African Americans Trace their Roots to Cameroon

U.S. Ambassador Jackson joins ARK Jammers founder Alvine Ava for a press conference at the U.S. Embassy on the arrival of the second group of African Americans through the ancestry reconnection program. [USEYde Photo]

ARK Jammers founder Alvine Ava speaks to press about the ancestry reconnection program bringing African Americans with DNA blood test ties to Central Africa to Cameroon for the first time. [USEYde Photo]

On December 12, 2011 over twenty journalists from both the local and international media attended a press conference in the U.S. Embassy launching the 2^nd edition of the ancestry reconnection program, initiated by a nonprofit organization entitled Acts of Random Kindness “ARK Jammers.”

Avline Ava, the founder of ARK Jammers informed the media that eighty-seven African Americans traced their roots to Cameroon through DNA blood test and will be visiting from December 27 to January 5, 2012.  The visit will allow African Americans to learn firsthand about their cultural heritage and return to the land of their ancestors.  Their trip includes a “pilgrimage” to Bimbia, the principal transatlantic port through which slaves were sent to America, a trip to the Northern regions of the country, a healing concert in the capital city of Yaounde and a grand reception at the residence of the U.S. Ambassador.

Ambassador Jackson strongly supports the ARK Jammer’s efforts to reconnect Americans with their historical ties.  Both he and his wife welcomed the first group of 50 African Americans to their home last year through the ARK Jammers program.  In his remarks he stated, “U.S. President Barack Obama, also understands the importance of cultural heritage in figuring out who we are and how our past affects us.  In fact, he wrote a book about it, which was first published in 1995, before he entered the world of politics.  Perhaps some of you have read that book, entitled “Dreams from My Father,” which has since become a #1 bestseller on the New York Times list.  In his quest to understand his past and how it shaped him, Barack Obama wrote about his childhood and the stories he heard from his mother and her parents.  But, as Barack Obama wrote in the introduction to his book, “It was only many years later, after I had sat at my father’s grave and spoken to him through Africa’s red soil, that I could circle back and evaluate those early stories for myself.”