u/Thriftingrits

Hey friends!

I'm absolutely losing my mind with excitement. In the past few years, I have taken my writing very seriously and achieved some small accomplishments that have kept me going. But nothing like this!!

Today, when I woke up, I received an email saying I was one of the recipients of the Boston Writers of Color Literary Awards. I still can't believe it! I work so hard, but when it pays off, I get a serious case of impostor syndrome.

I am over the moon and truly feel proud of myself. I didn't have many people to tell, so here I am! My heart is full, and I feel very, very lucky and grateful to have been chosen.

The other day I got my test results back. Before this I had no idea where my dad’s side originated from, and I found that I am Nigerian and Ghanaian. I’m mixed with white, and my percentage of my black side is around 42%. I know it doesn’t seem like a big deal but now I feel a bit like an imposter when trying to learn about my culture.

I studied that region in the past just guessing that it was where my family was from, started to feel wrong about it, and stopped. Now I think back to that time and I feel guilt in my stomach.
I know that 8% isn’t a big deal and that the split is not fifty fifty for everyone, but I’m just having a hard time because I am definitely at least mixed passing so the percentage threw me. I have very curly hair and I get very dark in the spring and summer.

I think there is an added layer because I grew up with the white side of my family. My grandmother is getting upset with me as I connect with family and learn more. When I told her my family is from Nigeria, she made a face and scoffed. I thought she had gotten better about acting that way, but I was wrong. My mom is with my every step of the way, but every time I open my laptop and connect with people on 23andMe I feel like I have no business investing this much time into my ancestry.
I know this is rambly and makes no sense. I think I just had to get it out. Thank y’all for reading

I got my results a few days ago, and while I didn’t have any close matches, I have a lot of 3rd-5th cousins. I mentioned in my bio on there that I want to connect with folks on my dad’s side and I’ve already had 3 cousins reach out!

I’m curious if any of you have gotten close to distant relatives. I know we won’t be able to help each other fill out our trees very well, but I would still love to see some lasting relationships come out of this and I’d love to hear your stories!!

I realized I only have a few people to scream about this to, but I’m REALLY excited, so here I am.

For years and years I put off getting my DNA tested out of anxiety. As a mixed race kid, I grew up struggling with identity, like many of us do. I knew about my white side well, but didn’t even know my father’s name, and the mystery scared me.

The older I got, the more curious I got as my appreciation for my ancestors and culture grew. I got my results back today, and aside from my very well researched white side, I found out I am *very* Nigerian!

Having confirmation is absolutely amazing. Not that I didn’t feel valid as a mixed race person at this point in my life, but knowing where I came from, how many generations back my family ended up in America, knowing where that side of my family lived and dispersed since arriving, so cool!!!!

I’m feeling proud of myself for finally doing the test. When the results came in, I was SHAKING! I’m over the moon and have much research to do.