What if you grew up not knowing your biological family?
As an adoptee from a closed adoption, that was my experience. I loved my adoptive parents, but was missing a part of myself. Not knowing my biological parents was a strange truth I skirted around, and tried to ignore.
And as a biracial woman, I knew that whoever my Black ancestors were, they were probably stolen from Africa. Even if I could identify that side of the family, I would never know my African lineage.
In my late 20s, I contacted my biological mother. But my birth father was still an unknown. Decades later, consumer DNA testing changed everything. I first tested simply to find out which African countries were in my genetic code. But over time, I successfully identified my Black biological father, a man I never thought I would know.
Now I had all the pieces of the puzzle. I decided to travel to the places my ancestors were from, weaving parts of myself back together. These include Virginia, South Carolina, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ireland, Scotland, Sicily, Albania, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Rwanda, Senegal and Nigeria. Along the way, I am exploring hidden family stories, Black history, the legacy of slavery, the immigrant experience, the complexities of adoption and being multiracial – and ultimately my own identity.
In this newsletter I share personal reflections, travel stories and audio clips from the road - offering a glimpse of what I'm experiencing and discovering. I hope to inspire you to uncover hidden family histories and embark on your own heritage travel adventures to deepen your sense of identity and rootedness.
Along with being a writer and web designer, I’m also a travel podcaster known as Jet Set Lisette, host of the award-winning Globetrotter Lounge Podcast.
I hope you’ll join me on this journey.
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