In this vlog, brand‑cultivating strategist Zaakirah Muhammad shares her personal journey of taking an AncestryDNA test to uncover her ethnic heritage and family connections. She explains her longstanding curiosity about her mixed background—Caribbean roots from her mother’s side, possible Native American ancestry from her father’s side, and hints of European and Hispanic influences—driven by a desire for identity confirmation in 2023. Zaakirah details the ordering, sample collection, and consent process, noting the promotional discount that prompted her purchase and her choice to have the company delete her DNA after analysis. She then walks through her ethnicity breakdown (32% Cameroon/Congo/Western Bantu, 13% Ivory Coast & Ghana, 13% Nigeria, 9% Mali, 9% Benin & Togo, 9% Ireland, 8% Scotland, plus smaller percentages from Senegal, Southern Bantu, Northern Africa, and Finland) and reflects on how these results align with her life experiences. The video also reveals her DNA match data—over 12,000 matches, 191 with location sharing, linking her to U.S. states such as Virginia, Maryland, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, and Ohio. She mentions her genealogical curiosity about Native American ancestry, her descent from Stephen Bailey (half‑brother of Frederick Douglass), and her plans for further research. The vlog concludes with a promo code (ZNAYYAR2010) for viewers, an invitation to comment with questions, and a promise to update on future findings.
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Hi, my name is Zaakirah, and I am a brand cultivating strategist. And in this video, I will be taking the test and revealing my DNA results. Now, both astrology and ancestry have been super important to me, and the year 2023 has really been the year of confirmation of who I am, you know, being able to really look back and understand who I am so that it really is my guiding light going forward. And so Just for some context, I'm sure you're looking at my face already like, what are you mixed with? And that definitely is a question I got very often growing up, and to the point where I would start to ask questions. I would ask my family questions. And so I knew from my family history that on my mother's side, my dad— my mom's dad is from St. Vincent, St. Kitts in the Virgin Islands. So I know that I already do have Caribbean in me. Naturally discovered that, especially after my Love of growing up in Florida and loving just Jamaican food or any kind of Caribbean food. So I already know there's gonna be some percentage of Caribbean in there. And then I also know from my dad's side, from my dad's mom, there is Native American or indigenous. Now what I'm personally still looking to discover, to learn, is which one of the 5 remaining tribes or, you know, is it which one of the previously known tribes. So growing up, I've heard it was either the Cheyenne tribe, the Cherokee tribe, or even the Blackfeet tribe. Because I knew that there was, before it was East Tennessee on my dad's side of the family, it was Wyoming. So I know that much. And then of course, you know, having the shade of skin tone that I do have, I know that there is some European in there somewhere. And then I also believe that there might be some, you know, what they call under the DNAs as Hispanic or Iberian, because growing up in Florida, I would often have people just actually speak to me in Spanish, and I'm not fluent in Spanish at all. I don't know anything about Spanish. Although I did enjoy, you know, I enjoyed my time going to Costa Rica, traveling to Mexico, things of that sort. But I'm really curious, you know, I know there's gonna be at least 4 different ethnicities. I'm just curious to know what the percentages are. And so the— and I chose AncestryDNA, and the process was Very innovative and very seamless. So one of my biggest concerns prior to the year 2023, one of my biggest concerns of doing the test was what are they going to do with my DNA, you know, once I finish? And so, you know, what really kind of pushed me to finally do it was one, they have their annual sale, like from your Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and end of year sale, they always discount it from the regular $99 to like $59, not including shipping or anything. Upselling. So I was like, okay, finally, let me take advantage of that though. But also because 2023 was the year that I got to go to my maternal family reunion for the first time. And also on my mother's side, I know that I am a descendant of Frederick Douglass, but I'm a descendant of Stephen Bailey. So before Frederick Douglass changed his name, his name was actually— his last name was actually Bailey. So then he has a half-brother, whose name was Stephen Bailey. So I got to see that family tree because there's a cousin or two on my maternal side of the family that's very into genealogy. And so, you know, I was able to see that family tree and see that I am a descendant of Frederick Douglass's half-brother, who was Stephen Bailey. So I've always known that growing up, but, you know, the family tree stopped at my grandmother, right? So I've always was like wanting to just know how did it continue. I mean, luckily I'm blessed to know on my mom's side, my immediate cousins, all my aunts and uncles, All my aunts and my one uncle on my mom's side and my immediate cousins on there. My dad's side is a bit more scattered about. I know all my dad's siblings and none of my dad's siblings had kids. My dad is the only one that had kids. And I know my, you know, my aunts, my uncles. I only have uncles on my dad's side. So that's what's interesting. It's like, I know from my— Family. Great-grandparents, and that's it. So, you know, I'm naturally one of those that's going to want to take a genealogy trip somewhere, you know, once I do get the results. So of course, naturally, these are estimates, but I just look forward to seeing what confirmation, what surprises, and what are the next steps. So, um, the process