries as Senegal through a new project called “Go Back to Africa.”
By Andrea Sachs
Eric Martin and Kent Johnson found inspiration in the offensive. Four years ago, the pair launched Black & Abroad, an online travel and lifestyle platform for African Americans.
Continue reading “Black & Abroad founders encourage African Americans to visit their ancestral continent”
Ancestry Pioneer Joins NAACP’s Jamestown to Jamestown Delegation and Ghana’s The Year of Return 2019
Nearly four hundred years ago the first enslaved Africans were sold to America, losing much of their rich African heritage. This August, AfricanAncestry.com will correct history for many African Americans in an historic ancestral Reveal hosted on African soil. The event takes place in Accra, Ghana, and is a part of the NAACP’s Jamestown to Jamestown event in partnership with Ghana’s Year of Return 2019.
Continue reading “AfricanAncestry.com to Host Ancestral Reveal For African-Americans at Ghana’s ‘Door of No Return’”
By Bode Durojaiye
Seventy African-Americans have traced their ancestral lineage to the ancient town of Oyo, Nigeria and were feted at a reception organised in their honor at the Palace of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi 111. The monarch used to the occasion to call on the Nigerian government embark on re-integrating Yorubas across the globe back to their ancestral roots.
In their first 250 years in America, Africans were not allowed to get married. A commemorative Royal Return Wedding 400: a traditional African wedding is being organised by Royal Return Ghana. The Premiere Mass Royal Traditional African Wedding Launch is to be held at First Africans Landing Site in Hampton, Virginia on August 24, 2019 during the city’s 400 Years Commemoration of African American History.
Continue reading “Mass Royal Traditional African Wedding for African-Americans Denied Marriage During Slavery”
This month, Dr. Cummings will travel to Nigeria, where many of her ancestors came from.
By Carol Daniel
A Webster University professor has long been an amateur genealogist but her discoveries took a huge leap forward with her recent ancestry.com test. Because family ties were severed by slavery in the United States, most African-Americans had little hope of finding relatives in Africa.
Continue reading “Webster professor connected to African roots in Nigeria by ancestry test”
Ghana was one of the main West African departure points for the transatlantic slave trade.The government has launched a campaign to reach out to the descendants of those Africans who were forcibly removed from their homelands.
It has dubbed 2019 the “Year of Return”.
Several hundred people have already put down roots in Ghana, many of them African-Americans.
The programme is prepared by Patrick Lovett and James Vasina.
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