DNA Has Memory: We Are Who We Were

By the time this article is written, edited and read, 300 hundred children will have become infected with malaria and hundreds more will have died in my newfound homeland of Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone has one of the worst Infant Mortality Rates in the world (Sierra Leone's U5MR is 284th in the world -- 160.3 deaths/1000 live births -- in other words, 28% of all children die before they turn 5 years old, second to Angola). In October 2005 I found out that I shared ancestry with the Mende Temne Peoples of Sierra Leone on my Maternal side and with the Mbundu People of Angola on my Paternal side. I researched Sierra Leone for 8 intense months, reading one horror story after another about Sierra Leone after its Independence from British Rule in 1961. But the thing that interested me the most, was Sengbe Pieh, or "Joseph Cinque" -- the Mende leader that lead the revolt on the slave ship, Le Amistad. I said, "Wow! This guy is one of my ancestors! What now?" My answer? I decided to go see the country and Sengbe Pieh's people, my people, for myself. Mind you, I had no idea how this trip was going to even begin to come together, but I prayed and planned on having everything and everyone that I needed to make the journey. Many phone calls and several bizarre "coincidences" later, I had a full a budget, Visas, Camera Crew, a Corporate Council on Africa Sierra Leonean Representative, a Architect, a Special Agent, a Plastic Surgeon and a NAACP Human Rights Attorney getting on a plane with me headed for Sierra Leone in May 2006!

What I experienced there has changed and affirmed my life forever. While in Sierra Leone I not only saw the "faces" of my family members back in Houston, Texas, but I found myself publicly pledging that I would help raise awareness of the plight of Salone (slang for Sierra Leone), provide positive and timely improvements and build a much needed school in the Bagbwe Chiefdom village of Njala Kendema. "What the hell did I just do?" Again, I had no idea how I was going to do all of this, I just "knew" that it would get done. In this "knowing" The Gondobay Manga Foundation was founded in September 2006, received NGO status in June 2007, received 501(c)3 status in August 2007 and we finished building the Chief Foday Golia Memorial school for 150 children that opened November 15, 2007. This ironically, is the very same day of the Inauguration of the new democratically elected President Ernest Bai Koroma. Anyone who knows anything about starting non-profits, know that all of this takes much, much longer to achieve. Yet, it has all happened at lightening speed for us.

I now firmly believe that DNA has Memory and that we are who we were. It was explained to me that the Mende name Gondobay Manga has not been used since the original Chief Gondobay Manga of Ngalu (the Ngalu village is where I was inducted) died in battle protecting his village in the late 18th Century. He was a fierce Warrior, respected by his Chiefdom and feared by his enemies. I am a Warrior too. So, I thought it befitting to name the foundation after him. I am now Chief Gondobay Manga II. A man with renewed purpose and passion. A man with a history in Sierra Leone that I can embrace as my own. Ironically, after being inspired by the legacy of W.E.B. Dubois and his Pan-African dreams of dual citizenship. I am proud to say that the H.E. President Ernest Bai Koroma has agreed that he will give me and any African-American full citizenship if they can prove that their "origins" through DNA are Sierra Leonean. Needless to say, this will be historic, because this will, I hope, finally legitimize the term African-American. This will supersede Ghana's Dual Citizenship Act of 2000, because that legislature was merely based on the "color of our skin" and not DNA.

In my final effort to "drive home" my theory of DNA has Memory and We Are Who We Were, I remembered having dreams of what I now know as various African "villages," pre-Alex Haley's Roots. Not wanting to talk about my recurring dreams, I often pretended that I never had them. The dreams were recurring or as I called them silently, "reruns." They were of beautiful African women and children all running through heavily wooded areas. Sometimes working or playing. Growing up in Independence Heights (Studewood) in northeast Houston,Texas in the 1970s, I have to say, that it was common to take "shortcuts" through heavily wooded and undeveloped areas to get from one neighborhood to the next. Sometimes I took the "beaten paths" or many times I "created my own path or trail" and for some reason I never ended up late or lost. I always arrived before my friends (who remained on the same old trails) and they never could understand why I couldn't just stay on the "beaten path." I must admit that it was a little frightening to be creating a new path at times, but I always "knew" I had to do it. And I always "knew" that it would work out. Seeing the people and the familiar terrain in Sierra Leone, I instinctively "knew" that this was my home. Why? Well, I had seen it all before in my dreams as a child, a teenager and a young adult. So, when I return to Sierra Leone this May I will bring as many of those individuals who want to see what I have seen. Bring as many of those individuals who share the Mende ancestry. Bring as many of those individuals who want to help. Bring as many of those individuals who have had similar dreams of Africa. Bring as many of those individuals who want to see their ancestor's homeland.

