The Door of Return (feat. Dr. Gina Paige)

Summary

Gettin' Grown – Episode Summary

Podcast: Gettin' Grown
Host: Jade (with guest co-host Shanti)
Episode: The Door of Return (feat. Dr. Gina Paige)
Date: February 3, 2026
Guest: Dr. Gina Paige, co-founder of African Ancestry

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Episode Overview

This powerful Kitchen Table Talk episode explores the significance of knowing one’s roots, specifically for Black Americans and the African diaspora. Hosts Jade and guest co-host Shanti welcome Dr. Gina Paige of African Ancestry to discuss the science, stories, and emotional impact of DNA testing for Black lineage. They delve into the history behind African Ancestry, the importance of cultural reconnection, ethical considerations around DNA privacy, and the transformative potential of knowing who—and where—you come from.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Opening & Setting the Tone (03:12–12:00)

• Celebrating Black Excellence in Community

  • Jade & Shanti start with music (“Every Nigga Is a Star”), pop culture nods, and Black joy.
  • Acknowledgement of grief in the Black community (sending love to co-host Kia after her grandfather’s passing).
  • Shanti intros herself as co-host of Around the Way Curls and founder of Sable Collective.

• The Power and Challenge of Black Adulthood

  • Honest talk about the hardships and resilience in Black adulting.
  • Affirmations about showing up and pushing forward despite systemic and everyday struggles.

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2. Introducing Dr. Gina Paige & African Ancestry (13:40–18:05)

• About Dr. Paige
  • Her background: Black excellence as a norm, roots in D.C., raised in a household deeply engaged in Black culture.
  • “Every day I’m black and proud. No matter what else is going on, that’s my answer.” (15:13)
• A Century of Black History Month
  • “[This month is special] because we’ve been commemorating Black History Month for 100 years.” (15:38)

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3. The Genesis of African Ancestry (17:49–23:52)

• Dr. Paige’s Journey

  • Influences: Grew up surrounded by African art and heritage.
  • Educational & career trajectory: Stanford undergrad, Michigan MBA, corporate stints.
  • Partnering with Dr. Kittles, a geneticist passionate about connecting Black people to African origins.

• Connection to the New York African Burial Ground

  • Dr. Kittles’s work in identifying ancestry of unearthed remains led to communal demand for DNA-driven answers to Black origins.

• Business with a Cultural Mission

  • “I didn’t come to this work thinking, ‘I want to know where I’m from.’…There is nobody who can tell you where you come from [in Africa]…It was my opportunity to use the skills and talents I developed…to do something that has never existed before for the group of people I’m passionate about, which is Black people.” (23:00–23:52)

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4. How African Ancestry's DNA Science Works (24:48–34:13)

• Explanation of Lineage Tracing
  • Jade and Shanti express skepticism common in the community.
  • Dr. Paige breaks down mitochondrial (maternal) and Y-chromosome (paternal) DNA tracing and their scientific basis.
  • “Our mitochondrial DNA does not change…It didn’t mix.” (28:48)
  • African DNA is the most heterogeneous (genetically varied), making it particularly rich for lineage tracing.
  • “If we line up 10 Africans, nine of them are going to have different mitochondrial DNA.” (33:09)

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5. What African Ancestry Offers vs. Other DNA Tests (39:43–43:49)

• Beyond Percentages: True Reconnection

  • Unlike commercial DNA tests, African Ancestry aims for specificity (tribe, region) rather than general percentages.
  • “[Those companies]...the majority of their samples come from Nigeria.…Our test is completely different because…we want to be able to say the people and the place.” (41:22–43:00)
  • Sierra Leone Citizenship: From 2019–2023, test-takers with Sierra Leonean roots could get citizenship; Dr. Paige describes the emotional return trips home (“the Door of No Return”).

• Emotional Impact of Cultural Reconnection

  • “Standing on that shore on those rocks and people crying, just tears flowing because…their ancestors never thought that they would be there at that place, having that experience.” (43:23)

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6. Ethics, Trust, and DNA Privacy (50:42–55:48)

• Safeguarding Black DNA

  • African Ancestry does not sell, share, or store DNA samples; after testing, DNA is destroyed.
  • “Your DNA is your wealth. It’s the most valuable thing we have…we were not going to sell it. We don’t even keep it.” (52:03–52:39)
  • “Let me tell you, that's why we're not wealthy. Because the wealth is in monetizing the DNA.” (52:40)

• Contrast with Commercial DNA Companies

  • Other companies profit from DNA data by selling it to pharma, insurers, and more.
  • This legacy of exploitation builds distrust.
  • “All I can say is we destroy it. We don't keep it. And if it's worth it to you, to know where you're from, then you will take our test.” (54:40)

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7. The Transformative Power of Knowing Your Roots (56:07–66:59)

• Real-Life Effects

  • Shanti and Jade talk about skepticism, then express how Dr. Paige’s transparency and focus on integrity shifted their views: “You really were able to sincerely turn us.” (58:11)
  • Dr. Paige’s personal lineage stories (e.g., Fulani and Hausa roots, entrepreneurial heritage, and the deep resonance of these findings).

• Overcoming Division and Disconnection

  • Breaking down both (US) diaspora and African continental bias/fear, manipulated by systemic forces.
  • “The mountain that we have to climb to break down all these stereotypes on every level is extremely high, which is why your podcast is important.” (64:02)

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8. Impact, Legacy, and Practical Steps (66:59–73:41)

• Test Experience
  • Mitochondrial test results (e.g., “The Fulani women are the most beautiful…” [67:36], discussed with humor).
  • The cultural cache and social leverage of knowing and naming your African heritage in daily life.
  • How African Ancestry keeps the test taker’s entire lineage informed—one test benefits many family members.

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9. Closing Wisdom & Call to Action (74:33–75:54)

• Claiming Identity as a Right
  • “You deserve to know where your people come from. Everybody else knows where their people came from. We're the only ones that can't point to a country and a group of people that we're connected to.” (74:33)
  • Encouragement to actively discover, celebrate, and archive Black heritage.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Black Pride:
  “Every day I’m black and proud. No matter what else is going on, that’s my answer.”
  — Dr. Gina Paige (15:13)

• On DNA Privacy:
  “Your DNA is your wealth. It's the most valuable thing we have…we were not going to sell it. We don't even keep it.”
  — Dr. Gina Paige (52:03–52:39)

• On Emotional Homecoming:
  “Standing on that shore…people crying…but they never thought their ancestors would be there at that place, having that experience.”
  — Dr. Gina Paige (43:23)

• On Reconnection and Stereotypes:
  “The mountain that we have to climb to break down all these stereotypes...is extremely high, which is why your podcast is important.”
  — Dr. Gina Paige (64:02)

• On Ancestral Legacy:
  “You deserve to know where your people come from. Everybody else knows where their people came from. We're the only ones that can't point to a country and a group of people that we're connected to.”
  — Dr. Gina Paige (74:33)

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Memorable & Lighthearted Moments

• Jade’s playful shade about refrigerators and kitchen appliances (09:09–11:07)
• The frank talk about skepticism: “I’m a Black lady. I’m skeptical of everything. My grandfather’s from Alabama, so I’m extra skeptical.” — Jade (23:52)
• Jokes about being “Polish” and struggling with mixed ancestry—Shanti’s mother is white, which sparks anxieties and laughter (10:39–12:00)
• Banter about snow, city teenagers, and the cost of marketing (89:10–95:54)
• Comical “petty peeves” segment: white folks with exposed ankles in winter and the missing teenage shovelers (96:02–99:10)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening & Culture Talk: 00:58–12:00
• Black History Month & Dr. Paige’s Background: 13:40–18:05
• African Ancestry Origins: 17:49–23:52
• DNA Science Explained: 24:48–34:13
• African Ancestry vs. Commercial Tests: 39:43–43:49
• Journey Home and Legacy: 43:00–55:48
• Navigating Skepticism and Trust: 50:42–58:11
• Personal Transformations Through Ancestry: 66:59–73:41
• Final Wisdom, Call to Action, Where to Buy: 74:33–75:54
• Closing Banter and Petty Peeves: 76:00–103:43

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Episode Takeaways

• Cultural Reconnection Is Revolutionary: Knowing ancestral roots is about reclaiming identity, culture, and even spiritual healing for Black people in the diaspora.
• DNA as Empowerment, not Exploitation: African Ancestry’s ethical stance—destroying rather than selling DNA—contrasts with other genealogy companies and reflects a commitment to Black agency.
• Transformation Is Possible and Ongoing: Listeners are encouraged to take the leap, despite skepticism or inherited mistrust; transparency and community experience matter.
• Community Support Matters: The episode also addresses contemporary issues of mutual aid and communal care in the face of anti-Black systems (ex: ICE separations).
• Joy Is Resistance: Even the lighthearted, funny moments are acts of resilience, affirming Black dignity and pride.

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Resources/Links

• Learn more or order a test: africanancestry.com
• Around the Way Curls Podcast & Sable Collective: see episode notes for links
• If you wish to donate to support children affected by ICE detainment (as discussed in segment): link in episode description

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Closing Encouragement (from Dr. Gina Paige)

“You deserve to know where your people come from. Everybody else knows where their people came from. We're the only ones that can't point to a country and a group of people that we're connected to…Now we have the opportunity…and why wouldn’t you want to know?” (74:33–75:23)

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Listen for:

• Honest conversations on Black identity and adulthood
• Clear, approachable scientific explanations of ancestry testing
• Affirmation of Black heritage, healing generational wounds

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This episode is essential listening for anyone interested in Black genealogy, cultural healing, and reclaiming power over personal and collective history.

Transcript

[Shanti]

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[Jade]

2 Step 2 Step 2 Step 2 Step 2 step 2 Step 2 Step I'm not sure anymore just how it happened before the places that I knew were sunny and blue I can feel it deep inside this black nigga's pride I have no fear when I say and I say it every day Every nigga is a star.

[Shanti]

Come on.

[Jade]

Every nigga is a star. Yes. Shanti, join in. Who can deny that you and I and every nigger is a star Yeah.

[Shanti]

I need to do the lyrics for a minute there, you know.

[Jade]

You know Boris Gardner wrote one of. Excuse me, Boris Gardiner. I don't really know how he said, you know, like to make things French after a while in their life. He wrote one of the greatest songs. It's like my soundtrack.

[Shanti]

And that is a jam, you know what I mean?

[Jade]

It is.

[Shanti]

It's classic.

[Jade]

It's a classic song. Shout out to Cashmere. Do you know Cashmere?

[Shanti]

No.

[Jade]

Kenneth Cashmere is an amazing black woman artiste out of Cleveland, Ohio. She makes all kinds of. All kinds of shirts and hoodies and all fabulous. But she is like a talented artist. She made one of my favorite T shirts and it is. Every is. Oh yes.

[Shanti]

Cashmere.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Yes.

[Shanti]

You know Cashmere. Yes. And did all types of things.

