Christopher Julius "Chris" Rock III (born February 7, 1965) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer and director. He was voted in the US as the 5th greatest stand-up comedian of all time by Comedy Central. He was also voted in the UK as the 9th greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups in 2007, and again in the updated 2010 list as the 8th greatest stand-up comic.
In 2008, Rock's family history was profiled on the PBS series African American Lives 2. A DNA test showed that he is descended from the Udeme people of northern Cameroon. The show also revealed that he is 20% Caucasian. Rock's great-great-grandfather, Julius Caesar Tingman, was a slave for 21 years before serving as part of the United States Colored Troops until 1866; Tingman fought in the American Civil War. During the 1940s, Rock's grandfather, Alan Rock, moved from South Carolina to New York City to become a taxicab driver and preacher.
There are more than two dozen genealogy organizations in the US selling genetic ancestry tests but African Ancestry is the only black-owned firm. It is also the first to cater specifically to African Americans. Of the half a million Americans who have purchased DNA tests, around 35,000 of them are African American.
African Ancestry charges $349 to test either a person's maternal or paternal lineage. Once the fee is paid, swabs used to collect a DNA sample from the inside of the cheek are sent to the customer and then back to African Ancestry's laboratory.
The DNA's genetic sequence is extracted and compared to others in the firm's database. The company claims this contains 25,000 samples from 30 countries and 200 ethnic groups, and is the largest collection of African lineages in the world. African Ancestry say that they are very precise in tracing where a person's ancestors originate from.Once this is known, a "results package" is sent out, including a print-out of a person's DNA sequence, a certificate of ancestry and a map of Africa.
"It's a kind of welcome to Africa package," said Ghanaian-born Ofori Anor, editor of the African expatriate magazine, Asante.Other celebrities who have undergone same procedures include Oprah Winfrey and Samuel L Jackson.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8117258.stm
seriously?! dis is intresting!
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