So Now I have #Roots...
One of the discussions I recall having with my mommy was the “African American or Black” debate. I easily understand either view, for and against, but at the end of the day I still want to belong somewhere.
No. I do not feel aimlessly traveling this earth because I don't know what tribe my ancestors are from. The beautiful thing about the outcome of the African Diaspora is the knowledge that we survived and I am here.
All of this is groovy, until I get to Houston, start online dating, and relationship after relationship is a man of African descent. No…they all weren't scammers, only the most devastating one. Yes, he was. No they all weren't.
*I'd like to rewind for a moment, back to everything little country girls heard about Africans when not a single one was around to verify or confirm. I like to think I'm a bit naive so schemer or not, everyone gets a fair chance, especially if he's cute. I'm closed off enough to not get misused (thanks to therapy I'm aware of this strength/weakness). I haven't dated enough to confirm but ALL Nigerians aren't schemers, all the guys I dated weren't Nigerian, and despite some personality flaws on my end and theirs, they have been the best relationships that I've ever experienced. They do honestly believe in wining and dining, to my knowledge.
Which brings me to my point. After losing my parents, both by the time they were mid 50's, I needed to know more about any pre-disposed diseases or illnesses. There's so much going on and I have good…GOOD insurance and I needed to get a jump on getting all these things under control. After researching, I decided to go with 23andMe's Ancestry and Health Kit. I was too excited when I finally decided I had waited long enough and found all the discounts (none) that were available.
I ordered the kit. Received the kit. Read the directions, reading directions is one of my major flaws - I figure things out along the way. A day later, when I figured I'd have enough clean spit, because who wants an unusable sample, I filled the vial and packaged my sample up and sent it along. Then came the process of overthinking.
I immediately began to think, WHAT will I do with this information. Yes, I got the kit for the health tests, but what about my ancestry? My mother told me about my great grandmother's father. She told us that her father's family were Native American, or closer to it than not, but what Black family doesn't “have some Indian in it”? Either way, what if none of that was present? Have I lived a lie? How much of a mutt am I, in 2019…to not have a majority of any ethnicity in my DNA? And to re-iterate, what do I do with this information?
I stalked 23andMe for the next few days, every time I stopped checking the status of my sample, I got a notification about the status of my sample. My results were supposed to take from March 7-15, but it actually took about a week. 84% Sub Saharan African (34% Nigerian, 19% Ghanaian, Liberian & Sierra Leonean, 6% Senegambian & Guinean, 13% West African) 7% Congolese & Southern East African, 12% European, 2.5% East Asian & Native American. So for the most part, the stories that were passed down were true. Involuntarily Irish, voluntarily a “little Indian in our blood” but I'm a bit perturbed at the rest.
I cannot begin to understand life from the time of the Middle Passage, during and after slavery, even up to the Civil Rights Era. I am bewildered that such a high percentage would be what was mostly unknown. I also saddened by the idea that “Black” is enough info for so many of us. I know we all are aware that we came from somewhere. Everything else was pretty much as passed down to me - 2nd great grandfather being Irish, believable. Some Native American presence (not as much as one would think, the way it's talked about. It's concerning, to me at least.
I cannot imagine not being super proud of it and making sure someone knew it somehow if nothing else getting all the knowledge of Africa that is available to me. Even considering the amount of immigration that was brought in around the
Now, about my West African/Sub Saharan roots. I want to know more. I will always want to know more. Good thing I hopped on an opportunity to go to Ghana at the end of the year.
With all of this in mind, I understand that these tests could be telling us anything so I plan to get at least one more ancestry test done. However, have y'all seen the pricing on these ancestry tests?!?!!!! It may be a lil minute! Either way, have any of you taken any type of ancestry tests? What was your motivation and how did the results make you feel?