Kissing Cousins: Sankofa Series
While Prince Phillip lay on his deathbed a trickle of unauthorized documentaries, backstories, and premature obituaries started to flow and posthumously gave way to a flood of information about the royal lineages. Many wealthy families on both sides of the pond have historically inbred to “purify” their bloodline and retain riches, so it wasn’t at all surprising to learn that Prince Phillip and Queen Elizabeth were cousins. Rewind a few years back to when the hip-hop community was rocked by the revelation that Kevin Gates had been BLEEPING his cousin. In more recent years, I’ve been thinking that kissing cousins is probably more common than we think. (swipe to the 2nd video below)
I started tracing my family genealogy in 2014. Through this process I’ve taken 3 different DNA tests to find relatives and records to help piece together my family tree. To date, I have matched with over 14,000 people that also share a portion of my ancestors DNA. Over the past 7 years I have uncovered more than 100 years of history on both my maternal and paternal grandmothers’ lineage. I’ve found cousins across the country and those in close proximity, and I continue to branch out my family tree to avoid being unintentional kissing cousins.
I’m motivated by more than just making sure that my genes don’t mutate; I am determined to preserving history for younger generations. I’ve felt lost at family reunions and had no clue on how “so and so” is related. I felt confused, disconnected and uninterested at many gatherings throughout Atlanta and Detroit. My aunts’ uncles and elder cousins didn’t share our family history in a meaningful, tangible, or relatable way. Generations gathered to enjoyed each other in real-time, so the elders felt like they didn’t need to explain what was already understood.
In those moments, opportunities were missed to share oral history and engage the youth, and so I chose to pick up the ball to connect the dots for our descendants and document our legacy. I am a self-taught family historian and created this series as genealogy guide for beginners. I am sharing this work particularly for African Americans to start this process for themselves and their families. Many people don’t want to start this research because they don’t know where to begin. Others get hung up on slavery and all that they think is lost. It’s a different reality across the diaspora, but speaking to African-Americans, specifically, there’s over one hundred years of history that our ancestors have been free in this country. DNA traces like African Ancestry can help us reach back even further into the depths of our family history. There might be a huge gap, but there might also be an overwhelming amount of ancestral history that still exists.
Consider that your research can make a case for reparations. Summer 2020 was dubbed the summer of racial reckoning in the in the United States. There are more and more conversations about reparations and righting historical wrongs. As a country we are moving beyond buzz words and into action using social justice to inform policy and change communities. In small pockets, we see local governments and private intuitions participating in restorative justice and awarding African Americans the modern expression of 40 Acres and A Mule. I suspect that if lawmakers really rev up reparation legislation, the United States is not just going to give money to everyone that is Black. My theory is that we will need to document in some way that our ancestors were enslaved on America soil.
Do you remember the episode of A Different World where Winfred “Freddy” Brooks finds a portion of the Underground Rail Road under Hillman College? In “Success, Lies and Videotape,” Claire Huxtable is visiting Hillman and helping the students perfect their interview skills using cutting edge video technology. Freddie dips out early not concerned with corporate conversations and anxious to get back to her archeological dig. At the end of the episode Mrs. Huxtable comes to see Freddy’s discovery and says “Freddy, all our lives we learn about this and we teach it to our children. One day we come face to face with our past” Thirty years later I still watch that episode with batted breath; anxiously anticipating Freddy’s discovery. Feeling the solemness of the space and the presence of our ancestors through the scene. I fantasized about finding a similar archeological gem. Thankfully I didn’t have to dig in the dirt to find the names and historical documents that reflect my ancestors were enslaved in South West Georgia and along the North Carolina South Carolina border. I hope I can help you find your roots too!