[Jade]

Exactly. She just illustrated. What's that man's name? Roy Woods. Roy Woods. I keep trying to call him Roy Jones Jr. And that is not him. Roy Woods Jr's book. She illustrated the COVID of it, so keep going.

[Shanti]

She been around for a minute.

[Jade]

Yes. And she's a good human. She volunteers with me at the Jail. So, you know, and that's my girl.

[Shanti]

Oh, girl.

[Jade]

She's good.

[Shanti]

People tell her she is a fan. And I said, hello, I will.

[Jade]

You should carry her thing.

[Shanti]

I think I may have in the early, early days, like the 2017, we may have gotten like she had like pack of books or we reached out.

[Jade]

We'll just send co for it. We'll just send co for it. Yes, we'll bring it back. Bring it back to the future and back again. So welcome back to Getting Grown, everybody. See, this is what happens when I host.

[Dr. Gina Page]

It.

[Shanti]

Just when I leave, just drop right in, catch up.

[Jade]

Praise the Lord. Okay, we got to start off with that. Welcome back to Getting Grown, where we discuss the tests, the trials, the twists, the turns, the temptations, and the taxes of being adult in the year of somebody's Lord 20:26. I'm so. I'm okay. So two things here. First, we have to give love to Kia. Kia has lost her Dita. Oh, no. And she speaks about Dita so frequently.

[Shanti]

On the show Sending love. Oh, no.

[Jade]

We have. I want everybody suddenly. Well, you know, it's. You never are ready for. You're never ready to lose somebody physically. I will say that d lived a full life, okay? Over 90, pastored a church for years and years and years. And he was like the right kind of pastor. Not who Drew Ski was playing around and, but he was for real, for real with it. And he really loved people and he loved his Kia. And he was a true grandfather in his spirit. I remember he ran up on me misquoting the Bible one day at her brother's, at her brother's memorial. And he walked up and he was like, now what was said? And I was like, nothing, Nothing. Nothing was said. Bad association spoils habits. But he was a, he was a beautiful, beautiful rest in power. Rest, rest, rest. Well, DD and everybody, keep Kia in your thoughts and your prayers. You know what I'm saying? Just send her some energetic love and hugs. But we're just giving her a minute to, you know, focus on family and arrangements and we just want to keep her held. So I'm so grateful to you, Chantilly, for joining me this week as my guest co host here on Getting Grown Tell, you know, for the people who don't know you, which I don't know who those would be, tell them a little bit about yourself.

[Shanti]

Well, my name is Shanti. I am co creator of the podcast around the Way Curls, which I one of my faves show up to weekly with my best friend Antoinette. I am Also owner of the Sable Collective. If you're looking for jewelry, clothing, housewares sourced by black, brown and women, makers, come through to disablecollective.com and we're just a resource to help you explore your own style through play.

[Jade]

You do a good job. I love your online videos.

[Shanti]

I'm trying. God damn it. Marketing is half the work. And it's everything. It's really everything. And like, I need to put money behind it. Like I need to put a budget behind it. And I, I forget that that's one of the most important things you should do for a business if you got.

[Jade]

A budget for anything.

[Shanti]

It's the marketing.

[Jade]

It's the world that we live in. Yes, it's the market and it's the world that we live in. Marketing is expensive. It's not like we have great big giant brands and names behind us. And I think for you, watching you get it out the mud from like the first brick and mortar on has been such a beautiful journey. Even. Even knowing that there are extreme valleys in mountains. So extreme. I want you to know you're not, you're not trying. You're doing. You know what I'm saying? Even when it doesn't feel like it.

[Shanti]

Amen. And that's the energy of 2026. It's here now, baby. For me, at least, it's here now. What I want, who I want to be is up and it's stuck. It's not.

[Jade]

I'm going.

[Shanti]

It's coming. It's here and now.

[Jade]

Listen, white people is walling and, and, and everybody else too, okay? Dominicans, black. So everybody who's a part, y' all is wilding. So we don't have nothing to do but really hone in and find our joy and really, like hone in on our power that we do have. You know what I'm saying right now?

[Shanti]

No, I feel you. There's nothing to lose. There's nothing.

[Jade]

Every episode. Ice, okay? Ice, ice, ice. I'm saying it every episode.

[Shanti]

Yeah.

[Jade]

And I know, you know, the ice that's in my freezer is upset. She said, no, why couldn't y' all come up with another day?

[Shanti]

What I got to do with it now when it's 90 degrees now, bitch. I thought it was ice.

[Jade]

I thought it was ice. I'm like, it is, but not you, girl.

[Shanti]

And you probably got that good ice.

[Jade]

That big cubicle, old fashioned ice, okay? I have molds.

[Shanti]

I know. That's what I'm saying. You got that interesting ice. You got that shit where it's like, oh, my God, I ain't never had no tea like this.

[Jade]

I got a white refrigerator, but I do. I do purchase various bags and molds of ice.

[Shanti]

I have a black refrigerator. Our refrigerators, like air force ones. Like, if you got white air force ones, but then you got the black air force ones, I got a black.

[Jade]

The criminals. No, actually, I think. I think white refrigerators are the black uptowns of refrigerators. Yeah. And it's Nene's fault, really. She came in classes and egregious and her little tiptoeing hills, and it made niggas judge all the niggas with white refrigerators. So everybody feels shamed at this point.

[Shanti]

I thought it was the. I thought, like, the steely johns, like the. For the bitches that you don't even know are refrigerators. Fuck those people.

[Jade]

Ooh, that look like cabinets.

[Shanti]

Yeah, fuck all of y'.

[Jade]

All.

[Shanti]

Yeah.

[Jade]

Don't bitch. I don't want to push. I don't want to guess.

[Shanti]

Where the fuck is the refrigerator.

[Jade]

Is this the pantry or the refrigerator? I fucking hate it.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Pantry.

[Shanti]

This is classic ocean ass refrigerators. Fuck off.

[Jade]

You almost hit the trash can. You hit the refrigerator. Everything's hidden in the goddamn can. It's just a counter.

[Shanti]

And your priorities are fucked up, because who got time to be wanting and spending and selecting those things?

[Jade]

Not the kid. Not your girl. This white refrigerator has done me just fine for these last 40 years. Exactly.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Okay?

[Jade]

I had two of them in my last apartment, and nobody shall shame me. Well, Shaunti is here because we are having a really important conversation at the kitchen table, and I'm really excited by how this conversation went because we both went into it. We both went into it on some, you know, glasses down the nose bridge, you know what I'm saying?

[Shanti]

I felt like I was holding a.

[Jade]

Deep, dark secret in the whole time.

[Shanti]

No, because anyhow, you guys are going to listen. But I was like, do I mention white white mom? Should I say that I got a white mom? Am I going to be described? I was like, well, is this gonna work? Can I take this? I was. I was like. I was like, is Jay gonna tell her that I got a white mom?

[Jade]

No, you see, I didn't blow your spot up. Yeah, I didn't blow your spot up. We're just like, no, what about the. Yeah, what about the daddy? Can you do it through the daddy?

[Dr. Gina Page]

Like.

[Shanti]

I was like, oh, it's maternal. Okay.

[Jade]

She's like, God damn it, I'm Polish. Oh, man. You all will get context for that. You get context. It was a good conversation. I think I saw you ease. I saw you tense. I saw your butt cheeks clenched and then I saw you starting to ease as more science was explained. Yeah. So you all stay tuned and check out the kitchen table so you can understand what the fuck the both of us are talking about right now. It'll all make sense.

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[Jade]

Welcome back to the kitchen table everyone. I am so excited because we have a beautiful guest and I also have an amazing guest CO host today, Dr. Gina Page. So Dr. Gina Page is the co founder of African Ancestry Inc. The pioneering company that introduced genetic lineage tracing for people of African descent. Since 2003, she has helped redefine black identity by reconnecting individuals and communities to their African roots. Very, very important work. A sought after speaker and thought leader, Dr. Page travels the world demystifying African Roots to inform on the importance of empowerment of black identity through the lens of African ancestry. She's revealed ancestries of countless cultural icons, has partnered with major brands, and you've probably seen her work featured everywhere from the Breakfast Club, in essence to 60 minutes and finding your roots. One of my favorite shows with Henry Louis Gates Jr. How are you? Dr. Gina Page. Welcome to the kitchen table.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Thank you. I'm happy to be here. It's cold.

[Jade]

I'm cold, honey. Yeah, you're cold. Like we are.

[Dr. Gina Page]

I'm black and proud. That's how I.

[Jade]

Oh, very Donnie Hathaway about it. I love that. I actually, my husband is Trini, and so he likes to say when it's cold, like, he goes called cold like dog nose. So it's called like dog nose. So that's how it feels. So you're cold. How else are you? Please, please come and tell us how you're doing. How you feeling?

[Dr. Gina Page]

Every day. I'm black and proud. No matter what else is going on, that's my answer. I'm grateful. It's Black History Month. The world. The world is doing what we put on. So it's good to have.

[Jade]

And do you know why this Black History Month is so. I know you know. Would you love to tell the people why this is so monumental?

[Dr. Gina Page]

Yes. Because we've been commemorating Black history month for 100 years.

[Shanti]

100 years.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Long time.

[Shanti]

I did not know it was that long of a tradition.

[Jade]

Which puts time into context. Right, because they were just celebrating 250 years, or they thought they were celebrating 250 years of. Of hate and genocide experience. Excuse me. And. But a hundred years of. Of commemorating, like, that's not far off. You know what I mean? And when we look at the state of this world, what you say, Dr. Gina?

[Dr. Gina Page]

A week. It was Negro history. And then we.

[Jade]

Yes.

[Shanti]

And child, the way it's going, who knows if this is going to stay, you know what I mean?

[Jade]

So, you know, they're trying to take things away from us. Did you wind up, Dr. Gina, in your household, really celebrating and commemorating Black History Month? I know a lot of us, you know, some are. Have really delved into it, and some are like, oh, yeah, I got it in school. Or like, but how. What was your household like around Black History Month?

[Dr. Gina Page]

Yeah. So, yes, I've all. As long. For as long as I've commit. For as long as I can remember, we've acknowledged and celebrated Black History Month. So I'm from D.C. which is when I was growing up, it was still Chocolate City.

[Jade]

Chocolate City.

[Dr. Gina Page]

My parents were Howard graduates. Okay. Yes. Was a history professor at Howard. So I've been.

[Jade]

Y' all celebrated Black History.

[Shanti]

Yeah, it was 365 for you a month.

[Jade]

She was like, Black History. Black History year. Exactly.

[Dr. Gina Page]

And I feel so grateful for that because I was talking to a friend the other day, and there are not too many places you can have grown up where the government, the leadership was black, the business owners were black, the lawyers and accountants were black, the teachers and superintendents were black. Everybody was black when I was growing up. So black excellence is my norm.

