Founded in 2003 by Dr. Rick Kittles and Gina Paige, the Washington D.C. based company has today helped over an estimated 100,000 people re-connect with the roots of their family tree.

African Ancestry is the world leader in tracing maternal and paternal lineages of African descent.  With the industry’s largest and most comprehensive database of over 25,000 indigenous African samples, African Ancestry determines specific countries, and more often than not, specific ethnic groups of origin with the highest level of detail, accuracy and confidence.

African Ancestry is committed to providing a unique service to the black community, working daily to improve the cultural, emotional, physical, spiritual and economic wellbeing of peoples across the African Diaspora.

He is currently Scientific Director of the Washington, D.C.-based African Ancestry Inc., a genetic testing service for determining individuals’ African ancestry, which he co-founded with Gina Paige in March 2003.[1] He also serves as an associate professor in the Section of Genetic Medicine of the Department of Medicine at the University of Chicago.[2]

He was featured in the BBC Two films Motherland: A Genetic Journey and Motherland – Moving On (released in 2003 and 2004, respectively), as well as in part 4 of the 2006 PBS series African American Lives (hosted by Henry Louis Gates).[3] On October 7, 2007 he was featured on the American TV newsmagazine 60 Minutes. In February 2008 he appeared in part 4 of African American Lives 2.

He has published on the prostate cancer genetics of African Americans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Kittles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Kittleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Kittles

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There is hope for our Future!

Hundreds of students of African descent from many of Florida’s  colleges  and universities will pack the DoubleTree Resort on International Drive this weekend. Under the direction of President Michael J. Brown, the Florida African American Student Association Inc.

(FAASA) will kick off its 35^th Annual Spring Convention, Thursday, April 15^th with the theme : “Nullifying the Prediction-Re-Writing the Future”.

Students will experience quite a journey through networking with others in seminars and general sessions learning about their rich heritage and culture and developing leadership skills to dispel the negative prediction over their lives and re-write the future.  A new executive board will be elected by the delegates at this Convention.

To culminate the Convention, one of the most well-known psychologists,   Dr. Na’im Akbar, will address the assembly as FAASA’s Karamu (banquet) speaker on Saturday evening. Tickets for the Karamu are available to the public at a price of $55.00 each. Reservations must be made by noon, Friday, April 16.

(Please call 954-593-7391) FAASA’s Executive Board, Board of Directors, and Council of Elders hope that each delegate will leave Orlando being “FAASAfied”.

About FAASA

The Florida African American Student Association, Inc. (F.A.A.S.A.) was founded in 1976 with the purpose of developing, implementing, intensifying and perpetuating a complete program to identify and address educational, economic and cultural concerns of students of African descent. F.A.A.S.A. represents over 60,000 students in colleges and universities throughout the state of Florida.

Blacksonville.com is schedule to present a webinar at tomorrow’s forum from 10:00am – 1:00pm. Tune in to register online!

www.faasaweb.org > designed by Blacksonville

To preview an archive of FAASA members and previous forums, please click on the link above labeled ‘Our Community’

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PRESS OFFICE

Release Date: April 01, 2010

Contact: Jermyn Shannon EL  (904) 962-7284    |   marketing@blacksonville.com
Internet Address: http://www.kuumbafestivalfl.org |   info@kuumbafestival.org

Kuumba Festival of Florida Raises
Youth Scholarships through
African/African American Heritage

JACKSONVILLE - The Carter G. Woodson Committee for Positive Education of Jacksonville, Inc. (CGWC) is kicking off its 22nd Annual Kuumba Festival of Florida on Saturday, August 21st, 2010 in the historic African American district of Lavilla. Festivities will be centrally located directly across from the Lavilla School of the Arts, 501 N. Davis Street, adjacent to downtown Jacksonville, Springfield, and Riverside. The multicultural event is scheduled to start promptly at 11:00am to 8:00pm as thousands celebrate a family fun day of cultural and educational activities.

The Kuumba Festival is a free public event, celebrated in other cities throughout the east coast region of the United States as an event where educators, artists, musicians, and orators share and learn authentic music, ancient wisdom, cultural motifs, and the rich tradition of African and African-American, and Caribbean people of the Diaspora.

In the past, the Festival has been supported locally by the City of Jacksonville, the Tourist Development Council, Florida Humanities, Visit Florida, private donors, and corporate sponsors.  Statewide, Kuumba is recognized as the First Coast oldest running cultural music and arts festival. The event remains a critical component to the sustenance of the Carter G. Woodson legacy, “The Father of Black History, Research, and Education in America”. Thus, the impetus of the organization’s name maintains the historical contributions to the American Dream for people of color.

Join the Kuumba Festival of Florida on August 21st as thousands visit our beloved city of Jacksonville for educational workshops, free health services, a lecture series, historic tours and a youth debate demonstration by the “Great Debaters” of the Duval Urban Debate League. For details about vendor space, sponsorships, or volunteer opportunities you may register online at www.kuumbafestivalfl.org, call l 888-477-0565, or email at info@kuumbafestivalfl.org.

The CGWC, a 501©3 non-profit organization, has maintained quality leadership and board governance responsible for various initiatives to service local residents of Duval County. Since the late 1980s, CGWC has focused on grassroots advocacy for education reform and social change throughout Duval County.

The Blacksonville Community Network (BCN) powers the Kuumba Festival of Florida’s brand, social marketing, and digital media. Blacksonville.com, an online information and resource guide for people, events, and news throughout the African Diaspora, will provide up-to-date content and e-Campaigns to increase awareness about the Kuumba Festival and the importance of cultural diversity in schools and the workplace.

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