Drexel Brooks
African Ancestry Family Member
New Orleans, LA

Rev. Martha Orthey
New Orleans, LA

Click photo for more images from New Orleans

Ajuba Joy, Poet
Raleigh, NC

We Are Africa 2010 Road Tour - Raleigh from ralston smith.

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

Want to see more video? Click here.

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We Are Africa 2010 Road Tour – moments from the road from ralston smith on Vimeo.

I grew up in DC, a daughter, niece, and cousin of generations of Howard University graduates. So, I am aware of the history and pride that are inherent in our historically black colleges and universities. They continue to play a very important role in the development of our community.

Queen Mother Carr

You can imagine how excited we were to be at the historic Jubilee Hall on the campus of Fisk University. You can feel the history in that place. There is a lot of pressure to deliver the message of our movement clearly and respectfully within those walls. The Nashville community made it easy! We had a great mix of people in attendance, from the Queen Mothers of the community to the Village Church to an engaged group of excited young people.

We were honored to reveal the ancestries of several people in Nashville. Ken West and Porcha Wofford were surprised by their Yoruba and Fulani roots in Nigeria. In fact, Ken guessed that his ancestry would be Nigerian. Rep. Brenda Gilmore and Dr. Jeff Menzise appreciated learning of their Grain Coast African roots. One of the ancestries that they share is Mende from Sierra Leone. Rep. Gilmore was pleased to learn from where she inherited her fighting spirit. Queen Mother shares ancestry with our photographer, Kea Taylor, and the Bamileke people in Cameroon.

Rev. Stephens, A Proud Mandinka Descendant

The highlight of the reveals was Rev. Stephens’ reaction to his Mandinka warrior roots!

Dr. Jeff Menzise

I’d like to publicly thank Dr. Jeff Menzise, a descendant of the Mende of Sierra Leone, for hosting us at Fisk. He provided an important perspective on the history of Fisk and its current challenges. Jeff is committed to the psychological development of young African American minds. Fisk is quite  fortunate to have him as a leader within the institution.

Do you know where you’re from? Be sure to check out our schedule and join us at an event near you.

Kijani

I’m a city girl. Through and through. The only cotton I’ve ever seen has been in a bag at the drugstore or dried in a floral arrangement. The creative spirits in the Road Crew wanted to capture some cotton plants along the way. The only problem was, noone was really sure of what the cotton plant looks like. No worries. We have our iPad to answer all of our Road Tour questions. We found a cotton field and I turned the camera on Kea. I tried to capture what I saw as she meditated on her feelings standing on the land in the heat.

The Opening Blessing for the We Are Africa Road Tour 2010

We Are Africa 2010 road tour – kickoff prayer – AfricanAncestry.com from ralston smith on Vimeo.

Rev. Martha Arvey is So Excited to Find Her Roots!

we are africa 2010 road tour – winning a free AfricanAncestry.com DNA test kit from ralston smith on Vimeo.

Drexel Brooks Shares His Baton Rouge – Yoruba Connection

we are africa 2010 road tour_Baton Rouge/Yoruba Connection_AfricanAncestry.com from ralston smith on Vimeo.

The Big Easy was amazing! First, we need to thank the Ashe’ Cultural Arts Center. They are an extraordinary organization that celebrates the life and cultural traditions of the community. Viola Johnson and her team hosted a fantastic kickoff for the We Are Africa Road Tour 2010. Please stop by and visit Ashe’ when you are in town.

The Silhoutte Dance Ensemble opened the event with a powerful dance led by Kai Knight. Their performance added to the wonderful energy in the space.

Silhouette Dance Ensemble

After the African Ancestry presentation, African Ancestry Family Member Antoinette Harrell presented a brief video of her journey to Niger upon finding her Tuareg roots. The resemblance between her immediate family members and Tuareg women were uncanny.

AA Fam: Antoinette Harrell and Claudette Hurd

Among the countless highlights of the event was meeting long time African Ancestry Family Member Mtumishi St. Julien and our newest member, Chaela.

Chaela

Mtsumishi

We revealed the roots of our special guests which was almost as exciting as the reactions of the two winners of an African Ancestry Test Kit!

WDSU News Anchor Norman Robinson - Mende and Balanta!

WYLD-FM Sunday Journal Host Hal Clark and Family - Cameroon!

Click here to see more images from Day One in New Orleans. The Road Crew and I are looking forward to bringing the movement to 13 more cities!!! See you on the Road!

After weeks of planning and preparation, we were off to New Orleans. Our flight down to MSY Airport was my second of the day, having just flown home that morning from the NABJ conference in San Diego. Whew! How was I going to get all of this done?

Somehow things worked themselves out and I met Kea and Victoria at the airport. (Ralston and Dr. Gene Sankofa missed the flight!)

The Road Crew @ BWI Airport

When we arrived in New Orleans, we were welcomed what felt like 100 degrees and the most humidity I’ve ever felt in my life! But we were hyped and ready to take on New Orleans. It seemed to make more sense to rent a car for one day rather than deal with taxis from the airport. So I pulled out my Blackberry to look for a deal. That was too slow, so we pulled out the iPad. Success!

We had to convince Chantell at Avis, that we really only needed a economy car, despite all of our bags and boxes.

Chantell at the Avis Counter

We were right! We managed to fit three suitcases, two African Ancestry cases, two boxes, three carryons, and a camera bag into that little Hyundai and still have room for Kea and Victoria.

We capped the day off with a visit to the French Quarter. It reminded me of Vegas with all of the lights and people and action. Good food. Good drinks. Good night!

Thanks to Karla Vogel we found a name….

Welcome Dr. Gene Sankofa to the African Ancestry family! His last name represents the Ghanaian concept of “going back to reclaim our past in order to move forward”.

Be sure to follow him on the Road Tour for the opportunity to win other prizes!

P.S. Shout out to Oyenuga Samuel whose suggestion, Dokita Ayoka, which means “doctor who causes joy all around”, was a very close second choice!