Ancestry DNA Results!!

I've been excited to write this post since I first saw my sister's Ancestry DNA results back in November. She went with her school to South Africa and everyone that went on the trip was tested.

 I have known about these tests for years. I had heard of celebrities taking the tests and I remember looking it up back in the day, but I decided not to do it because it was way too expensive. It's come down some in the last couple of years though for the basic Ancestry test. Especially if you wait for a sale.

Originally when I saw my sisters I still wasn't going to take the test because I figured seeing her results would be enough-but then I read that even full blooded siblings can have pretty different results. So I kind of HAD to take the test. So on Cyber Monday, they had the tests for $58 dollars and I got myself one. And my sister got my parents each one. So we were all tested. 

And now we have all (FINALLY!) gotten our results back. But before I get into the results, I want to talk about why I was so interested in taking it. I know nothing about where anyone comes from in my family-which is the norm for pretty much all Black Americans. We were stolen from Africa and our cultures and traditions were erased (such a nice way of putting it). The only thing I really knew was that my Grandpa said his parents were African, Irish, and Pembroke Indian. Of course almost all Black Americans say they have Native American but research has proven that this is not true for most Americans-black or white. It's the romanticism of Native American blood. But let's save that for another day.

So of course we the erasure of cultures and traditions. I especially noticed this in school when we were learning about culture. We had Korean Americans, Jewish Americans, Mexican Americans, etc. Everyone shared some of their culture- but I didn't really have anything other than just typical American stuff. That made me feel pretty left out. Like I was missing something. And I was. 

I probably didn't notice it again, until I was in my early 20's or so and would go out clubbing in Germany. Sometimes people will come up to you ask your name, where youre  from etc. Of course, I would say America. I'm a military brat so pinning down a state is difficult. Sometimes I would pick a random state. Sometimes I would pick my parents states. If the person was African, they usually just keep asking..."No, but where are you from?" Apparently America wasn't a good enough answer. They wouldn't be satisfied until you give them a country in Africa. So then they ask "Where are your parents from? America. Where are there parents from? America. And on and on. That's where the conversation usually ended. And it made me mad and sad and a whole lot of other emotions but I won't get into that either or this post will take all day.

So now let's talk about my grandparents.  

Here are my paternal grandparents. My grandma is from Georgia and my grandfather was from South Carolina.

And here are my maternal grandparents. My grandpa is from North Carolina and my grandma is from South Carolina.

My parents. 

Me and my brother (half brother-he didn't take the test but it would be interesting to see his results)

And me and my sister. 

So while we were waiting on the results I spent a lot of time watching other people's Ancestry DNA results. I would guess how African I thought they were and then try to guess what their highest African country might be based on facial features. I guessed my sister and I would be around 84% percent African and I would have my highest region in Benin/Togo.And I also guessed that out of everyone I would be the most African. I was wrong. But it was still fun guessing.

I'll start with hers. Since we got hers first. She is 71 percent African. A lot lower than what I estimated. The other thing that was shocking was the Puerto Rico migration connection- as far as we know, no one came from Puerto Rico. But apparently they did. That's pretty cool and we have been working on the family tree to figure out who it was. Her highest region was Cameroon/Congo which was pretty cool. Oprah and Taraji are said to have high Cameroon/Congo. And one more shocking thing was the Southern European (Italy/Greece) and how high it was. 

Next up my results. I am 72% percent African. And I was pretty disappointed with it, although I was kind of prepared for it after seeing my sisters. I was happy to see my highest region is Ghana. Over the last year I have been watching Stella Zone on youtube, which is a Ghanaian cooking channel . I really want to try some of the recipes. And I also really want to take a trip there. I had a few regions my sister didn't have, nowhere near as much Souther European. And oddly enough a little DNA in every region of Europe. I was hoping it would be Africa. That would have been cool. It cut off but my migrations were Puerto Rico and South Carolina.

So next up, we got my Dads results. After seeing mine and my sisters I put both my parents at around 70 something percent. Again, I was wrong! My Dad is 87 percent African!! Color me jealous. He has a significant amount of Africa South Eastern Bantu and more Nigerian too! Highest African region was Ghana. Like me. Which is pretty cool. But I kind of wanted Ghana to myself. There wasn't any Native American but there was a little Polynesian! Also my Dad had two migrations-South Carolina African Americans and Virginia & Southern States African Americans. The last one didn't show up for me or my sister. 

And last up my Moms. I'm not sure who had more shocking results- my mom or my dad. . My mom is 54% African with her highest region being Southern Europe and the highest African Region being Ghana (again I can't have Ghana to myself!). Also there was significant Irish and a little bit of Native American so I guess my Grandpa was right. Her migration was Puerto Rico. It's odd that South Carolina didn't show up. 

And also, she had DNA in every region in Africa (as did my sister and dad)  which is the opposite of me. Which is pretty interesting. 

This post has been super long...and I could go on and on. But I'm just going end right here. 

Have you taken an Ancestry test? What were your results? Were you surprised?

I still have a couple more places to upload the raw DNA to see what they can find about medical risks and more ancestry info. I also really want to take the test where they give you an African tribe but I don't have that 300 dollars at the moment. 

Random: I've always wanted to ask someone where I look like I could be from. Most people tell me I look like an "island girl". I have no idea what island they are talking about. And I don't see it. But whatever. Now I look in the mirror and I see Ghana. It might be my imagination. But it makes me feel good.