[Jade]

Which is a great. Okay, so I feel like that's a great start because you gave us a little bit of your childhood and, like, where you are at those parts of your roots. But tell us about your journey and how we got to African ancestry. Like, let's start. Like, tell us. Give us the journey.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Listen, I like to say I fell and bumped my head and that's what made me do Africa.

[Jade]

Is that not how most of us find it?

[Shanti]

That's the best way to go through life, child.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Truly. Because I honestly don't know if we knew what to expect, if we would choose the things that we choose. But anyway, yes, I have always grown up with a respect for being black. Black excellence, like I said, was my norm. And I can. My best friend growing up since, like, kindergarten, first grade, was Robin Cohen. And her mother, Diane, used to do import and export with Senegal. Her house, it was full of African art. Sculptures, paintings, masks on the wall. Her mother always wore the most beautiful jewelry. The books, the coffee table books were about art, black art, African art. So for me, my introduction to Africa was that it was a beautiful. It was beautiful. I didn't necessarily know where Senegal was or, you know, any of that, but I knew Africa was a beautiful thing, a beautiful place. And then, you know, I went to all white high school. I went to Stanford University for undergrad. I got an MBA at the University of Michigan. But every step along the way, I was just telling my aunt this. Whenever I had to do a project, from elementary school to college to business school, it was always, always on something black. Black, excuse me, is always something black. I was that kid who just brought who I was into every experience. And so fast forward. I graduated with an MBA and didn't know what I wanted to do, but knew that I wanted to have my own business. And having my own business was. Was about it. I didn't know what it would be or anything like that. So I went to work for other companies to Learn how to do it. I worked for Colgate Palm Olive Company, which is how I got to New York. We were talking about that earlier. I worked at Sara Lee Bakery, where I launched and managed products, you know.

[Jade]

That nobody doesn't like.

[Dr. Gina Page]

You know, that it doesn't really matter, to be honest, if you eat another pie or cake. It doesn't matter which toothpaste you use. None of those things really matter. And so. Excuse me.

[Jade]

Take your time, please.

[Dr. Gina Page]

When I was working, I decided to leave and work for myself and do marketing consulting. And then I met Dr. Kittles, who I co founded African Ancestry with. And he had this ability to tell people where in Africa they were from. He had been doing the research for years because he wanted to really answer the question for himself. And then he's a geneticist. And so throughout his science training, he started realizing, well, if I can do it for these people, then I should be able to do it for myself. And he was at Howard University at the National Genome Center. This was at the time where I'm sure both of you all are familiar. There was a construction project in Lower Manhattan in the 90s, and they were building a. Excavating the earth to build a building, and they came upon a cemetery and a cemetery of enslaved Africans. And so Dr. Kittles was on a team of researchers who went to the very. It's now called the New York African Burial Ground. Went there, and his job was to identify the ancestry of the bones.

[Jade]

Wow.

[Dr. Gina Page]

And so we're business people on this, right. We know that once the community hears about something, it can just take off. So it really was a case of supply and demand. He had the ability, the supply, and the community, when they found out, inundated him with requests. Tell me where I'm from. Tell me where I'm from. And so he and I partnered and I commercialized his research so that anybody who wants to know where they come from can learn the answer.

[Shanti]

So this was in the 90s or.

[Dr. Gina Page]

The new York African Burial Ground Project was in.

[Shanti]

Was in the 90s. But your collaboration started in the 90s as well?

[Dr. Gina Page]

Started in 02.

[Jade]

Okay.

[Dr. Gina Page]

We launched in 03. So in two weeks, we'll be celebrating our 23rd anniversary. Wow.

[Jade]

That's incredible.

[Shanti]

Congratulations.

[Jade]

Yes.

[Dr. Gina Page]

So it kind of happens organically. It just kind of like, I don't really know what I want to do. And then somebody introduced us and said, I think you two could work together and started something that's brand new. So what I like to say is I didn't come to this work thinking, I want to know where I'm from. I came to the work thinking, this does not exist anywhere in the world. There is nobody who can tell you where you come from. It's 2003, and there's no one who can tell you where you come from in Africa. And so it was my opportunity to use the skills and talents that I developed and paid for, quite honestly, to do something that has never existed before for the group of people that I'm passionate about, which is black people. Mm.

[Jade]

Mm. Okay, so let's. Okay, I'm a black lady. I am skeptical of everything. Of everything. My grandfather's from Alabama, so I'm extra skeptical of everything. What? It's very exciting when you first hear this, right? And then I think when I first heard about African ancestry, I said, okay, I know my great grandmother is from in Mexico. I know that my grandfather comes from Alabama. I don't know nothing past that. And we don't have any evidence anywhere of where we come from past that. Was there any. Any skepticism on your part initially on how they, how these were traced? Because it's. It just seems so far fetched just because we don't have that direct connection. Am I making sense right now?

[Shanti]

Yeah. Like, what is the science? It's. Is it tracking? It's DNA, basically. And isn't DNA, isn't everybody's DNA the same? So how can you get those little differentiating factors to be like, yeah, that is Senegal, that's Nigeria, that's.

[Jade]

Yeah, Congo. Like, yeah, I'm so curious.

[Dr. Gina Page]

I love it. So, yeah, I was never skeptical, but I.

[Jade]

You are not alone.

[Dr. Gina Page]

And there are people who are still skeptical. So I respect the skepticism. You said, you told me I could talk about anything. So I respect skepticism, but I don't respect the people who say it's not possible because we're black. So there's something different between not understanding and acknowledging that you don't understand versus saying it's not possible. Perhaps you listen to some white scientists and they said, oh, it can't be done because they can't do it. Not because it can't be done. But anyway, so this is how it works. So you're right. We don't know past Alabama or Virginia or even Trinidad or Cuba or wherever. We don't know because there are no records. And that was all a strategically masterminded business decision. Disconnecting this workforce from their roots, from who they are. Take away their name so they don't have an identity. Take away their ability to speak their languages so that they can't communicate with each other. And we have to understand what they're saying. Take away their ability to honor their ancestors, Take away their families, sell their families apart at every turn. So we are a people without an identity. If you've been living for all this time without an identity, you probably don't even realize that you don't really know who you are. Because if I ask the two of you, who are you, you're going to tell me all these amazing things about who you are. But if you don't know where you come from, you know, you come from Mexico and that's, you know, that's important. But most.

[Jade]

And you're right, and I know South Carolina, I'm like, oh, we Gullah Geechee. I don't know anything else. You know what I mean?

[Dr. Gina Page]

There's a gap. There's a void in our understanding of who we are. And it is our birthright as black people to know who we are. So this is how the science works. And people believe in DNA for all other things, but for some reason, when it comes to this, all of a sudden there's a question. So I'm gonna explain it real basic. We each inherit 50% of our DNA from our mother and 50% from our father. If your mother's yellow and your father's blue, then you'll be green, right? So we're all green. And to your point, Shanti, everybody's DNA. 99.9% of everybody's DNA is the same. But we don't look the same, we don't act the same. We do have differences. And there are parts in that less than 0.1% of the differences that inform what makes us unique. And that's the part of the DNA that we're looking at. So going back to our art lesson, the three of us are green. We each have a little yellow dot. We have a little bit of DNA that we inherited from our mother. This is Biology 101. That never changed. It did not mix. And that's our mitochondrial DNA. Every human has mitochondrial DNA from their mother. She got it from her mother, and it didn't change. She got it from her mother and her mother and her mother. Going back for thousands of years, our mitochondrial DNA does not change. You had your daughter. I don't know if you have children, Shanti, but when we.

[Shanti]

I have a daughter.

[Jade]

Both of us have daughters.

[Dr. Gina Page]

You had your daughters, you passed it to them. And if they become mothers, they'll pass it. So this yellow dot, this little bit of DNA that never changed, has a record. It has a history. Well, if I can find your yellow dot somewhere else in the world, then that person shares a common maternal ancestor with you. I live in D.C. and I have this yellow. The yellow dot. My mother took the test, which is just a cheek swab. Our lab unlocked the code not of all of her DNA, but just that little portion of mitochondrial DNA, and then compared it to a worldwide database to see does it match with people in Europe, does it match with people in Asia, Africa, where when we decide that it matches with people in Africa, we have the largest collection of African mitochondrial DNA, African lineages. So then we look for matches. And we found people living in Nigeria today who are Fulani people who have my same yellow dot. I'm in D.C. there in Nigeria. We each got it from our mother, who got it from her mother, who got it from her mother. Mine goes through D.C. atlantic City, you know, I don't know about before Atlantic City, Ultimately to Nigeria, to a woman in Nigeria. We have. If you have the same mitochondrial DNA, you have to share the same maternal ancestry. It's just. That's biology.

[Jade]

So is it only through the maternal line?

[Dr. Gina Page]

Nope. So going back to our lesson, we're green. And if there was a brother on the screen with us, he would have the same green dot. A green. He'd be green. He'd have a yellow dot from his mother. But the brothers and those who are assigned intersex at birth. They get a blue dot. They get a little bit from the father, and that's the Y chromosome. Okay. Chromosome is paternally inherited, passed from father to son, father to son, father to son, and it never changes. And so my father. I can't do it because I don't have a Y chromosome. He took a paternal test, and we found his matching Y chromosome among Hausa people living in Nigeria today.

[Sponsor Voice]

Okay.

[Jade]

Okay.

[Dr. Gina Page]

So I know two ancestries of my entire family tree. It's not saying I'm 100% Nigerian, is saying there was a woman on this line and a Nigerian man on this line. But not just Nigeria. The Fulani, the Hausa, the Yoruba, the Igbo, you know, the Edo. And the reason we're able to do that to Shanti's point again, is that African DNA is the most heterogeneous DNA on the planet. It has the most variation. And I just want to put a disclaimer here. I am not the scientist of the.

[Jade]

Well, I think that's. I actually think that's better for you explaining this as the co founder, because your co founder had to explain it to you. And I'm gonna be real with you. I don't want to hear them explain it to me because I don't, I, I tap out. I don't, I don't understand after a while.

[Dr. Gina Page]

But there going to be somebody, there's going to be a geneticist who's going to say that is not exactly. But I'm giving you a descriptive explanation of how this works.

[Jade]

So if we line up to the villages heterogeneous.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Yes.

[Shanti]

That's the only. Let me write this down as you keep track of everything.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Okay.

[Jade]

I was like, break that down for people who don't know what heterogeneous is.

[Shanti]

For those that don't know what that, that means.

[Dr. Gina Page]

I mean, it's as it was coming out of my mouth, I was like, you got it?

[Shanti]

No, it's good.

[Dr. Gina Page]

But we, we smart.

[Jade]

So.

[Dr. Gina Page]

So if we line up 10 Africans, nine of them are going to have different mitochondrial DNA. Nine out of 10. So we can say if it looks like this, it's Mandinka, if it looks like this, it's Mende. If it looks like this is crew, if it looks like this is Mbundu. If we line up 10 Europeans, half of them are going to be the same. So we can't say if it looks like this is French, if it looks like this is British, because theirs is not as. They don't have as much genetic variation as we do because we are from the original people directly. They, they come from Africa too. But it's, you know, thousands, tens of thousands of years removed from Africa. And there have been all of these changes and mutations as they migrated out of Africa and Yes, what we call Europe. So that's how we're able to do what we do.

