Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

| by archiveworldraceblogs

The desire to know my family lineage and where I come from is probably one of the strongest desires I've ever felt. (Outside of my daily desire for coffee and ice cream.)   Sometimes I feel like I have a mark on my forehead that reads "Tell me where I'm from!" because I kid you not, hundreds of random people have approached me with words like "you're from Jaimaica aren't you?" or "how long have you lived in the States…all your life…you mean you're not Dominican Republic?" 

I remember I was waitressing at a pizza shop in LA and this missionary couple who had just flown in from East Africa looked at me and before I could even say "would you like thin crust?" the guy said "I know you, you're from Kenya!" But I had to let him down easy by saying not only did we not know each, but that I hadn't the slightest knowledge of my ancestry. 

             What I mean is this: my great great great grand parents come from North Carolina. A little town called Kinston. And every year my entire family travels to NC to have a huge Family Reunion where all the generations upon generations of cousins, aunts, uncles and friends get together to swap family stories. But when it comes to my true homeland, I haven't the slightest idea, nor do they. It is a sad thing that most African Americans don't know their heritage outside of the Mayflower and American history books. 
 
"Well sir, I've been told that I look Asian, Carribean, South American and East African. But getting back to business, would you like thin crust or regular." The man and his wife looked at me without words. Then he took up his beverage napkin and asked for my pen. He begin drawing the entire contineant of Africa, along with the outskirts of the Middle East. He gave me a brief lesson on the slave trade from Africa to the Americas and what could have possibly happened to my family and where I might be from. I was almost to tears. Then he gave me the map drawn on a napkin and said "I hope you find out one day." 

The first stop on my World Race is Kenya!!!! I heard that the local Africans have helped many other African Americans discover their family tribes and ancestorial roots. I hope that this will be one of my many experiences as I travel the globe next year. Even still…I do know that I come from a greater line of ancestry, out of the root of Jesse.