It will never cease to amazing me how far we have come since DNA was first used in a criminal case in 1986. DNA was a game changer in solving those cases that were previously left to go cold. On average in the United States there are approximately 20, 000 homicides per year and almost 40% of those are left unsolved. That number is staggering to me. Even in this day and age with all the technology we have, 40% is still too many. (Project: Cold Case, 2021).
My own DNA journey started in 2010 and at that time, I had no idea how much of an impact doing this simple spit in a tube test would actually effect who I am. I had always been proud of my heritage of being Scottish and Native American and DNA would blow all of this out of the water so to speak. I initially took a 23 and Me test. The results showed first of all, I had absolutely no Native American (East Asian) DNA whatsoever. Not one little smidge. But it did show a percentage of African which really did not surprise me at all based on my coloring. My percentage of of African was in the .5% range which basically means somewhere in 7-8 generations (roughly 512-1024 great grandparents) someone was from Africa. It is mainly on my X Chromosome which means it is from a female relative but it could be from either my mothers side or my fathers side but still through a female great grandparent
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Now all tests are not perfect and I believe there is a lot more work to do on this field to make it really complete but every year there are new and exciting discoveries about DNA and how to apply it to genetic genealogy. And I seem to have gotten off track as to where I wanted to go with this post but there is so much to talk about when it comes to DNA and its various applications.
So CeCe Moore… she is well known in the field and her work with Dr. Henry Louis Gates on Finding Your Roots has been ground breaking in the world of genetic genealogy. People are searching and finding out who they are and the people who came before them to shape their lives into what it is now. One episode in particular caught my attention and that inspired this blog post today.
Angela Davis may not be a household name for most. She gained notoriety in 1970 when guns she owned were used in an armed takeover of the courthouse in Marin County, California. Eventually she was acquitted of all charges and released in 1972. She is an activist, a self-proclaimed Communist, a former Vice Presidential Candidate, and in 2020 was named to Time Magazines ” 100 Most Influential People In the World” list.
On Angela’s episode, she was told she is a direct descendant of William Brewster who came to America aboard the Mayflower. While she obviously was not jumping on chairs excited, she did take the news graciously. I tried to find a snippet of the video but frankly there are just nasty people out there with horrible views and I could not find one that was not just disgusting . If you follow the link I cite below you can find the clip of her episode of “Finding Your Roots” . Within “The Root” article though discussing Angela’s episode was the mention of a group of people I would like you to meet, of whom I am proud to be a member of, and shows how this post comes full circle. (Johnson, 2023)
The group on Facebook is called DNA Detectives and it was started by CeCe Moore. The group is entirely made of up people who are called Search Angels and those looking for someone to help them navigate the confusing results they have. It is an amazing group and from that original group another off shoot group has formed dedicated to searches for great grandparents and stories relating to DNA called the DD Social. Here are the links to both groups and be sure to answer all the questions before joining. It is also important to read all the information so if you need a Search Angel you can help them with giving a complete post of what you are looking for and what you have. And if you are into the law enforcement side of DNA, there are subgroups also started by CeCe.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/DNADetectives
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1894942467450627
I personally have taken about 30 cases to help either an adoptee or an NPE (Non Parental Event) and out of those 30, only three are still being worked on. One is from Australia, one from Great Britain, and one from the U.S. Most were solved within days but I have two that I sorted within hours. My personal best time was 4 hours start to finish.
I have chosen to add “DD” to my DNA profiles to help people find me in the Facebook groups and many will do this especially on Gedmatch which is a DNA clearinghouse of sorts and I will discuss that forum more at a later date.
I am personally so grateful to CeCe and everyone who is working to expand our knowledge bases in the world of Genetic Genealogy. I have files upon files of paper trails that are for a family that was not even mine (my next blog post so stay tuned) and without these home based DNA tests I would have never known the truth. It is fascinating to see how groups traveled, who did what, and finally make those connections for the truth.
I know this has been a long post and I hope you have gained helpful information from it. If you do have any questions about searching for your DNA relatives, reach out at my email GenealogyMamaw@auldclanties.com and lets solve those mysteries together.
Have an amazing Monday everyone.
(n.d.). Uniform Crime Report for Homicides: 1965-2021. Project Cold Case. Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://projectcoldcase.org/cold-case-homicide-stats/
Johnson, A. (2023, February 25). Angela Davis’ Reaction To A Big Reveal Was the Most Priceless Thing We’ve Seen All Week. The Root. Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://www.theroot.com/angela-davis-reaction-to-a-big-reveal-was-the-most-pric-1850156464