Kerry Washington

Washington in 2011, photo by Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

Birth Name: Kerry Marisa Washington

Place of Birth: The Bronx, New York City, New York, U.S.

Date of Birth: January 31, 1977

Ethnicity: African-American, African-Jamaican [African, as well as some English, Scottish, Native American]

Kerry Washington is an American actress, producer, and director. She is known for her roles in the films Our Song, Save the Last Dance, Bad Company (2002), The Human Stain, Against the Ropes, She Hate Me, Ray (2004), Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Fantastic Four (2005), and its sequel; Little Man, The Last King of Scotland, The Dead Girl, I Think I Love My Wife, Miracle at St. Anna, Lakeview Terrace, Life Is Hot in Cracktown, Mother and Child, Night Catches Us, for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, The Details, A Thousand Words, Django Unchained, Peeples, Cars 3, in voice role; American Son (as well as the play that inspired it); The Prom (2020), and The School for Good and Evil; on the series Scandal and Little Fires Everywhere; and in the made-for-tv movie Confirmation.

She is the daughter of Valerie (Moss), an educational consultant and professor, and Earl Washington, a real estate broker. Kerry was conceived via sperm donor, something she only discovered as a 41 year-old in 2018. Her biological father was black. Earl Washington is from an African-American family. Her mother’s family is Jamaican, from St. Elizabeth, of mostly African-Jamaican background. A picture of Kerry with her parents can be seen below.

Kerry is married to professional football player, actor, and producer Nnamdi Asomugha, with whom she has two children. Nnamdi’s family is Nigerian, of Igbo background.

In an article at Standard.co.uk, Kerry stated about her background:

My mother comes from a mixed-race background but from Jamaica, so she is partly English and Scottish and native American, but also descended from African slaves in the Caribbean. My [legal] dad’s family is four or five generations Brooklyn-based, but before that from South Carolina, and we are not sure which members of his family were slaves and which were free blacks.

One of Kerry’s grandmothers is named Isabelle.

Sources: https://www.nytimes.com
https://people.com

44th Annual NAACP Image Awards - Arrivals

Kerry with her parents Earl and Valerie in 2013; photo by Prphotos

ethnic

Curious about ethnicity

124 Responses

  1. mids says:

    I just think that her rather narrow, and portruded nose which is rather uncharacteristic of the negroid subcategory of the human race indicates that she is a mixture of more than that of black subsaharan African descent

    • fridays says:

      “which is rather uncharacteristic of the negroid”. I am sick and tired of people who are clearly uneducated about black people and Africa saying what is ‘characteristic’ of black Africans. If you look at pictures of black women in Ethiopia, Somalia, and some parts of Nigeria and Kenyan, you will see FULL BLOODED black African women and men with thin noses, narrow faces, and thin lips. Just look at African models Iman and Liya Kedebe with their thin lips, narrow noses, and long faces. White people do not have a monopoly on those features, just like Asians don’t have a monopoly on slanted eyes (there are PLENTY of black Nigerians and Ghanians with folded eyelids as well as some white Europeans) and blacks do not have a monopoly on very dark skin, wide noses and nappy hair (plenty of southeast Asians and Somoans/Polynesians with dark skin, nappy hair, and wide noses).

      • fuzzybear44 says:

        That’s why I keep telling people that Caucasian,doesn’t mean your white.As you just stated,(black Africans as they are called),have multiple phenotypes

        • Multiethnicchick says:

          Black Africans of the negroid category have broad noses, tightly coiled hair and thick lips. That is what a black African person is characterized with. Black people are just in denial about having any other ancestry because of stupid racist pride

          • fuzzybear44 says:

            @Multiethnicchick

            So what if they don’t fit that mold,their not black Africans?Is that the only model for a black African to you?I’ve talked to East Africans I know personally,who didn’t fit that stereotype,yet say they are the truest black people(your going to tell them,their not black people)?

