Black History Month: Find Your Roots Through DNA Testing

Want to find your roots? Roland Martin and the “NewsOne Now” panel discussed DNA ancestry research Monday with Gina Paige from AfricanAncestry.com.

“For us as African Americans, we hit a brick wall when we go through that traditional genealogical path,” Paige says. “What we’re doing at African Ancestry is taking what’s innate in us, our DNA, and using that to reconnect and replenish our identities…Imagine is we all knew where we came from. We wouldn’t have that void in our identities.”



Paige says African Ancestry’s researchers examine mitochondrial DNA to connect customers with their distant African relatives by sorting through the largest database of indigenous African to look for matches. Celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones, Rev. Jesse Jackson and Roland Martin have all taken the test.