African Ancestry anybody done it?

[TRIP1911]

I'm thinking about doing this...its kind of expensive though...

The test kit is very easy to use. You simply rub the inside of your cheek with the swabs contained in the test kit. Then mail the swabs back...what ya'll think???

http://africanancestry.com/index.html

 

[mal the magnificient]

on some ral talk, i was thinking about doing the dna thing like 4 yrs ago when it cost alot, but an African dude told me wherever i went in africa they would accept me, tribes and labels are jsut politics like over here. relly touched my heart, but go ahead and find out, peace to u my brother we all share similiar roots

 

[DANGEROUSBLACKMAN]

Yeah You Should Do It Brotha It Sounds Interesting.

 

[Jam_Jam]

My uncle traced our roots back to a prince in Africa. I am proud to be related to African royalty. You should definitely do it, you may be surprised by what you find.

 

[Onyx]

I'm thinking about doing this...its kind of expensive though...

The test kit is very easy to use. You simply rub the inside of your cheek with the swabs contained in the test kit. Then mail the swabs back...what ya'll think???

http://africanancestry.com/index.html

I was interested in doing it for the longest but this gave me pause:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/05/60minutes/main3334427.shtml

The brother from the black sites answers about ancestry when he's told of all the maternal lineages possible from your grandmothers wasn't good. This was on about a month ago.

 

[charlie dark]

My uncle traced our roots back to a prince in Africa. I am proud to be related to African royalty. You should definitely do it, you may be surprised by what you find.

'A prince in Africa'? Your not giving away much there friend, is it a secret? I would expect the country and tribe at least????

 

[DaleMabry]

I was interested in doing it for the longest but this gave me pause:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/05/60minutes/main3334427.shtml

The brother from the black sites answers about ancestry when he's told of all the maternal lineages possible from your grandmothers wasn't good. This was on about a month ago.

Makes sense tho :

"Eight generations ago both you and I had 256 great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents," Greely points out. "It doubles every generation. So you've got two parents. You have four grandparents. You have eight great grandparents. Sixteen great-great grandparents. And it adds up fast. It adds up so fast in fact that if you go back 20 generations you've got over a million grandparents."

1,048,576 to be exact. And in each generation, DNA testing can provide information about only two of them.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/05/60minutes/main3334427_page2.shtml

So most likely for

me -> Born in 70s
Parents -> Born in 50s
Gparents -> Born in 10s-30s
G.Grands -> Born in 1890s-1910s
G.G.Grands -> Born in 1870s - 1890s
G.G.G.Grands -> Born in 1850s - 1870s

(Slave times now)

G.G.G.G.Grands -> Born in 1830s - 1850s
G.G.G.G.G.Grands -> Born in 1810s - 1830s
G.G.G.G.G.G.Grands -> Born in 1790s - 1810s

(US outlawed Transatlantic Slavery in 1808, though the last recorded ship landed in 1859 in Alabama)

So most likely we have to go back to at least 512 different ancestors to answer the question of "where in Africa did we come from"?

As you can see in that piece, there are several different places people traced back to. I've long said both Black and White Americans are a blend of scores of different European and W.African ethnic groups--especially us.

At the end of the day I try to honor most of W. and C. Africa as my home. Never understood why people go to South Africa and get all emotional when we do not descend from there.

lave Market Regions and Participation

There were eight principal areas used by Europeans to buy and ship slaves to the Western Hemisphere. The number of slaves sold to the new world varied throughout the slave trade. As for the distribution of slaves from regions of activity, certain areas produced far more slaves than others. Between 1650 and 1900, 10.24 million African slaves arrived in the Americas from the following regions in the following proportions:[24]

* Senegambia (Senegal and The Gambia): 4.8%
* Upper Guinea (Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Sierra Leone): 4.1%
* Windward Coast (Liberia and Cote d' Ivoire): 1.8%
* Gold Coast (Ghana): 10.4%
* Bight of Benin (Togo, Benin and Nigeria west of the Niger Delta): 20.2%
* Bight of Biafra (Nigeria east of the Niger Delta, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon): 14.6%
* West Central Africa (Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola): 39.4%
* Southeastern Africa (Mozambique and Madagascar): 4.7%

[edit] African kingdoms of the Era

There were over 173 city-states and kingdoms in the African regions affected by the slave trade between 1502 and 1853, when Brazil became the last Atlantic import nation to outlaw the slave trade. Of those 173, no fewer than 68 could be deemed nation states with political and military infrastructures that enabled them to dominate their neighbors. Nearly every present-day nation had a pre-colonial predecessor, sometimes an African Empire with which European traders had to barter and eventually battle. Below are 29 nation states by country that actively or passively participated in the Atlantic Slave Trade:

* Senegal: Denanke Kingdom, Kingdom of Fouta Tooro, Jolof Empire, Kingdom of Khasso and Kingdom of Saalum
* Guinea-Bissau: Kaabu Empire
* Guinea: Kingdom of Fouta Djallon
* Sierra Leone: Koya Temne
* Cote d'Ivoire: Kong Empire and Gyaaman Kingdom
* Ghana: Asante Confederacy and Mankessim Kingdom
* Benin: Kingdom of Dahomey
* Nigeria: Oyo Empire, Benin Empire and Aro Confederacy
* Cameroon: Bamun and Mandara Kingdom
* Gabon: Kingdom of Orungu
* Republic of Congo: Kingdom of Loango and Kingdom of Tio
* Angola: Kingdom of Kongo, Kingdom of Ndongo and Matamba