            (Black people are just in denial about having any other ancestry because of stupid racist pride)

            I haven’t notice a black people on this site,who is mixed with something else,who hasn’t stated it.You say it’s stupid racist pride,what about when the white people on here do it.The second you mention a white celebrity has or might have black blood,they throw a tantrum.Yet i don’t see you saying anything to them,about stupid racist pride.Every group is guilty of stupid pride,not just the black people.Even you are guilty of it, like when you called Paula an idiot.You took offense because Paula in your eyes didn’t take pride in being Multi-ethnic like you,so therefore she had to be an idiot.

      • Multiethnicchick says:

        Your uneducated. Ethiopians and Somalians are mixed with Arab and Caucasian Jewish ancestry. And people with noses that narrow in Nigeria and Kenya probably aren’t native to that region or are mixed with other “Racial” groups of humans that might be living there.

        • fuzzybear44 says:

          Only one group of Ethiopians has anything to do with Jews,and only a few out of the 80-100 different ethnic affiliations has arab blood.The amount of affiliations is based on a ( Documentary film in 2002)The rest that are arab,are that by culture only.Now as I have often stated,Africa was a highway for thousands of yrs.However that being said, Ethiopians and Somalians are predominantly of african stock.Now no one is native to any region,everyone migrated to where they are.Oral traditon says ZULU’s were in North Africa,where are they now?Also there is no proof that the those people of Nigeria and Kenya with narrow noses,got it from anything other than natural adaptation.Slanted eyes is a very common trait in Africa.Are you saying that all those affiliations left and came back?True Asians have been coming to Africa for a long time now,but I don’t think all those Africans are mixed with Asians.Maybe it’s just a trait they got,the same way Asians got theirs

    • fridays says:

      Just like White Europeans from Italy can look different from those in Ireland or Sweden, there is a HUGE variety of looks when it comes to black Africans as well. Blacks from Eastern African countries tend to have a different (thin noses, long faces, small eyes, and thin lips) look than those from West African nations (wider noses, rounder face, fuller lips, and higher frequency of a folded/slanted eyelid) and they look different from those in South Africa.

      • Multiethnicchick says:

        Yeah because East Africans are mixed with Caucasian, please do your research

        • fuzzybear44 says:

          @ Multiethnicchick

          Caucasian is just a phenotype,that was around thousands of years,before the pale skin mutation showed up,on the faces of black people(umbrella term).Also they’re about 100 different ethnic affiliations in Ethiopia alone,only a few have mixed with arabs. Now as for the other east Africans with the Caucasoid phenotype,they’ve been shown to have no outside influence

          • Multiethnicchick says:

            Yes they do have outside influence because to have Caucasian phenotypes one must have caucasian influence

          • fuzzybear44 says:

            @Multiethnicchick

            (Yes they do have outside influence because to have Caucasian phenotypes one must have caucasian influence)

            Ok here’s my question for you.Since the Caucasoid phenotype,is only about 40k yrs old,and people migrated out Africa about 65k yrs ago,who did they mix with to get said phenotype?I mean who did Negroids mix with to get their phenotype?Who did the Mongoloid mix with?Or did these traits come about through natural adaptation .Now if it is from natural adaptation that these traits came about,and Africa having all these the different environmental conditions (from snow to the desert).Could said traits have developed independently,and migrated its way outward?

  2. tahjae says:

    check out the beautiful black women iin ethipoia, kenya, and nigeria you will be like wow!! and they model types. im so glad i caught a beauty queen for kenya africa yeeessssssssss!!

  3. K says:

    Lol no they dont.

  4. Shell Mangiacavallo says:

    I’m kind of surprised she’s not part hispanic. I guess she can just speak spanish. I also saw her play latina roles. I guess that was just because she could speak spanish.

  5. Diamond says:

    No comments? lol I guess folks are disappointed. She’s a Black girl, who’s beautiful. Yes, they exist… in abundance.

    • me says:

      who is saying that no there are beautiful black women? these are typical racist comments.

      • anon says:

        Trust me people say that a lot about non-white people. Racist ppl on this site can’t fathom the thought of a beautiful woman or man of color. They always have to be mixed with white or Hispanic or something. This doesn’t just go for African Americans but for everyone. It’s sad.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.