The North Carolina Rice Festival's Annual Ancestry Reveal, with African Ancestry, Inc.

Join local residents as they explore the ancestral connections between their families and the people of West Africa’s Rice Coast. Cohosted again this year with African Ancestry Inc. (AAI), will bring together a panel of local African American residents who, months ago, voluntarily sent samples of their DNA to AAI for analysis. AAI is the world leader in tracing maternal and paternal lineages of people of African descent to their ethnic origins.

Dr. Gina Paige, African Ancestry’s cofounder and CEO, will lead the program, expertly explaining the science of genetic matching and how the ethnic ancestries of African Americans can be traced back to specific cultural groups. She will also reveal the findings from each participant’s unique DNA tests to them and the audience and allow the participants to reflect on the significance of their new-found knowledge about their heritage. In previous years, the panelists’ reactions to their revealed findings have been profound and moving, ranging from surprise and joy to tears.