was very simple. Um, they gave a step-by-step, uh, how to use it guide on the paper. Now it took me a minute to understand because I was looking at the tube and then I'd look at the instructions, look at the tube again, and then look at the instructions, and then look at the tube again, and then figure out, okay, that's the tube where I put my spit in. So I spit until the line, and then at one point I did too much spitting, so I had to spit it out and wanted to make sure I meet the line so there are no issues. And then basically, you know, take the part where I spit inside of it, throw that part away, and twist on the liquid that it mixes in so that it makes the, you know, DNA They show up and preserve it actually since, you know, it does take about a few weeks. It took a few weeks from the time that I ordered it. I think it took about 10 days from the time that I ordered it to arrive. And then I personally took about 3 days before actually doing the test. And then once I shipped it off, that was another 7 to 10 days. And then 7 to 10 more days after that. So it was really quick turnaround and it was very innovative because they updated me every single step of the way. They updated me, you know, when I had— when they received it, they started analyzing it, and then once the results were ready. So I could choose if I wanted email or text update. I could choose if I want them to keep the DNA or not. That was the one thing that I was really, really looking closely for. Like, do I get to consent what you do with my DNA? And so I got to choose that I only want them to have my DNA results and then toss it. I'll figure out everything else. I'll figure out my family tree. I'll figure out my genealogy chips. Of course, those were optional upsells as well. So, if you do want to, if by the time you finish watching this video or even at this point you're like, yeah, I'm ready to take my DNA test too. I have a code that will give you a discounted percentage of the test. And it's under ZNAYYAR2010. Z as in zebra, N as in Nancy, A as in apple, Y as in yellow, Y as in yellow, A as in apple, R as in Robert, 2010. And that is your promo code. Or I'll put the link in the description or the comments so you can take advantage of yours too. And so now I think that's pretty much it. Of course, if you have any questions, leave them in the comments. And now I'm going to get ready to look at my results. All right, discovering my— I have 768 4th cousins. Okay, so I'm going to discover my origins now. I logged into the website and it says traits. Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention I actually got the part that said I can explore my traits. you know, what makes me who I am and how my genetics affect my health. So I'll check that out later. But first, I see that there are some lines that suggest how I may be related to certain DNA matches. And I have 768 4th cousins, a few faces I already recognize because we've done our family tree. And now I'm going to look at the origins. I know mine. My name is Parker. I keep my trash cans out until in the morning. All right, so we're gonna break it down by ethnicity regions, DNA communities, and DNA matches. Okay, so I have 32% Cameroon, Congo, and Western Bantu. So that means Angola, Cameroon, Congo, Guinea, Gabon, Namibia, and Zambia. And then I am 13% Ivory Coast and Ghana. Oh my God, 13% Nigerian. That one I was curious about because I've dated Nigerians, I work with Nigerians, and everybody that I'm surrounded with complains about Nigerians, but I'm just like, no, no, no. No, they're not that bad. So I'm both 13% Ivory Coast and Ghana and 13% Nigerian. I am 9%— I am blackity black black almost— 9% Mali. Black heart. And then 9% Benin and Togo. And then 9% Ireland, which makes sense because my very first crush, celebrity crush, is Jesse McCartney and he is Irish. He shared publicly that he descended from the Ives. And I am 8% Scotland, 3% Senegal. Okay, so that's not bad because I was married to a Gambian. And when I went to Gambia, they really were like, you're from here, you're from here. So 3%. 2% Southern Bantu people. So that means, again, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland. Also found in Kenya. So that's interesting because I've dreamed of visiting Kenya. So that can be really, really interesting. Northern— 1% Northern Africa, 1% Finland. That's really interesting. Okay, so more Cameroonian— 32% Cameroonian. Okay, so now I'm curious about the Native American side because how come I don't have that much about it? So let's see, it says my DNA My DNA is definitely connected to the— because of my Nigerian, Cameroon, and Congo background, that my DNA definitely connects to Virginia, Maryland, and Mississippi. It actually also connects to Little Rock, Arkansas, and then Tennessee. And also I see Missouri and lower Ohio. So that's really, really interesting. Actually, the actual number Is that I have 12,000 DNA matches, 191 that were willing to share their location. Well then, I think that's that. Now, I mean, I'm just really curious too about the Native American side. Like, what about the rest of the American? You know, it makes sense why I've never connected to any of the American traditions. I mean, religiously, I'm already practicing a different religion, but The fact that there's no American on here. So I'm like, okay, no wonder I may, you know, I feel right at home in Africa. I look forward to breaking it down even further into the tribes. Now that I know that it's literally exactly 13% Ivory Coast and Ghana, exactly 13%, you know, Nigeria. So that's really interesting. 9% Mali. My mom's always wanted to go to Mali. Yeah, that's it. Those are my test results, and I definitely encourage you to get yours because it'll definitely open up some questions. As far as how that goes. So I'm gonna keep doing my research as far as where my family is that is located right there in Maryland, Tennessee, Virginia. And I may or may keep you updated, but that was my DNA results.