[Shanti]

So is this time sensitive? If, if a white person were to take the African ancestry, would they be able to see where in Africa their ancestors are?

[Jade]

Oh, that's. That's interesting.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Yeah, that's a good question. So the time frame of our analysis is the past 500 to 2000 years.

[Shanti]

That's fair.

[Dr. Gina Page]

The question we are answering is where were my people before the slave trade that disconnected us? And so that's why we're looking at a period of at least 500 years ago. So the average white person was not in Africa 500.

[Jade]

Yeah, 500 years ago.

[Dr. Gina Page]

If a white person takes a test, and this has happened when a white person takes, let's say our maternal test and gets an African result, that means that they had a black woman somewhere near the tree, which is probably quite often, right?

[Shanti]

Yeah, quite often, yeah.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Speaking of the chances. So when we trace the maternal line, we test 100 black folks, 92 of them are going to get an African result, 6 are going to get a European result, and then the other two, it's either going to be Asian or indigenous or Middle Eastern or. Yeah. So most of the time is African, but none of us is 100% African American. So we were mixed. We just don't always know where. But let's look at the paternal side. When we look at that y chromosome, when 100 black men take the test, 65 get an African result, 34 get a European result, and then there might be one that gets something else. So white men were five.

[Shanti]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Giving those. Giving those.

[Jade]

Wow.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Chromosomes with reckless abandon, like that was part of life. Whereas white women weren't having brown babies.

[Jade]

At the same rate because they couldn't do it. Like, they couldn't keep them a secret the way that they could. Listen, even what I was telling you earlier, my great grandmother is from James island in South Carolina. We know that. And then we. We all know the direct connection between the Gullah Geechee people and the people of West Africa as being one of the first. You know, the closest.

[Dr. Gina Page]

The Mende and the Temeni people in Sierra Leone are.

[Jade]

Oh, okay.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Are the. The. What do you call, ancestors.

[Shanti]

There you go.

[Jade]

Okay, wait, hold on now. I was like, I need to swab me cheek now.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Because the. The people of Sierra Leone were expert rice farmers, and slavery was a business. Rice plantation owners wanted a workforce that they wouldn't have to train.

[Jade]

Yes.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Who already knew how to do the work. So those South Carolina and Georgia Sea islands, that's where you see all of the. Many of the Mende and Temi people, people from. And the people from Sierra Leon were taken there.

[Jade]

Okay, so you. The.

[Dr. Gina Page]

The music, the language, the basking, all of that.

[Shanti]

Active today, isn't it? They still have really rich communities today that those.

[Jade]

Even with the intersection within religion, with traditional African religions, mixed with the Christianity that was put on, like, it's. There's so much. There's so much overlap that you can see happens. But what I learned was, I mean, because you see me, you know what I'm saying? I got a whole lot of melanin going on.

[Shanti]

Energetically.

[Dr. Gina Page]

You do?

[Jade]

Oh, energetically. I have the realest. Dr. Gina don't know that side yet. I came on the thing earlier and I was like, okay, we got 15 minutes. I'mma just hit this little. And I was like, Whoa, Dr. Gina's in the room. I'm going to just be a good girl. But you just don't know. I told you, Dr. Gina. Raggedy, but. So she's from James Island. I have. The whole island is my family. I went there one time. I randomly went to a Bojangles to buy chicken. The girl was my cousin behind the counter before I left. But we find out that my grandfather, his. His father was a Greek store owner from Tripoli, Greece. Right. Who had a family. Okay. But he had two kids with my great grandmother now. Okay, so then we start getting all of that. So I. I say all that to say. I don't know what I say, but.

[Shanti]

It tells stories. You know what I mean? And it comes up.

[Jade]

Exactly.

[Shanti]

Can you talk about that a little bit, please? In my experience with people that have taken these ancestry tests, you know, they come back, they say, yeah, you know, me and my dad took the test, we're Nigerian. And it kind of falls right there. And there's excitement. But can you talk about people that have, what journeys, even for yourself? Where has this taken you in your life?

[Sponsor Voice]

Yeah.

[Jade]

With this knowledge.

[Dr. Gina Page]

So I can. But first I'm going to talk about those tests that they're telling you about. So our test.

[Jade]

Okay. Yeah. Because, you know. You know that was my next one. Right.

[Dr. Gina Page]

If you don't mind, I'm gonna talk about that first, then I'll tell you, please. So, yeah, so our test is completely different because, see, African ancestry is designed to help black people transform the way we view ourselves and the way we view Africa. Like I said, we believe that reconnecting through DNA is our birthright. And it's not enough to know that you're some percentage this or that. What people want to know to Shanti's question is, what are the traditions, the practices, the beliefs, the values that inform who we are, whether we know it or not? And finding out that you are X percent Nigerian, Y% Cameroonian, Z% Togo, Benin, Ghana, that is a very different answer. That's just saying, yeah, you're African. And so for everybody listening who believes themselves to be of African descent for free, I will tell you that you are probably about 75% African, 25% West European, and your Africanness is from West Africa. We don't DNA to tell us that. That's. To me, that's offensive. Anyway, so those companies don't look at maternal or paternal. They look at everything that's been all mixed together and then tease out percentages, but you don't know which percentage comes from which part of the family. So you're still left with this. You pick the lot. What I found is people who take other companies tests pick the largest percentage and say I'm that because the, the companies have, what do you, what's the word? They, they, they have. The majority of their samples come from Nigeria. Their database towards Nigeria. Everybody is going to get Nigeria. Everybody gets. Which I notice our database. So the, the closest database has about between 4 to 4 to 8,000 samples from Africa. They have over 100,000 samples total and then less than fewer than 10% of those samples. More like 5% of those samples are African. We have a database of 33,000 African lineages. So that goes back to Dr. Kittles doing the research, collaborating with researchers on the continent to get samples from people whose families are indigenous to those places. We didn't want to just say you're from this region. We want to be able to say the people and the place. So our test is very different, which means the experiences are going to be very different. So for example, in 2021, if you, if you took our test and we traced your ancestry to Sierra Leone, like Chadwick Boseman is the Limba people of Sierra Leone, or the Mende or the Timney, you could actually get citizenship. So we took.

[Jade]

Oh me. Okay, wait a minute.

[Dr. Gina Page]

From 20, from 2019 to 2020, 2023, the country of Sierra Leone offered citizenship to anybody whose ancestry was traced through African ancestry to the country of Sierra Leone. So we, we formed African Ancestry Family Reunion. We created family reunions and we took people home, we took them to Sierra Leone, we took them into the provinces to, to meet the Mende people, to meet the Temene people, to have these culturally immersive experiences. And what I'll tell you is that two a one, when we went to Bunce island, which is where, it's an island where captured Africans were held until they were being put on the slave ships. And so what happened in all of these? You've heard of the Door of no Return? Point of no return? They're littered. The west coast of Africa is littered with these forts that, that were dungeons hold our ancestors. People were held there sometimes for months waiting for the ships to come. And so we go to Bunce island, which wasn't well kept and so doesn't really have any structural integrity anymore. But standing on that shore on those rocks and people crying, just tears flowing because they, they never thought their ancestors never thought that they would Be there at that place, having that experience. And it can be. It's very emotional. It's a very overwhelming experience because you almost don't even realize what. What you've lost until you're standing in the place where it was taken. Then I think the ancestors are just talking to you. Another story. So I told you my father's paternal ancestry is Hausa. And when we first started this company, we used to print out letters and Certificates and send CDs. The Encarta Africana CD. We wanted everybody to have as much knowledge as possible. And we sent it to an elder who called and he was like, honey, I don't have a computer, so you're going to have to tell me about the house of people. And I was so embarrassed because I was trying to build a business. You guys know, I wasn't thinking about. You probably aren't necessarily thinking about the next things that you would love to prepare as a chef when you gotta get this work done or I don't.

[Jade]

Even know what I'm making for dinner.

[Dr. Gina Page]

You know, the next designer that you wanna hire, the black woman designer that you wanna highlight, you gotta get the pop up going. You gotta figure out how to pay the rent on the brick and mortar. So that's where I was. So anyway, long story. It's already long. I put the DVD in the player in the computer and I started reading to him what it said about the house of people. And it said that the house women are the business people of the culture. Goosebumps. I'm trying not to cry when I'm talking to him because I'm like, what? Pat it on that note. Everybody on my father's side of the family is an entrepreneur. Every single one. Women, men, it doesn't matter. And so just in that moment, I was like, oh, this is why the.

[Jade]

Page that connection are like, right?

[Dr. Gina Page]

Or there's a. My. My favorite high school senior is a young man named Julian. And when he was 11, he was in a school in Dallas that celebrated a global day. So it was a school, predominantly white school, that had other cultures. And they put a big map on the wall and gave each kid a pin and said, put your pin in the country that you come from. And Julian asked his mother, Toria, where am I supposed to put my pen?

[Jade]

And we talk often about how black American culture is a culture, right?

[Dr. Gina Page]

Of course.

[Jade]

But it is a culture out of necessity. It is a culture that we've had to form and create so many subcultures from because of that, that lost connection And I recently watched this independent film. If it's coming to, I suggest everybody go look and see if it's coming to your city. It's called Black News. And in Black News you say you heard about. Okay, so Black News he re envisions. It's so many different aspects, but one part of it is he re envisions us traveling back, but in this scientific like futuristic way where we're traveling back across the waters that we came across. And so I can imagine just feeling that sort of connection, even just down to a business level, like, yo, this is how my people and them operated in business. And I am literally a manifestation, manifestation of that physically. And what I'm doing is such a beautiful thing.

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[Shanti]

Okay, I have to tell you, I was just looking on ebay where I go for all kinds of things I love.

[Jade]

And there it was, that hologram trading card. One of the rarest. The last one I needed for my set.

[Shanti]

Shiny like the designer handbag of my dream.

[Jade]

One of a kind.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Ebay had it.

[Shanti]

And now everyone's asking, ooh, where'd you.

[Jade]

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[Shanti]

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[Jade]

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[Shanti]

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[Jade]

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[Shanti]

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[Jade]

I want to go. You've said so much from now. And Shanti had a beautiful question earlier and I want to. I just want to ask really quickly because you spoke about the DNA and we've talked about the other companies.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Oh, yeah.

