Ming Things

One day in middle school a kid said to me that my eyes “looked Chinese”. In the moment, I rolled said eyes at him, but soon learned that my paternal grandmother was Jamaican and Chinese. Her maiden name was Ming and her parents came to the U.S. from Jamaica in the 1920s.

Soon after, I started to attend Ming family reunions and learned more about the investment my Dad’s family has made in tracing our heritage. Some of the cousins, myself included, even have Ming tattooed on us, we call it the cousin tattoo.

 I don’t know a ton about my Mom’s side of the family, nor have I asked which is on me. Since her Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis and subsequent passing, I have been more concerned with wondering what, if any, health issues I will inherit from each of my parents. I have had my own health struggles over the years and as I get older this concern has grown.

 When I saw that 23andMe offered ancestry and health testing I was intrigued but not enough to pull the trigger and buy the kit. I knew what my ancestry was for the most part, the rest I filled in with black mixed with black. What I really wanted was the health information. When the price dropped by 50% on Black Friday, I saw my opportunity to learn more about my health and said sign me up!

 A few days before I received my test results my father’s side of the family gathered for a holiday celebration. I told my family I purchased the kit and joked to them that the results would show there was no “Ming in me” . I admitted if that were the case, it would not change our family name, or my tattoo, but it would be a shock.

 Fast forward 3 days later and my test results show just that. There’s no Ming in me. I am 78% African, mostly Nigerian, 19% European, 2.8% Native American and .2% Asian. WORD. I had to laugh.

It took me all of 12 minutes to digest this information and confirm it didn’t change anything about me or my story. My great-grandparents are still from Jamaica. They’re last name was Ming. I am their descendant. All the rest I’ll continue to fill in with black mixed with black.

Author: Cherrón