First I Traced Back My Root, Now I Use DNA To Trace African Roots For Others

It was happening so much. Over a period of about two weeks that I started waking up at the side of my bed, writing words down. One day I looked up one or two of the words. Some of the words was the same word in different languages like ‘Iwa’ is a word in Igbo and Yoruba right but then all of the other words as it turned out were Yoruba words.

This was before my DNA actually confirmed that I am Yoruba. After my DNA confirmed it. And I did seven years of record research to connect with the Olumo family in Lagos, Nigeria.

That all goes to show that, the ancestors, they are alive. They live in the blood. And at some point they call you They called me and then I came back.

So, what does IPADA Initiative mean to you because you are an IPADIAN As it is…

Yeah, I like the term IPADA or IPADIANS what that means to me it means freedom to me, because to have a movement like this, and to have our platform, Tribal Tapestry feeding into a movement like this, is freedom. Because if you don’t know your identity. Its a vacuum. I should say when you find your identity then you set yourself free. But to be able to actually come home and embrace that freedom, and have a platform where you can buy houses and take tours, in the areas that you actually come from and actually connect with your tribe, that’s a great sense of self empowerment. freedom and liberation.

Why do you think Africans in the Diaspora need IPADA?

I think we need IPADA to really allow people to embrace the highest aspect of their African self and to be able to express that.

Do you really think it’s possible that Africans abroad in the Diaspora will embrace IPADA and come home and make an impact here?

I do think so. I think so, I’ve shared my story with a lot of African Americans in the Diaspora. And a lot of them have said to me, “You know what, we need to take you and multiply you times 20 million. You know because they said if there were 20 million of us in the US that were as connected to their tribes the way you are, things would change. You know, and then they say you need to make a platform and that’s why we work on the Travel Tapestry and IPADA Initiative is just that missing link. If we integrate that with our platform, that would be a perfect movement.

What will be the benefit of that integration?

The benefit is that, if you look at most DNA companies, they do a test for you. However, we go beyond that, in several regions, we go and check the type of tapestry. We don’t just give you a region but we give you your tribe and from there we integrate you. Integration is coming in large part through IPADA.

Knowing where you are from and going there to meet the people is very important and that is what i did. People want to do what I have done. you know I didn’t just say I am Yoruba, I became a Yoruba man. That is what we want to do, we want to restore the identity that was stolen from 56 million people in one country, tens of million people in the Diaspore. We want to restore that identity, we want to be able to say you can become an Igbo man or woman, or from Sierra Leone or whatever the case may be.

You’ve met the founder of IPADA Initiative and IPADA Carnival, Otunba Olawanle Akinboboye. What can you say about him?

Oh, I actually need 3 hours to answer that question genuinely, and I don’t know how much space we have for this interview (laughs). Meeting the founder has been a profound experience and I feel a deep personal connection to him and when I hear him speak I feel like it is a version of my own self in the future, talking, reverberating and talking right back to me.

Yesterday I walked around here, i felt very inspired after our meeting because I said to him, “look at what you did 40 years ago at 26, sitting in the forest. 40 years ago. At 26 years sitting in the forest and you manifested this?

And it gave me deep inspiration because our energy has connected and as it was meant to be, this is what the tapestry movement will look like in 40 years, because this is very challenging to create, you know it is very challenging, some people tried to stop it. So it’s being very inspirational yes it just gives me hope for the future of what could be done down the road in 40 years when we join forces, how that could change the tapestry of our people around the world you know, because let’s look at the US in 20 years white people in the US becoming a minority race for the first time in the US, the popular American population is growing. That’s the world that I see in 40 years and I think about that number all the time.

It’s a world where at least 30 million of the 56 million African Americans, the Americans will then say, what are you? You relky, “I am Mende, I am Hausa.” And they dress according to their tribe and white people perceive them as what they truly are? And that’s power. That’s power, when you tap into it. Tap into where you come from, something activates inside of your spirituality and it changes everything around you. Everything around you. For example in the US a few months ago, I walked into a casino. I live in Nevada so there are casinos there. And I had on my all white attire it is a long kind of flowing gown and I was going to an event at the Nigerian Association and I decided to put on an African garment.

Right there outside, just a lot of white people. and some of them racist kind of, so I walked into this casino. And one of the most racist looking white guy, you know what they look like. He sees me approaching the door and he comes out of the door and he closes the door and he’s got all his tattoos. He’s got a confederate flag on his shirt. He’s racist.

He held the door for me to go through, and he just kind of looked at me, for a moment. And when I got through I heard him say something. So, I turned and said i thought you said something.

He asked, where are you from? And I said I am Nigerian and he says, oh you look so powerful. I think I’ve seen that somewhere. I said, thank you and kept going but that’s what happens when you tap into where you come from? And what you come from meaning the spirituality of your people.

What do you think about the venue of IPADA Carnival, La CampagneTropicana Beach Resort?

This venue is beautiful. This is Perfection. It’s like having a hotel in the Garden of Eden that’s this venue. You know the rooms are nice. I took some videos today I mean. Domestic animals right outside of the door. This is peaceful. And that’s what this venue is, like having a slice in heaven.

Your advice to Africans in the Diaspora, and friends of Africa, about IPADA?

My advice to them about IPADA is that they should Pgo where they are treated best and I think you can find that here.

Otunba Olawanle Akinboboye (left) with Jon James Olumo