[Jade]

So I know African ancestry prides you all pride yourself on not selling DNA. Okay, listen, I'm a public school kid. I got my shots, I think in a public library. You know what I'm saying? I'm everywhere. You know, I am everywhere. This is this point. But I'm still. I still be like, yeah, I don't want y' all to have my though. So I do appreciate that aspect of it. Can you speak a little bit more to how you all make that possible, especially with the world that we live in and its nefarious foundation? Because that's a big part of us all being skeptical as a people as well.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Yep. Thank you so much. Yes. Your DNA is. Your wealth is the most valuable thing we have in our bodies that we possess. And it is very important that you understand how it's being used. So because my business partner and co founder is a researcher, he said day one, we cannot keep people's DNA. Imagine in 2003, none of these other companies were even in existence. Like, when we say we're the pioneer, that's because we were first. None of these other.

[Jade]

Oh, we're. You're before ancestry, before 23, before. Well.

[Dr. Gina Page]

They are like 2012. Yeah.

[Shanti]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dr. Gina Page]

And back then, they weren't. They were just saying, you're African. They weren't even breaking it down. So DNA wasn't being used for anything positive in our eyes, culturally, except for exonerating people.

[Jade]

People.

[Dr. Gina Page]

So we made a decision that we were not going to sell it. We were. We don't even keep it. So forget about we don't sell it. As soon as your is complete, the lab destroys the DNA.

[Jade]

Wow.

[Dr. Gina Page]

And let me tell you, that's why we're not wealthy. Because the wealth is in monetizing the DNA. So you can talk to me all day long about how you going to use this company because it's only $99 or it's $129, but guess what, you just paid them 100 to farm your dollars to tell you that you're African. And then they're going to monetize your DNA into perpetuity. So you know, that's your choice.

[Shanti]

So can you, can you explain that to people? Because I don't think people understand what that means by monetizing their DNA for perpetuity.

[Jade]

Right.

[Shanti]

So forever if they want to, indefinitely, ever.

[Dr. Gina Page]

So yeah. So once a company has your DNA, they can make money off it in any number of ways. They can research it and sell the research findings to pharmaceutical companies. They can sell the findings to insurance companies. They can sell weapons companies, weapons. So yeah, and we know companies like 23andMe. They, their business objective was to find ways to help people with their physical well being through DNA. So they were work, they had partnerships with pharma, with big pharma.

[Jade]

Yeah. And you and we know and that's they've been excuse they've been with our since forever from misusing from medical exploitation, racism, scientifically testing on us, you know, even us as black women have they tested us through gynecology, you know, all of that. And so that's why we're so skeptical of this because they have been with, they have not stopped with us since the beginning of time.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Exactly. So and I respect that and I, you know, I. All I can say is we destroy it, we don't keep it. And if it's worth it to you to know where you're from, then you will take our test because you do drug testing for jobs or you give blood because it's worth it to you to help someone else. So if it's worth it to you for you and your family to have a sense of pride, place and belonging, to be able to go home to the place where you come from, then we are the company for you. But it, I'm so right.

[Shanti]

I really want to be honest with you because I was skeptical because I was thinking like okay, sounds good. This is a business. Businesses want to grow businesses. When you really cook and you want to be acquired, then you're bought by even bigger business. And then you have this possibility through acquisition, through the legacy of the owners changing. For this to become, you know, a perverse in my opinion.

[Jade]

Yeah.

[Shanti]

For this to be with African DNA, which again, is the most varied. And science loves variety. Science.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Question with black folks. Then you have it for everybody.

[Jade]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Shanti]

So what integrity that your business has. And it is truly around identity. And then to offer trips and inform this rich information about the tribes and the ethnicities and the language and the food. It really is an offering. It really is a compass for people who want to understand themselves more, pass that on to their kids. Yeah, it's. I'm sold.

[Jade]

So I am, too. I am.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Use that as a compass because that's a part.

[Shanti]

It is. It really is. And you know what? It's connecting the dots for me. I know somebody who helps your company as well, and we could talk about it off air, because I don't know what y'.

[Jade]

All relationship.

[Shanti]

I want to see your face turn.

[Dr. Gina Page]

And there's only one name that makes my face turn.

[Sponsor Voice]

I don't.

[Shanti]

Well, I.

[Dr. Gina Page]

And. And it's already been mentioned indirectly. I was like, control your face. Control your face.

[Shanti]

Okay.

[Jade]

Well, damn. I'm trying to. Okay, you know what? I ain't going to be messy, but.

[Shanti]

Either way.

[Dr. Gina Page]

This is.

[Shanti]

This is magical. And I'm. I'm. I'm so happy that you were on this podcast to spread the word, because I think people. I think they don't know what's possible, you know, and if you guys need help with marketing, you need to get some ominous music and you need a voice saying, do you know what they're.

[Jade]

Doing with their DNA? Very similar to, do you know where your children are?

[Shanti]

People need to realize because it gets really weird. And you have.

[Jade]

And you all have been convoluted in that as well. Right. I got a. I got an African ancestry test years ago from a friend, and I was like, girl, get that out of here. Like, I'm not. You know, I'm not doing that. And again, they have. I'm all over the place. Okay. Jade is everywhere. I know I've probably licked that. I don't even know I licked. You know what I mean? I'm everywhere. But it's still the thought process because of how nefarious, like we talked about everything is that it's trust.

[Shanti]

It's a barrier of trust, and it's.

[Jade]

Mistrust, and it's because of misuse. Like, it comes from a valid place. I also love what you said, Dr. Gina, about. About not being rich. I just had a. I feel like, the timing of that is. So I was just talking to a friend. I've been podcasting for 12 years, right? And cooking for a lot longer, and I've worked in so many different fields, and I'm like, you know, I don't feel like my journey is finished with this. I said, but it is. You know, sometimes it's a bit of a punch to the stomach when you're like, man, I know that not only am I consistent, but I do good work, right? Even I think, like, having you on here, this is good work you're getting. You. You got two minds. I had Shanti on here specifically with me, because I was like, you know, Buffett, we don't be. We don't really rocking with this shit like this. So it worked out, and I. And you really were able to sincerely turn us right? And really explain this in a way where we can understand at a base level. And I'm like, okay. I really actually trust the things that she's saying. But so I was talking to my friend, and I was like, you know, I know I do good work. I know I do consistent work. I'm like. And things seem to get harder sometimes. Like, it's such an ebb and a flow. And I love what you said because your work seems to be rooted in integrity and really actually doing what you all said you're here to do, which is to help us figure out where our roots come from. And so that just was really affirming because I'm like, you know, I'm not gonna stop talking about how we're disenfranchised as a people, but also how magical we are. I'm not gonna stop talking about how fucked up the police are or how fucked up ice is or how fucked up what y' all are doing a Gaza is or Sudan or Congo. Like, I'm not gonna stop speaking about those things. So I may never be rich, right? And so you saying that is so you about to make me cry.

[Shanti]

You're still a portal. It's still. It's still information being disseminated to people that need it. That, again, leads to different pathways and different possibilities, which is no different than this whole full circle moment of ancestry, right? Of, like, connected to your ancestry, of being connected to a past, a harrowing past. But, yes, coming to this moment right now, and it's. It's value. It. There is no value. It's priceless. Yes, the work is priceless. The contribution is priceless. The possibilities and the takeaway.

[Jade]

And the takeaway.

[Dr. Gina Page]

It's you're right. And that's what makes it so frustrating. I'm. I'm trained as a marketer, at least in the olden days. And, you know, marketing has changed so much these days. But it's hard.

[Jade]

I told you what I did earlier.

[Dr. Gina Page]

It's hard to tell people, trust me. When it, when you get the answer, you're going to see, like, you can't turn that into a marketing piece. And what's so frustrating is that this whole situation we're in, the fact that we don't trust black people, don't trust us. Black people don't want to say that they're from Africa. Black people choose to fly, spend thousands and thousands of dollars going to Dubai or Paris or Greece, and nothing wrong with that, but have never been to Africa. All of this has been orchestrated. It's all by Design. In 2026, we have the power to change that programming. And so it's just. You have that weighing against, you know, we got all these girls been. It's been a lot. White scientists have been, you know, when we first started, they were just on it. On it. Constantly trying to discredit my business partner simply because they understood what the power is of millions of black people knowing who they are.

[Jade]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dr. Gina Page]

We're the only ones that has struggled with, with that understanding. And I don't think it's our fault, not to mention.

[Jade]

No, that's by design as well.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Exactly. And then there's this divide between Africans and. And people, Americans and the Diaspora. And that is intentional. That's a whole show showing point by point how that has been so clearly orchestrated. And here we are trying to say, no, let's come together. We're the same people. We got the same mitochondrial DNA. But if you live on the continent and you're never taught about a general history of Africa or a history of your country, then you certainly aren't going to be taught about the history of the Diaspora. So you're not going to understand historically how we're related. And then if you live in the diaspora and you're constantly told they're corrupt, they're poor, they're starving, all of these negative. They don't have running water, they don't have all of that, then you're not going to want to be associated with that or that you come from slaves, you don't want to be associated with that. So it's such. The mountain that we have to climb to break down all these stereotypes on every level is extremely high, which is why your podcast is important. Your podcast is important. Your businesses are important. This is Black History Month. We. Black history is made hourly.

[Jade]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Dr. Gina Page]

And we're all participating in that in our own ways to help.

[Jade]

And Black history is world history because you, brother.

[Shanti]

Human history.

[Jade]

Hello.

[Shanti]

Human history.

[Jade]

Spaniards, the Dutch, the Belgian, the Polish, Portuguese. Y' all be trying to act like we don't remember.

[Dr. Gina Page]

We.

[Jade]

We ain't never forgot, so we don't forget.

[Dr. Gina Page]

I did want you're doing. Can I say one thing, please? I want. I'm. I'm almost glad you didn't take the test when you got it, because one thing people misconstrue is they think, I'll just take that test and it's going to tell me what percentage of African I am or it's going to tell me where I'm from in Africa. Our test determines ancestry. We can't make your ancestry African. You can be black and have a grandmother that's Mexican. So I wanted to ask you about that grandmother. Is it your mother's mother or your father's mother?

[Jade]

It's my father. It's my father's grandmother.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Your father's mother's mother.

[Jade]

Okay.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Because I was like, oh, if she took that test and her grandmother is Mexican, then she was.

[Jade]

No, it's my paternal side.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Right. So then. So then you would have been good. But it.

[Jade]

My. My maternal side is. My maternal side is black. Is. Is Alabama roots.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Okay.

[Jade]

That's my maternal side for them for the most part. So there's a good chance.

[Dr. Gina Page]

There's a 92% chance that. That the result will come back African.

[Jade]

We gonna find. Well, no, it's coming back African. But I'm ready to take, like, I'm. I'm dead ass ready to take it now. Like, I want. I'm like, okay, tell. You know, where we at, where my cousins at. I'm ready. Like, I'm ready to see. Because I do feel like I work a lot with. With lineage and food, you know, because I think it's such a. That's my. You know what? I'm. I'm working on some stuff now, Dr. Gina, where I tie my lineage with food, and I've been working on it for some years.

[Shanti]

And y' all have to do an episode. That's a video right there.

[Jade]

That's a.

[Shanti]

This is a missing piece episode. You guys do it together, then you cook food and eat it. Yes.

