Finding Your Roots: Samuel L. Jackson, Condoleezza Rice, and Ruth Simmons

This was probably one of my favorite episodes from the Finding Your Roots series so far! Mostly because it helped three African Americans find some roots in certain Africa tribes. Granted, some could have other mixtures from other African slaves brought to the US which married into the family through other lines, seeing as how …

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Tracing a Surname

There’s a pair of 4rd great grandparents that have been the topic of a few of these posts and the point of some of my frustrations with searching for their information. They are Juan Carlos Gustavo and Julia/Balbina Lotten (and all their many alternations/alter-egos included) who according to documents immigrated from either Guadeloupe or Martinique …

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ReConstructing/DeConstructing Race

So this post was inspired by my grandfather’s results from 23andme and my conversation with him while I had him taking the test. During Spring Break, I visited my grandfather in Puerto Rico who I rarely see and built up the courage to ask him to take the DNA test. I had to semi-explain (and I …

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Slave Owning Ancestor?

Puerto Rico’s history is very interesting because a lot of the inhabitants that have been on the island for a long time (like my ancestors) probably have ancestors that were slaves, and/or ancestors that owned slaves. So far I haven’t found any slaves in my family but I do have ancestors that are written down …

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Paying my Respects

Early I posted about how my dad’s cousin found me online through this blog (technology is awesome!). She was able to provide me with pictures, stories and more information about my dad’s side which I had no previous knowledge about. It’s so crazy to think that just 2 years I had no idea about my …

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