Lately I thought I was continuing W.E.B. DuBois's dream, only to discover in my research that Edward Wilmot Blyden (3 August 1832 - 7 February 1912) was an Americo-Liberian educator, writer, diplomat and politician in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Blyden was teaching classics at Liberia College (1862-1871) when W.E.B. DuBois was being born on February 23, 1868! No disrespect to my man W.E.B. DuBois, but in this quest of discovery, I have discovered that Blyden is clearly the "Father of Pan-Africanism." Blyden strongly believed that "African-Americans who were suffering in America from discrimination had to play a major role in the development of Africa by leaving America and returning to the African continent." He was very "critical" of those African-Americans who did not want to associate themselves with Africa. Hmmm...sounds a lot like me. I too was born on August 3rd. A stretch you say? Maybe. Maybe not. I do believe that DNA has Memory and We Are Who We Were.

Comments

[TellingTruth2Kooks]

While I Applaud Mr. Washington's efforts and everything that he has accomplished, but I am also very uncomfortable in discussing racial issues, considering that I see them thru my own Genetic Biases.

Regardless of how our ancestors have gotten to the USA, I have often felt that those who truly hate it here should return to the Country of their Genetic Origins, (forcibly deported if necessary). Now that we have the technology to accurately determine the Origin of your ancestry, that in the event that you are unable to function in a productive manner here in the USA, then maybe a self-imposed exile to your Original country should be an option, paid for by the Originating Country.

Now maybe some readers will see this as some kind of Racial indictment against all those, not goose-stepping to the party line, but I see it more compassionately, in more akin to how happy a Duck is in it's element and how much they tend to Quack & Complain when they are Forced to Waddle along. Thus, those who have an inert need to live a daily simple subsistence existence, should be able to do so, or if they Self-Identify by the Customs & Culture of their Ancestral Homelands. Why would they be forced to continue to live in a totally Alien Culture, which they will never come to Appreciate, nor Understand?

Now Europe, & Asia has benefited by this back & forth migration of its citizenry with the USA, and even Africa to some extent, but if African Americans were as active in the prosperity of their Continent, I believe that More African Americans would really come to appreciate the wealth of Opportunity here, and most of all, they would see exactly what Abject poverty really is, and be able to address those needs better than some Washington Bureaucrat!

Again I wish to Applaud Mr. Washington in his Accomplishments and he new found genetic links that has brought back the wayward Prodigal Son to his Ancestral Roots, but you need to blame the Liberals for banning DDT, causing Malaria to make a Roaring Comeback!

[mmurray21]

Since all of us come from Africa, does that mean that we all should be having the same memories?

[MariaHopeful]

Beautiful article Mr. Washington. I have always admired your work and now I honor you as a person. Thanks for sharing your journey with us. Please do keep us posted as things develop.
Hail to the Chief!

[Homa]

Dear Isaiah,

Years, ago, I began to whole-heartedly subscribe to the notion of DNA memory about which you are writing. I believe that Martha Graham used to call it Blood Memory. This is actually the title of her autobiography! She wrote:

"Sometimes it's blood memory... not the blood your mother and father gave you... but that which stretches back two or three thousand years."