[Jade]

And I'll feed you. And Dr. Gina, I can't do a whole lot, but I can cook.

[Shanti]

I can do everything.

[Dr. Gina Page]

I Can eat of all trades.

[Jade]

So we're a match made in purpose. But I really. I really do want to connect further. I do want to connect further. I'm gonna take the test, and you should come back when Kia is back as well, so that we can, you know, we can get more into it. Okay, so I have one more question. And Shanti, if you have anything, please throw it in. What was your favorite find from you? Tracing your own. Your own lineage. What was your favorite aspect of that? Was it the entrepreneurship or did you have anything else that, like, made you feel.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Ooh. So, you know, I have genealogists on both sides of my family, and. And three of my grandparents were alive when we started African ancestry. So I actually, if you think about having eight great grandparents, I know the ancestry of seven of my eighth great grandparents. And so there's a lot to choose from. But you know what? I'm just going to be real. I'm being real basic. They say that the Fulani. My maternal ancestry is Fulani, and they say that the Fulani women are the most beautiful women in the world.

[Shanti]

I know that's right. You fine.

[Sponsor Voice]

Fine.

Okay.

[Shanti]

The legacy is fine.

[Dr. Gina Page]

But you know what? It's so funny because I got to go. So I've been. I've. I've traveled to, I think maybe 12 African. 10 or 12 African countries, and I did not get to travel to Nigeria, where my many of my lineages are found, until 2025. So I. Countless numbers of people to the countries that they come from, and I'd never been to Nigeria. And so when we went on a Nigerian African ancestry family reunion, I didn't really know what to expect because I had already seen other people have their experiences. And while I did, it wasn't my first trip to Africa, so I didn't have that kind of experience. But when we did go to Bodaggeri, which is Nigeria's. One of Nigeria's points of no return, which are. Which is now of return, I did have a different experience that I can't really describe than I'd had at. In Ghana or Senegal or wherever. So coming back home, when you go through the airport, everybody has their hand out. You know, somebody. They. They gonna stop you before at the. At the. Which caught the desk. Then they're gonna. And then they're gonna stop you when you go through with your visa customs, and then they stop you when you go through with your bags. And it's just every point along the way. So the last stop, I just tried to be like, A Nigerian and keep walking. Like he. Surely he's not talking to me. And I just kept walking. And then this guy with all his military came up and he was like, excuse me, I need to see your passport. And so he asked me what we were doing there. I said, oh, you didn't see me on the news. He was like. So I pulled up the video clip. I had it in my photos, and I made him watch the video of them talking about us being there, meeting the governor of Lagos, and all of these kinds of things. And he's just looking mesmerized. And I said, I'm Fulani.

[Shanti]

He's like, I know that's right.

[Dr. Gina Page]

He's like, you are Fulani. And then he starts telling me about the Fulani and how they look. Now he's talking. I'm like, taking my passport, taking my. I was like, all right, see you later, cuz. I'm going to get on my plane. You know, there's a lot of that kind of. Kind of throwing people off or using it to your advantage. Even in an Uber. It has worked for me in terms of breaking down Uber drivers. I'll say, oh, I don't. You. I can't tell from your name where you're from, what country are you from? And they'll say, I'm from Africa. Okay, but we're in Africa. And then, oh, wow, West Africa. Okay, we're. But we're. And then they'll say Cameroon. And I'll be like, I'll start speaking French and say, I've been Cameroon in this year and this. And then it's like, you guys. Oh, yeah.

[Shanti]

It breaks down barriers.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Cooking you food and bring. So just even on an everyday level, it helps to reconnect us and break down the barriers as simply.

[Shanti]

I love it.

[Jade]

I do love it.

[Shanti]

Thank you for all of your work. Yeah, Hard work. Business, truly business is a grind.

[Jade]

So listen. And when you try to do it, when you try to do it the.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Right way and the opposite of the main. The major. The majority companies set the narrative. So now we have to constantly prove how we're different from them. Nobody ever asked them, how are you different from.

[Jade]

No, well, we know. Well, I know. But now I really know. And I'm really. Yeah, I'm really grateful that you came and broke this down for us.

[Dr. Gina Page]

This.

[Jade]

This opened up a whole new scope of how I feel about tracing lineage to. Tracing my DNA and my lineage to my lineage and not, you know, just because I don't care where they're from me, I Don't care where we from here.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Still a decent interest rate. Like, none of that matters.

[Jade]

Yeah, but I got friends where they can say, I'm Igbo or I'm Yoruba. And I'm like, okay, it would be nice to join in on that. You know what I'm saying? That would be lovely. So I'm gonna take the test. You gotta send me another one, Dr. Gina. And I'm gonna take it and you go come back and talk with us some more, I hope.

[Shanti]

And the result, it's the type of thing quickly, the process. You swab, send it out, then it comes back.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Or so you swab, you register it online, because that's where we get your consent. Without your consent, the lab will not. They'll just sit at the lab. They will never open the envelope.

[Jade]

You.

[Dr. Gina Page]

We send you the kit, you do the swab, and you send it back in confidential packaging lab. And then in about six weeks, roughly six weeks, your results are put into your portal online, and we provide a letter with your result, a certificate of ancestry. We have a digital guide that no one ever looks at because they go straight to Google to get the information about the countries and the people. We have an online community on Facebook that some people interact with. And then we keep in touch with you. When we are about to have a trip to your country, we let you know those kinds of things. So it's really simple. And the best part about it to me is that you're not doing it just for yourself when you take the test. You've now done it for your children, your grandchildren, everyone in the future. You've done it for your siblings, your nieces and nephews, your mother, your aunts, your uncles, your cousins, your grandma. Everybody in your entire family who comes from your grandmother or her mother now has the answer from one test.

[Jade]

Absolutely. And archivists are so crucial just to humanity in general, but really to. I'm speaking to us, like, archiving who we are is so important because that was stripped away from us for so.

[Shanti]

Long, and it's continuing to be.

[Jade]

Yeah. Hello, honey. Okay, so this is you all are doing. This is God work. This is spiritual. And we're very grateful for it.

[Dr. Gina Page]

That's the only way we're still here. I would agree that it makes sense that we're still here in 2026.

[Jade]

Yeah. We covered, smothered, fried, and dipped in spirituality and protection. Try your best.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Amen.

[Jade]

Dr. Gina, is there anything you want to leave the listeners with before we head out? Hmm.

[Dr. Gina Page]

I think I've I've already said it twice. But we deserve. You deserve to know where your people come from. Everybody else knows where their people came from. We're the only ones that can't point to a. A country and a group of people that we're connected to. Even people you mentioned your husband is Trinity. So many people who are Trinity or Haitian or Dominic. Like, well, I. I'm from Trinidad. I'm from Dominican. Dominican. The doctor. But you were from Africa before that.

[Jade]

Baby, this is all the. This is a. The boat said.

[Dr. Gina Page]

First. So now. Now we have the opportunity to. To learn where we're from. And why wouldn't you. Why wouldn't you want to know? So do.

[Jade]

Yes, absolutely.

[Dr. Gina Page]

With us. Find your roots with us and celebrate your African connection.

[Jade]

I know. That's right.

[Shanti]

Can they get it? Where.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Where can they purchase this african ancestry.com?

[Jade]

Okay. And we're gonna have that link in the description box, and I believe we have some fun things coming up around that as well, so we will. So make sure you all check that out. The link in the description box. Also the link to Dr. Gina Page. Okay. I'm so grateful, Shanti. Thank you as well.

[Shanti]

Absolutely, absolutely. This is wonderful.

[Jade]

Coming in. You are such a Beautiful addition. And, Dr. Gina, you got to come back.

[Dr. Gina Page]

I'm. I'm coming back, and I'm definitely coming to eat. I don't know, but I would definitely.

[Jade]

Be there as soon as I figure out where I'm from. I'm gonna incorporate that into the mail, and we're gonna plan it out.

[Shanti]

I'm telling you, that's some good content marketing for both.

[Jade]

You heard it here first. All right, y', all, stay tuned for the next segment, and make sure you click on the description box so you can check out all things African ancestry and Dr. Gina. And we'll see you all in a minute. Honestly, Truly. It's time for a little honesty box, which is really just a lovely listener letter, and I wanted to make sure that we read it out loud. Okay. Good afternoon, chef Jade and Dr. Robinson. I hope that all is well with you, and my sincerest condolences to you, Kia, on the passing of D. My prayers are with you and your family and loved ones. I was writing this email as I was listening to the most recent Getting Grown episode. Jade, you were discussing how you and your village are caring for two children whose mother was snatched by ice. It just weighed heavily on my heart to reach out and donate on behalf of the children. I didn't know how else to go about it. So I wanted to email you directly. I've been a listener for a long time and I trust that you and your village are doing everything in your power to keep these babies safe. So if it's a cash app, Zelle or GoFundMe, etc, it doesn't matter. But if you guys are okay with donations, I'd like to make one. I hope to hear from you soon. I don't know if others have reached out, but I'm sure other listeners would gladly donate too. If you want to read this email and include my name, you can. So, Vivian, I really am grateful for you for writing that. I actually was trying to figure out the best way to get support. Support in that area. You know, we don't, we don't want to put too much information out there and we also don't want folks thinking that we're trying to pander for money. You know what I'm saying? But you're absolutely correct. We are collectively doing everything that we can to make sure that these babies are safe physically, emotionally. This is a really disgusting situation, man. Like to know, you know, we, we watch the news, we see what's going on. We see our social media every day. So, Shanti, to give you some context, you heard it from the email. I, I know two babies personally whose mother was detained by ICE on the way to pick them up from school. These babies are little. I'm not even gonna put all their stuff, but they're little. Okay. And imagine your pre K and kitten and third grader, you know what I'm saying? Just having their mother taken away out of nowhere. And you're in this world and if you don't have people who actually care about your existence, where were they gonna.

[Shanti]

Put, where were they gonna take those?

[Jade]

You know what I'm saying?

[Shanti]

Yeah.

[Jade]

So we are working out arrangements to make sure that these, that these babies get to their blood family. But in the meantime, there is some assistance needed. And I will be sure to have a link in the description description box for anybody who wants to donate it. It's going to go directly to them, whether that be through clothes, books, shoes, or travel.

[Shanti]

Absolutely.

[Jade]

To get them to their family. So I will make sure that that is included in the description box with a little blurb for anybody who is interested in that. And I really appreciate you, Vivian, for writing in and asking about that specific quickly. It's a situation that's very close to home.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Yeah.

[Jade]

And it shouldn't be.

[Shanti]

I just was about to say, wow, that is so close to home. And I. And I, I think I. We have mutual friends and I saw something and now it's giving a lot more context because I didn't know. Yeah, I didn't know what that was about.

[Jade]

Yeah.

