AFRICANANCESTRY.COM UNLOCKS ANCESTRAL ROOTS OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. AND MARCUS GARVEY USING DNA AND THEIR LIVING DESCENDENTS

Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Guinea-Bissau identified as present-day countries of origin for Descendents of Renown Leaders

WASHINGTON, DC (September 2010) – For the children of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and social justice icon Marcus Garvey, DNA roots tracing has confirmed they have something genetically in common:  Both their paternal ancestries trace to Europe; and both their maternal ancestries connect them directly to Africa. AfricanAncestry.com, the pioneers of DNA-based ancestry tracing for African Americans, recently revealed the paternal roots of King and Garvey through their sons — Martin Luther King III and Dr. Julius Garvey respectively – during a special DNA Reveal Dinner hosted by the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation’s African Policy Summit in Atlanta on Sept. 26.

For the King Family, AfricanAncestry.com’s results complement the paper-trail research they’ve done on Dr. King’s paternal side, which traces to Ireland.  Martin Luther King III’s test also revealed his mother’s line, the late Coretta Scott King, who it was determined shares ancestry with the Mende people of Sierra Leone.

“One test can reveal the lineage of an entire family,” said Gina Paige, co-founder and president of African Ancestry. “As an African American, I’m personally proud and passionate about all the families we’ve been able to help since our inception several years ago.  It is of the highest professional honor that we’ve contributed to history by tracing the ancestries of these iconic families. This is truly a milestone for us.”

While Dr. Garvey’s paternal lineage traced to Portugal and Spain in Europe, his maternal line traced to present-day Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone and Senegal.  “It is actually not uncommon for paternal lineages of African Americans to trace to Europe due to the number of white male slave owners fathering children with enslaved African women,” said Dr. Rick Kittles, co-founder and Scientific Director for African Ancestry.

In addition to the Kings and Garveys, African Ancestry.com revealed the roots of Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, who shares ancestry with the Igbo people of Nigeria, and Dr. Carlton Brown, president of Clark Atlanta University, who shares ancestry with the Yoruba and Fulani people of Nigeria.

Contacts:

Nichole D. Taylor

ntaylor@africanancestry.com

I hate to play favorites, but…I can honestly say that Ardenia Brown was by far our most enthusiastic host! Ardenia came to us through a mutual friend and was immediately like family. She has an extensive promotions background and so she was like a one woman African Ancestry PR machine!

Gina and Ardenia

As a proprietor of Butternut Market, Ardenia is part of a group of local entrepreneurs who are changing the way that Bedford-Stuyvesant views itself as a neighborhood. She organized her colleagues at Therapy Wine Bar and House of Art Gallery Brooklyn to bring the We Are Africa Road Tour to Brooklyn.

House of Art Gallery

Butternut Market Tasting

Butternut Market’s tasting also attracted a number of people from the neighborhood to the presentation, which was standing room only. The reveals were quite moving and the good times continued in the gallery and at Therapy Wine Bar. Bed-Stuy has roots from all over!

Angela Terry - Native American Roots!

Richard Beavers - Angolan Roots!

Alexia Billiart - Ghanaian Roots!

Ardenia Brown - Guinea Bissau Roots!

We had a great time in Brooklyn meeting the neighborhood’s architects, artists, young people, genealogists, and entrepreneurs. We were encouraged by the engagement of the youth and the number of families that came out to learn about finding their roots. Thank you Brooklyn!

A Family Affair

Click here for more photos and video from Brooklyn!

Imagine an African-centered high school with a 100% graduation rate, a 100% college acceptance rate, and a 100% scholarship receipt rate. It exists. In Philadelphia. Imhotep Institute Charter High School is led by Mama Christine Wiggins and was the location for the Philadelphia stop on the We Are Africa Road Tour.

Philadelphia was a special stop for many reasons. First, my family is from there. So we had four generations of the Paige family celebrating our Nigerian roots.

Second, we revealed the ancestries of Former Mayor Wilson Goode, the first African American mayor of Philadelphia and Stanley Straughter, Chairman of the Mayor’s Commission on African and Caribbean Immigrant Affairs. Mr. Straughter is a devout Pan-Africanist and so it took some arm-twisting to get him to find his maternal roots. I promised to let what is revealed at Imhotep, stay at Imhotep! Mayor Goode was kind enough to join us during his 50th wedding anniversary weeklong celebration. And, for good reason. We revealed that his maternal roots are in Guinea-Bissau and his paternal roots are Yoruba, from Nigeria!

Gina and Stan Straughter

Mayor Goode

Plus, we had some serious African Ancestry family members in the house! One of our elders walked through the door ready to share her story. As she tells it, when she opened her results envelope, she was so happy that she “went beserk”.

Telling Her Story

Muhammad Aliyu doesn’t leave home without his African Ancestry Certificate of Ancestry! How’s that for showing your pride?

Wallet Size!

Click here for more photos from the Philadelphia scrapbook! Do You Know?

One of the objectives of the We Are Africa Road Tour is to highlight Black organizations, institutions, and businesses along the way. In Baltimore, we were able to celebrate local entrepreneurs Jamyla and Pierre Bennu. Jamyla is the Grand Mixtress of OyinHandmade.com, a natural beauty products company. Pierre is a filmmaker, exittheapple.com, and allowed us to open the evening with this powerful piece on our culture.

We turned the camera on Pierre to get his perspective on the African Ancestry Experience!

We Are Africa 2010 Road Tour – Pierre Bennu from ralston smith.

Finally! Our hometown stop. I was really looking forward to the DC event. We’d have our African Ancestry family, great reveals, Step Afrika!, an African deejay from ARK Jammers, catering by Tropical Fusion, and the Embassy of Nigeria. A night to remember for sure. Click here to view Kea’s photo album.

Barbara Harrison found her maternal ancestry in Guinea-Bissau! There were plenty of “cousins” in the audience to welcome her into the family.

Egypt? Ethiopia? … Nope, Nigeria! Carla Hall found her maternal ancestry right at home in the Embassy of Nigeria. Amazing.

Ralston had been sitting on his MatriClan Test Kit for two years. I guess it’s because he knew where he was from. Ralston guessed correctly…Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone…”Give Us Free!”

Home is a special place. Our DC-based African Ancestry team got a chance to be involved in the Road Tour and I got to see my best friend, Gina and her mom!

We are fortunate to have tremendous partnerships with different kinds of African-focused organizations. Thank you to Step Afrika! and ARKJammers for helping us to celebrate our cultural connections to Africa.

Eric Chinje of ARK Jammers

C. Brian Williams, Step Afrika!

This little guest danced the night away! She Is Africa! Do You Know?

We’re catching up y’all! Here are some visuals from the Road:

Want to see more video? Click here.

Click on the photo to view more images