[rucognizant]

And following through with "thinking out of the box"
I read Arundel ( my first Kenneth Roberts novel about the revolutionary war.) in about 1962?) It tells of a troup of Patriots trecking through the upstate NY region.
My parents had bought a Dude Ranch in the Adirondacks, and I was driving up there from Phila. with the children for a visit. Lake George was (is more so now) a holiday destination with excursion boats, restaurants, amusements,lodging, as you pass through on RT#9. I had a sudden vision of the place at the lowest end of the lake as a revolutionary battle encampment, tents, soldiers, campfires....... literally the pristine woods trashed & teeming with life....... I was 25 years old at the time, and you could attribute the vision to the skill with which Roberts applied his words........
BUT, when I was 52, the book about my ancestors landed in my bookshelf and I read it for the first time.
MY ancestor Herman Stout, was entrusted by the Continential Congress, with 2 other officers, to carry money from Phila. to General Schyler,at LAKE GEORGE, on foot carrying a chair with the money!
It must have looked like my vision!
His Great Grandfather had owned land from Claverock ( below Hudson) to Glenns Falls
( below lake George). My Father was drawn to that area in mid-life, and he ended his days in the Albany area, and my daughter was drawn to that area as well. ( All of us basically NJ, Philadelphians)
I have to call that genetic memory!
As for the statement "George Washington would be turning in his grave".........
From my viewpoint. Herman Stout's DNA is turning in my bone marrow, at the trashing of his sacrifice in 1777! ( He died at 58, as a result of consumtion caught at Valley Forge and broke, from using his funds to care for his men, and waiving repayment from the C Congress,where he served as a clerk for 3 terms.)
The age of enlightenment moral code has been passed down thorough the centuries to the present generation. ( That could be nurture NOT nature!)
I'm glad to hear someone else put forth this pre mise. I have encountered others who have had experiences like this.

[ViperVisor]

Dennis Green agrees.

[mmurray21]

thats funny :)

[loril]

Interesting post! I am so fascinated by the ancestral DNA test that I have told my husband I would like to get a test as a birthday/Christmas gift one of these days. Not sure if we can justify the expense right now, but I would really love to have this information.

I am partly of English heritage and I have always been a raging anglophile. I was able to make one trip to England several years ago and I immediately felt at home there. I clicked with the people and felt like this was the place where I should really be living. I have never felt this same sense of belonging or connecting with the mainstream culture here. I realize that England is not a far cry from the US...but there are definite differences and I noticed that my personality was more compatible with the average Brit.

Purely anecdotal on my part...as you said...just a very strong "feeling" that this was home and what was most right for me.

[patriotscholar]

Excellent post! It is a good thing to know your past heritage. You are bringing to light the plight of those in your ancestral homelands as well, and you should be commended for that.

[Paul]

We made contact with living relatives in Germany 130 years after my great-grandfather emmigrated to the US. We did it the old-fashioned way using family documents and church records. But then we did not have to overcome 300 years of purposefully obliterating the identity of those taken into slavery from Africa. So congratulations on finding your people - even in all their poverty - there are few things more gratifying.

In my case I am very much at home in Germany and among Germans - its like you are at home even though you have not been there before. Culturally my family shares much, we seem to be separated mostly by language. But we enjoy visiting them at every opportunity and we stay in close contact. There is even a family resemblence that can be seen.

Thanks for sharing your story.

[dadumdee]

Why didn't you bring up your role in Spike Lee's "Get on the Bus" during your scandal? As a heterosexual Black man, I felt that your role in that movie did more to advance the acceptance and reality of homosexuals, especially in the notoriously homophobic Black community, than any other scripted role. Risking being presumed gay or being typecast, you were brave and open minded enough to take the role in the first place, and you added dignity and toughness without a hint of pandering to gay stereotypes. For you to be slandered as a homophobe was disingenious, and while I respect the human urge to just apologize and move on, I wish you would have pushed back a little more. Your post was good, and I'm sorry for bringing up old sh-t, but I had to get that off my chest.

[NicoleAnonymous]

The hate campaign against him started with this horrible gossip columnist who is gay and is obsessed with getting "revenge" on anyone who he feels doesn't give gay people the "respect" they deserve. This columnist, and I won't name him because he doesn't deserve the attention, was the person who refused to let it drop and kept mentioning it in his column EVERY DAY for MONTHS and then he asked Isaiah about it at the awards show was "horrified" that he repeated the word. Even gay activists said they did NOT want him to lose his job.