[Shanti]

And it is so interesting the response that we have when we are closely affected. It may not be us personally, but when it was, when it's within our community. The instinct to think that, to be nervous about asking for help or to have to feel like you have to prove to people where the money's going. I really feel like as a community, as shit gets weirder and weirder, we, we gotta be on God time. It's nothing but faith and trust and like.

[Jade]

Because sometimes you can't put out there.

[Shanti]

You can't, you know what I'm saying? The reality is it's going to happen more and more. You're going to be, yeah. Handing, you know, on the street. Take this Dabita. I don't know where it's going. I don't know who it's going to. I heard there was a need. My response is to show up versus this.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Like, well, let me see exactly.

[Shanti]

Let me get some evidence. And when we need help, we gotta just be. It gotta be on God time now like, yo, I need this and I know that I'm taken care of and that's it.

[Jade]

It's just if you're a grifter or a nasty nefarious person at your core and your foundation, that's you and your business with the higher powers.

[Shanti]

That's what I'm saying.

[Jade]

Okay.

[Shanti]

It's God's time.

[Jade]

You gotta work that out. Maybe you'll come back as a roach in somebody's kitchen.

[Shanti]

But to those that need and those that want to give light speed, just do it. Like Nike.

[Jade]

Absolutely, Nike, but do it. Yeah, yeah, listen, there was a couple brands that were mentioned or that I was, I was like, no, I'm leaving that. Nope, I'm gonna leave that automatic out of that blurb right there as well. Yeah, y' all don't get no credit and praise from us. But thank you, Vivian. Again, that link will be in the description box and I can assure you that I know exactly where it's going. So thank you all so much. For anybody who can even give $5, it is appreciated and it will be utilized. And now we'll head on over to the self care I deserve. All right, it's time for the self care segment. Ishanti is getting a full behind the scenes view of. What a motherfucking mess.

[Shanti]

Not at all. You Are on top of it.

[Jade]

Oh, I am trying my living, breathing best. So in our self care segment, Shanti, we just talk about something we did for ourselves this week to take care of us at the core. So whether it could be something like a pedicure. It could be something like taking five minutes to lay down in the middle of the day. It could be an honest analysis of the fact that you've done nothing to take care of yourself this week. So I'm going to ask you what's your self care this week or your. I know that's right. Something that you are celebrating about yourself this week.

[Shanti]

I have not shoveled out my motherfucking car.

[Jade]

Me neither, queen.

[Shanti]

I was internalizing this as shame. Oh, this is fucked up. Oh, the ice. And you know what? No, that's not it. I didn't have it in me. I didn't.

[Sponsor Voice]

I.

[Shanti]

It's just not. I had nowhere to go. I've been hunkering down. And when I have to go somewhere, I have been walking. Yeah, I have been out of breath. And now I realize that I need to walk far more and may never shovel out that motherfucker. Because my health is increasing. I put my headphones on.

[Jade]

Yes.

[Shanti]

I look at the landscape of Philadelphia. I'm inspired to learn how to use a weapon because of it. It's all of the reality of the things I need to be doing are making odd are clear to me.

[Jade]

What's your woc?

[Shanti]

I wanna, I wanna like.

[Jade]

Oh, you trying to.

[Dr. Gina Page]

I wanna be.

[Jade]

Oh, you trying to get full American on them.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Okay. You said the second protects the first bitch.

[Jade]

For real.

[Shanti]

I'm. My dad has been pushing me to get one and I'm like, no, no, no. But then I'm like, oh, this is. This is the folks out on the streets that I would have to contend with.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Possibly.

[Jade]

Let me just tell you something.

[Shanti]

I also have like a little knife too that I I is at the bottom of my bag. So it's teaching me things about like put that in your pocket. Listen.

[Jade]

How to hold it. Yeah.

[Shanti]

No. Has been a blessing. That's revealing. Is it improving my health and my protection. So that snow.

[Jade]

Oh, this ice. These ice mounds. Actually that's actually very good. I haven't had my car dug out either because, you know, I'm not digging it out, but I have not. The car is there because I dropped this to school every day. I'm not coming back here Hunger Games ing it for a parking. No. Like you should see the streets here.

[Shanti]

You're improving their health. Now, because they walking now or they figuring it out.

[Jade]

We have all figured it out. We've had to figure it out. And I also love being among people on the bus. You know what I'm saying? It gives you so much perspective.

[Shanti]

It's true.

[Jade]

You know what I mean? No, it really builds resilience, you know what I'm saying?

[Shanti]

You might need to get a shake. You might need a. Who do you meet? It's. You don't know? Old ladies.

[Jade]

Old lady. I had a lady sit next to me the other day. As soon as she sat down, I. And she's not on the phone, but she's talking to somebody.

[Shanti]

It gives you rage. It gives you perspective. This is a big world I'm in. It ain't just me and my fucked up car.

[Jade]

It's not. And I. And I miss being outside every day. I miss going to work because I realized I was like, all right. That gave me stories, that gave me, like, experience. Experiences. When it's just me, it be me and my thoughts, and y' all don't want that all the time.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Terrible.

[Jade]

All the time.

[Dr. Gina Page]

It gets.

[Jade]

It gets dark over here. You know what I'm saying? I'm like, where. Where's my bow and arrow? Let's get them all. Like, I. You know, so. That is not beneficial to recording podcasts. So. So I am also grateful. Thank you so much for that perspective.

[Shanti]

It's a good thing. Take the shame away. We out in the world, we're amongst the people, we're learning, and we're doing.

[Jade]

The best we can.

[Shanti]

Grateful. When I want to shovel that out, which is going. To listen. It warmed up today, so snow was melting a little bit. Okay.

[Jade]

Okay. I need it, and I need it real bad. I need it real bad.

[Shanti]

Just drive through that slush. That's what I'm waiting for. Until it's slush, I ain't touching it.

[Jade]

Real bad. What I do to take care of myself this week or celebrate myself. I left the house three times in. Well, outside of dropping her to school. I went out and about three different nights in one.

[Shanti]

Oh, you was outside outside.

[Jade]

Unheard of. Do you hear me? I don't like to be outside, but I am grateful for community. It was an important lesson for me this week in being intentional about making sure that I'm like, you know what? Even if it is negative seven outside, when you get inside and you start surrounding yourself with people who, you know, love you sincerely and you. And you forget about all of that, and it doesn't even matter. So all like, what would I have been doing at home watching Bob's burgers, You know what I mean? So I'm really grateful. Happy birthday, Sydney. Sydney Washington is a comedian. You can check out her podcast. Ooh, Message. We went to go celebrate her birthday. I got up with the ladies and we had chili and, and, and wine. And then I got with my old co workers and we had dinner. And they were also like another family. So this is literally three different pockets of community where I felt fed by each one. And I was like, all right. These were all lessons to be more intentional.

[Shanti]

That's good. Being a villager. That's what's up.

[Jade]

You know, that's all. What else am I going to do? Because we need to be villagers right now. Like you said, we got to have our weapons on guard. If they are out here using the pew pews, what good does it do me to not know how to use the pew pew? You know what I'm saying? Like, who am I trying to prove anything to? My integrity is. It goes for a lot of things. Not for that though. So I'm getting with the winning team.

[Shanti]

No, I really, I really feel that way. I feel like we gotta get like survival mode a little bit. You know, just like if it, if that's too, too much, like make sure you know how to punch correctly, make sure you're looking over your shoulder, make sure you like have some sense of defense.

[Jade]

Absolutely.

[Shanti]

Start praying every day. Whatever. It is like being practice and we.

[Jade]

Need soldiers in all areas. Right.

[Shanti]

Amen.

[Jade]

So whatever your area is, get good at it.

[Shanti]

Amen.

[Jade]

And that's. And I'll. And that's what I'll leave you with. And on that note, let's head on over to our petty peeves and clothes. Come on.

[Shanti]

We need some contrast.

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[Shanti]

Okay, I have to tell you, I was just looking on ebay, where I go for all kinds of things I love.

[Jade]

And there it was, that hologram trading card. One of the rarest. The last one I needed for my set.

[Shanti]

Shiny, like this designer handbag of my dreams. One of a kind.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Ebay had it.

[Shanti]

And now everyone's asking, ooh, where'd you.

[Jade]

Get your windshield wipers? Ebay has all the parts that fit my car. No more annoying, just beautiful.

[Shanti]

Millions of finds, each with a story. EBay. Things people love. Country petsy. Petty, Petty. All the same to me playing Jane Spaghetti.

[Jade]

It's time for the petty peeves. You know, I was trying to figure out what I wanted my petty peeve to be this week, and I think it's all of the people who are using the snow as an excuse to disparage our new mayor immediately. Oh, I know. You know what I'm saying. This is Mom Dastan now, and I need it. This is Mamdanistan. And I need to get with the program and also understand that that is one person who is one person coming into a very large position against many odds behind a booger of a human on top of that, because Eric Adams can go to 12 hells. Oh, he can go to 12 hells at the same time. Low, fast, and quick. Like, I hate that nigga. Down to my toenails. I hate that nigga. So imagine coming in behind that type of administration, you trying to clean up. You trying to clean up years of bullshit on top of that. All right? Because it's not just Adams. You got Giuliani's bullshit, you got Bloomberg's bullshit. You got all kinds of niggas bullshit that you're trying to clean up, up. And he's coming in on some. On. On integrity and principles, and you working with a lot of red tape. And so I just want people to not use what the streets are not shoveled enough for that to. To disparage all of the work that this is coming in, trying to do. That's all I'm saying. You know what I'm saying?

[Shanti]

And again, shuffle your own.

[Jade]

Hello.

[Shanti]

Where's the community? Where the block captains at? What the.

[Jade]

Where are the teenagers?

[Shanti]

Petty peeve. Where do y' all are?

[Jade]

Where are the teenagers?

[Shanti]

Knocking on doors, shoveling snow? Where are y' all at in sneakers? Where are you?

[Jade]

Where are you in bubble coats?

[Shanti]

Where are you in bubble coats?

[Jade]

Where are we at? Tristan and his homeboys used to go around. They used to go knocking on doors, Set a price. Shovel and say, all right, we got enough money to go to the party tonight, get some food, grab an outfit. Like, what are y' all doing? Get off in Fortnite.

[Shanti]

I've thought the same thing.

[Jade]

We don't have no teenagers no more. You notice how the children are minimizing?

[Shanti]

They're minimizing.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Yep.

[Jade]

And we. Not we. Mom. Mom. Donna, Stan. He's bringing back summer jobs this year for. He is bringing back summer jobs. So I'm like, bring the teenagers outside. You all are not getting the proper experience.

[Shanti]

Yeah.

[Jade]

What's Jolie doing this? What's she doing? What's she doing this summer?

[Shanti]

She. Well, right now she has an internship at a little fabric museum. My girl before that, she was a co. What do you call that? A CO with your counselor? Who knows? For real? Real rap. I'm training her to come on to Sable. Jolie is going to be under the tent in the heat, slinging rings and.

[Jade]

Things here, as she should.

[Shanti]

So that's what I'm prepping her for. Little does she know.

