Have you ever wondered exactly how it was determined that Oprah's family came from Liberia rather than let's say...Côte d'Ivoire? It struck some of us as odd that there were even enough samples taken from Africa to draw any type of definitive conclusion. The truth is there are no comparative databases to prove or disprove the results. That's a problem not just for Oprah but for all African Americans seeking the connection to our roots.
We want to change this but we need your help to do it. In October of 2007 CAAGRI will be going to Ghana to begin collecting samples in a pilot program that will focus on matching African Americans with our African relatives. We can collect all the DNA we want in Ghana but so long as yours isn't in the database, we'll never be able to answer the questions that matter most to us who have been researching for years.
Our goal is not only to reunite families but to encourage African Americans to take an interest in the struggles that Africans face today including life or death issues like malaria and polluted drinking water. We are confident that once relatives are united, it will be difficult to walk away from the harsh realities that affect extended family members. While DNA tests can't possibly substitute good old fashioned detective work, it does offer us a real hope of knowing who we are and where we came from.