Of course nobody in Hollywood is punishing Mel Gibson for his anti-semitic insults because as we all know, Hollywood is full of hypocrites. I've heard many men use that word - it's just a stupid insult, the way women use "bitch" but the actor on Grey's Anatomy decided to use it to his advantage and went on all these talk shows acting "wounded" and "traumatized" and so Isaiah, who has way more talent than him, lost his job and that actor got a raise. Everyone I know thinks Grey's is worse without Isaiah on it.

And of course nobody cares that Katherine "you better pronounce my name right" Heigl called people "retards" in an interview.

[Marco]

Your encapsulation of the issue is inexact, naive, and overall pretty ignorant - not to mention your habit for making blanket statements about groups of people with no backup (e.g., "...even gay activists...", "nobody in Hollywood", "...everyone I know...")

I'm willing to be a big guy and give everybody a second chance and enjoyed reading this heartfelt piece by Mr. Washington. Please do not feel justified in posting your off-topic opinions on Mr. Washington's extremely poor choice of words and actions around the "Grey's" debacle which will ultimately derail the reading of whatever post he might work hard to put out there.

[klmebane]

so, tell me isaiah, are you going to be giving the damn near 1000 dollars it takes for this DNA test to the many black people who can't afford to pay for it on their own?? cuz i don't have money to throw at a DNA test to find out where my ancestors came from, i have to take care of my descendant first.

[Vixen0932]

wow how great! I wish I could find my people..lol

[Waitaminute]

Thank you, I need to know, where you did the dna test to determine what part of Africa your ancestors lived. Are there any websites, organizations, i can contact, so i can begin the process and get involved. I am not well to do, but have often thought of ways i can contribute, even if its no more then buy books.

[tcagle]

https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/index.html
will fix you up.

[Waitaminute]

Thank you very much.

[Citizenofreality]

I have had the same experiences as you in researching my genealogy. Many times I have found my way in old family stomping grounds even though I had never been there before. I was either being guided by some unknown hand or by an inner knowledge I was not aware of.

[avicenna]

I strongly recommend reading Spencer's A Journey of Man - and then there will be greater clarity that we all come from the same ancestor - and that there is greater genetic diversity within the populations that inhabit Africa today then there are between people who migrated away. Jon Donne said it best when he said "Don't ask for whom the bell tolls... it tolls for thee." You may feel a connection because your maternal mitochondrial DNA and paternal Y chromosome traces your genetic route back to certain place - but the real truth is that we're all related and empathy should extend to everyone in need - not just those who may share shallow characteristics - such as the shape of a nose and tilt of the chin because who we are all more alike then different - right down to our wonderfully shelfish gene.

[avicenna]

...sorry - I was eating clam chowder - that should be "selfish gene" - nothing to do with shellfish - though my genes love mollusks.

[detriangulation]

You're exactly right. While I commend his activism, this DNA-based assertion that "You Are Who You Are", in the context of this article, is problematic because it's racially essentialist and genetically deterministic. Nurture FAR OUTWEIGHS Nature in determining human behavior---we're products of our environment much more than we are of our genes. Moreover, the fallacy of different "races" is a social construction based on shallow phenotypic traits that amount to pseudo-science. There's no scientific basis for racial catagorizations like "black, brown, yellow, red, white." They simply do not exist outside of being social inventions. And actually Du Bois himself made the point that he championed Pan-Africanism not on the basis of "race" itself, but on the basis of shared, collective oppression brought about by the "black" label of the dominant cultural hegemony:
(from my M.A. thesis...)
"Du Bois de-emphasizes epidermal commonalities, emphasizing the common history of subjugation endured by African descendents: 'The badge of color [is] relatively unimportant save as a badge; the real essence of this kinship is its social heritage of slavery; the discrimination and insults. ¦It is this unity that draws me to Africa.'"

W.E.B. Du Bois, "Of Africa"Autobiographical." In W.E.B. Du Bois: A Reader. Ed. Andrew Paschal. (New York: Collier, 1971),4.

In other words, neither color NOR DNA are the basis, kinship and social heritage are.