[Jade]

Good. No. At Noah's age, I was on my uncle's Mr. Softy truck. Serving you soft.

[Shanti]

I was grinding.

[Dr. Gina Page]

You hear me?

[Shanti]

I was out. Who was gonna pay for their beeper? Me. Dasu. Who had to buy all the colored tims and things? Me.

[Jade]

Me.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Y', all.

[Jade]

Who needed a fresh pair of uptowns when they needed a fresh pair of uptowns? Your girl. So I need y'.

[Shanti]

All.

[Jade]

You all get your teenagers out of the house. Get them some jobs. There's plenty of entrepreneurs out here who could use their little able bodied arms and legs and feet. Have you noticed the kids have bigger feet now?

[Shanti]

Bigger feet and. And small. The head shoulder ratio for the boys is small. Yeah, you just got to. Their heads are quite large. The shoulders aren't broad anymore because the responsibilities aren't there.

[Jade]

Yo.

[Shanti]

My dad used to say that that's the type of I was raised you don't can't trust no with weak.

[Jade]

Shoulders they can't handle. They can't hold weak shoulder.

[Shanti]

Yeah big head. You all in your head big headed can't all they do think but they can't hold shoulder the responsibility these wear the broad shoulders at oh my God.

[Jade]

If you I will call this episode little head big Big head. Little shoulders.

[Shanti]

Big ass feet.

[Jade]

Big ass.

[Shanti]

Y' all all out of proportions.

[Jade]

Oh. What's your what's your petty peeve?

[Shanti]

It's connected to snow again. I don't I can't stand to see a clavicle or an ankle in this weather.

[Jade]

Yeah. Yes.

[Shanti]

You out your mind. It's the white folks that are always responsible for it. I can't an exposed head. It's been so cold in 4 degree weather. And I can see your pasty ankles.

[Jade]

Yeah. Yeah. And sneakers in this weather.

[Shanti]

Sneakers.

[Jade]

Sneakers. Low sneakers and ankle socks.

[Shanti]

I don't get it.

[Jade]

My mom said white people don't get cold.

[Shanti]

They don't. They have a What is that?

[Dr. Gina Page]

I don't know.

[Shanti]

Don't bring my mom my mom into it.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Science.

[Shanti]

Well because I answered the caucus mountains in the Appalachian Caucus Mountains. They that's why they came down with everybody because the was just like cold.

[Jade]

They are adapt to this weather. Wait. Does your mother how does she do with cold?

[Shanti]

She my mother Antoinette will know.

[Sponsor Voice]

One.

[Shanti]

Of my friends my friend Jazz came to my house and has never returned. She came to my mom's house once and caught a cold and never returned. My mom would keep 65 68° in the winter.

[Jade]

Are you serious?

[Shanti]

Yeah. So I got it in me but I I it's a trauma mechanism for me cereal that like puffed puff cereal that's not sweetened. Trauma for me and a cold house. No like the puff like they're smacks but not sweetened.

[Jade]

Oh it's just wheat puffs. Deep dive into Shanti's youth.

[Shanti]

I need I wasn't given sugar cereal or nothing. So just cold cold house and unsweetened.

[Jade]

What would your memoir be called? What would I think would that be what it's called? Cold house and unsweetened sugar syrup Wheat.

[Shanti]

Puffs and I can see my breath in the air.

[Jade]

It's going to be calling. I am of 50% African ancestry and so therefore my secret that's what you called every day was a battle in my home. It's my normal My memoir is called Jade, please. That's what it's called. It's called Jade, Please. And then it's just going to be a collection of short stories of all of the bullshit and havoc that I've wreaked on this world.

[Shanti]

And people just. You kind of like Marty Supreme. You like Marty supreme, huh? No, you're not that bad.

[Jade]

Not. Not that. No. No, I'm not really bad. I get a bad rep, but I'm not really. I'm not bad.

[Shanti]

You just got shenanigans. You just got stories to tell.

[Jade]

I just got stories to tell. I end up in situations and circumstances. You know, sometimes I've said things that are probably not the best time to say them. So. Jade, Please will be the title, and again, a collection of short stories. That's a great question.

[Shanti]

I had to think about that. I'm gonna think about my memoir. What would it be?

[Jade]

What would your memoir be? You gotta. I want you to come back as a guest because I need a deep dive.

[Shanti]

That's a good one.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Let me write.

[Shanti]

I have a notebook, too. God damn it.

[Jade]

I love that little notebook. Do they carry that at the Sable Collective?

[Shanti]

No, this is a old.

[Jade]

I forgot the Bible. No, Shanti's Bible.

[Shanti]

Write that down. Jade, please. What's your memoir? These are things. We. We got to think about these things now.

[Jade]

Yeah. I want the rest of you. What's your memoir? What is your memoir?

[Shanti]

Everybody share your memoir, right in. Yeah, I love that. Some. Just short, short poems. Just haikus.

[Jade]

Yes. Yeah. Oh, I had one of those, too, that got stolen. It was a felt notebook. Haikus of poetry that I've written over the years.

[Shanti]

Oh, that's so sweet. Do you have any of it? Because you gotta do a short segment of your poetry.

[Jade]

They broke into my car and stole my. And I never wrote again.

[Shanti]

That's the type of. If I was a thief, though, that's the type. Time I'm. I'm doing. I'm coming to your house, I'm going to your table dresser, and I'm stealing your diaries.

[Jade]

Yes, I'm stealing.

[Shanti]

I'm stealing. Like that and reading it.

[Jade]

Did you ever read Go Ask Alice when you were younger?

[Shanti]

No. Is that a diary?

[Jade]

Do you know what that is?

[Shanti]

Oh, happy birthday.

[Jade]

Oh, my gosh. I'm so sick of these effects. Go Ask Alice was a book. Now, they said later on it was fiction. Nobody can prove it, but it is essentially a notebook, a diary.

[Shanti]

Wait a minute. Did she do. Was there some freaky, like, panties or underwear theme in there?

[Jade]

A child prostitute. She was a drug addict. This Was this took place in the 70s, in the 60s and 70s, and she was a child prostitute and a drug addict. And it was her adventures checking herself into a mental institution, getting locked up, running away from home.

[Dr. Gina Page]

A good reading.

[Shanti]

I want to read your deep talk. I want to read your neuroses. I want to read it.

[Jade]

That's what I'm down.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Yeah. If I'm not feeling.

[Jade]

I also admonish all of you to ask yourself every day. This is a practice I'm doing right now. What am I curious about?

[Shanti]

Oh, that's for days. I love that. So many things.

[Jade]

I know you. What are you curious about again?

[Shanti]

I want to know what people are writing in their diaries.

[Jade]

I do know.

[Shanti]

All types of stuff. Now that you asked me. The question is I'm drawing blank.

[Jade]

But we should start a podcast called what are you? I won't tell your secrets. Okay. Allah, Alicia Keys. And we just have people send us their anonymous diary entries and we read.

[Shanti]

Diaries, and it got to be jade diary entries. Of all years.

[Jade]

Yeah, of all years.

[Shanti]

I have my diary since I was maybe 17 years old. That could be a segment, though, that I just read mine. And that would be very disturbing. You bet. Oh, Shanti, you've been talking about the same forever. I see theme here. Are you ever going to grow out of it?

[Jade]

If. No. If you look at my own, it'd be like White people.

[Shanti]

That is crazy. That's a good idea, though. That's a great idea.

[Jade]

Coming. 2026.

[Shanti]

And then you can do a photo because for some reason I also want to know when. What's in side table drawers? Like, what do you have.

[Jade]

Oh, in there? I won't tell your secrets. Oh.

[Shanti]

And we're just taking pictures.

[Jade]

2026. Y' all are gonna get people's. What are those called? Bedside tables.

[Shanti]

Yeah.

[Jade]

Because that's an intimate place.

[Shanti]

Yeah. What you got in there?

[Jade]

It tells me a lot about you, how you keep your. Like, what's your. What your bedtime table looks like?

[Shanti]

What is your kitchen cabinet look like?

[Jade]

You know, that's a scary place for me.

[Shanti]

For me, too. But some people got that shit all together, and it just.

[Jade]

No, it's where I. Those people are actually the frightening ones.

[Shanti]

Scary people.

[Jade]

There's a. It's like they're the frightening ones. And then the people. I told you earlier, a friend of both of ours who has hard seasoning, or they did at one point in their life, I went in there to season chicken, and you could. It was a block of seasoning, and I said, what Is this is a thing. And all the seasonings were like that. I'm scared of those people and I'm scared of people whose is too organized.

[Shanti]

Too organized. You're not well, your priorities are up.

[Jade]

Yeah. If you're not running a professional kitchen. But. But everything is late. You moved your paprika from one thing to another thing and labeled that. I'm just. I'm like, what you doing?

[Shanti]

What are you trying to. Who are you?

[Jade]

What you doing? What you doing?

[Shanti]

Are you okay? Let me read your diary. You know what I mean? I want to read your neurosis.

[Jade]

You see the same copa of it.

[Dr. Gina Page]

You see.

[Jade]

All right, we're done with you all for the day. Thank you so much for listening to another episode of Getting Grown. Shanti. Thank you so, so, so, so, so much for coming through alley oopin this. This co host with me. Please tell the people all of the different places they can find you.

[Shanti]

You can listen to more of these, you know, existential questions that need to be answered on around the way curls where you listen to all your podcasts except for Spotify. Fuck ice.

[Jade]

Fuck Spotify.

[Shanti]

Long story. Don't look for us there anywhere else but Spotify. You can shop around the way. Oh, excuse me. Shop the Sable [e-mail]. check us out on social media. And that's it.

[Jade]

Make sure you all definitely check out the Sable Collective. You know, I shouted out every favorite things holiday season.

[Dr. Gina Page]

Yes.

[Jade]

And I was so truly one of my favorite but I don't do it Tie skip you is you really put together a very special collection and it's.

[Shanti]

Only getting better this year. I'm not around this year. So excited.

[Jade]

I'm excited. Catch people excited. You all make sure you check out the Sable Collective. Thank you to Dr. Gina Page of Africa ancestry. Gina, Gina changed our minds. Okay. It is very rare somebody comes through and changes my mind in a and a fair swoop of a conversation. And so I'm really grateful for that. And so with that being said, make sure you all drink your water, okay? Stay very hydrated internally. Don't think because it's cold outside that you don't need it. Make sure you moisture. You are minding your business. That's also very, very important in this day and age. Mind your business and your community's business, but not other people's community business because they wallow. And lastly, moisturize yourself. It's negative temperatures outside and your black will crack if it's dry. Bye.

[Shanti]

Hi, I'm Caitlin Coleman, winner of Target's HBCU Design Challenge. This challenge moved me closer to my.

[Sponsor Voice]

Dream of becoming a fashion designer. Through mentorship and support, you can find.

[Shanti]

My design, along with creations from other Black founders, in Target's Black History Month collection.