[edit] Ethnic groups

The different ethnic groups brought to the Americas closely corresponds to the regions of heaviest activity in the slave trade. Over 45 distinct ethnic groups were taken to the Americas during the trade. Of the 45, the ten most prominent according to slave documentation of the era are listed below.[25]

1. The Gbe speakers of Togo, Ghana and Benin (Adja, Mina, Ewe, Fon)
2. The Akan of Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire
3. The Mbundu of Angola (includes Ovimbundu)
4. The BaKongo of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola
5. The Igbo of Nigeria
6. The Yoruba of Nigeria
7. The Mandé speakers of Upper Guinea
8. The Wolof of Senegal
9. The Chamba of Cameroon
10. The Makua of Mozambique

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_slave_trade#End_of_the_Atlantic_slave_trade

 

[JofromthaNO]

My boyfriend and his siblings did it, and they traced them back to the tribe and what part of Africa they were from. It was some pretty intense stuff, but he takes much pride in in...I would say do it...

 

[badboyyawdie]

I'm thinking about doing this...its kind of expensive though...

The test kit is very easy to use. You simply rub the inside of your cheek with the swabs contained in the test kit. Then mail the swabs back...what ya'll think???

http://africanancestry.com/index.html

+

You owe me $300

This ancestory shit is for suckas!! You actually believe that these people are actually doing research on yo black ass? A fool is born every day!

Your family was most likely raped in the slave trade. There probably going to trace you back to this cracka

 

[da_monumental_1]

^^^^
They test for gene frequency and they frequently come up with results that show the very thing you pointed out above.

 

[DaleMabry]

^^^^
They test for gene frequency and they frequently come up with results that show the very thing you pointed out above.

Again though, are they testing for anywhere from 500 to a million possibilities?

Most likely they are only testing for like 4 or 5 of your ancestors, out of hundreds, thousands, millions of potential ancestors. How do they decide whether you are 25% Yoruba, 10% Ewe, 30% Kongo, 5% Akan, etc?

Thats almost impossible to determine.

 

[Costanza]

"Eight generations ago both you and I had 256 great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents," Greely points out. "It doubles every generation. So you've got two parents. You have four grandparents. You have eight great grandparents. Sixteen great-great grandparents. And it adds up fast. It adds up so fast in fact that if you go back 20 generations you've got over a million grandparents."

1,048,576 to be exact. And in each generation, DNA testing can provide information about only two of them.

Damn. Shows how stupid racism really is, an amazing perspective on this...

Reminds me of Obama/Cheney, probably the best example in popular culture of how linked we all are...

 

[da_monumental_1]

Again though, are they testing for anywhere from 500 to a million possibilities?

Most likely they are only testing for like 4 or 5 of your ancestors, out of hundreds, thousands, millions of potential ancestors. How do they decide whether you are 25% Yoruba, 10% Ewe, 30% Kongo, 5% Akan, etc?

Thats almost impossible to determine.

It's by haplotype groups. They only show the hits, not percentage of "this, this, and that". Since "this, this, and that" has no real basis in science. If a tester is telling you that, they are lying.

 

[badboyyawdie]

It's by haplotype groups. They only show the hits, not percentage of "this, this, and that". Since "this, this, and that" has no real basis in science. If a tester is telling you that, they are lying.

Exactly!! The OP owes me $300, I accept paypal..

 

[slimgoodbody]

Mayne........... A lot of blacks in the americas who have taken the tests were surprised and disappointed that their male line of descent actually points to western europe and not africa. Take it at your own risk!

I can understand why people would want to do this, but all human beings are the descendants of africans. Some just have ties that are closer than others.

 

[RichwooD]

Already an African and I know all my RooTs.

 

[water]

Does the FBI get a copy when you are done???

 

[bigirl]

Does the FBI get a copy when you are done???

Yeah if you do it thru the Washitaw/Nuwaubians they do for sure

 

[haitian1]

while I know that my dads side of the family were brought to Haiti from the Congo. But I have know Idea were my moms side came from will this ancestry test help in finding that information out.

 

[water]

Yeah if you do it thru the Washitaw/Nuwaubians they do for sure

Is that a Snipe at me?

 

[jo-jo111]

My two cents about this is if you have the desire to know go for it.

As for me, I know exactly where my ancestry is from since i'm a first generation american and both of my parents are from the same horn of africa country.

 

[DaleMabry]

Damn. Shows how stupid racism really is, an amazing perspective on this...

Reminds me of Obama/Cheney, probably the best example in popular culture of how linked we all are...

Thats the conclusion I came to also.

Is that a Snipe at me?

Oh LORD. Please tell me you dont roll with Dr. York.

 

[NativeSon]

I'm thinking about doing this...its kind of expensive though...

The test kit is very easy to use. You simply rub the inside of your cheek with the swabs contained in the test kit. Then mail the swabs back...what ya'll think???

http://africanancestry.com/index.html

fam, i personally think this type of thing is BULLSHIT. how are you gonna be able to trace any exact african ancestry when the slaves mixed w/eachother. i would imagine the mix is so complex that it would be impossible to come out with anything concrete.

...jus my thoughts, but i wish you the best on your quest for knowledge of self

 

[Rythm]

My two cents about this is if you have the desire to know go for it.

As for me, I know exactly where my ancestry is from since i'm a first generation american and both of my parents are from the same horn of africa country.

Man thats fantastic. Do everything you can to keep that knowledge in your family so that it gets handed down through the generations.