Malachi Kirby
Kirby in 2016, photo by Prphotos
Birth Name: Malachi Lloyd Kirby
Place of Birth: Wandsworth, London, England, U.K.
Date of Birth: 20 September, 1989
Ethnicity: Jamaican [African, evidently about one fourth South Asian]
Malachi Kirby is a British actor and writer. His roles include television’s Roots (2016), Black Mirror, and Small Axe: Mangrove.
Malachi has stated:
I’m basically second-generation Jamaican. I don’t know my history past my grandparents. Kunta Kinte’s strength and his ability to hold on to his identity comes because he knows it, and it just kept speaking to me – I don’t know mine. At some point, my ancestry goes back to Africa … but I don’t know where or who.
Malachi’s mother’s surname is Thomas. He is a practising Christian.
A DNA test taken by Malachi stated that his genetic ancestry is:
*75% West African
*21% South Asian
*1.8% European
I was born in London as a second-generation Jamaican and I always believed … that I would have ancestry from West Africa. There was something that drew me to that area, but I had nothing to back that. The DNA testing people sent me a bottle, I spat in it and they told me where I come from: I’m 75 percent West African, which didn’t surprise me and gives me confidence now. I also found out that I’m 21 percent Asian, which was interesting, and I’m 1.8 percent European. I hope to do more research to find out specifically where in West Africa I came from.
https://nypost.com/2016/05/26/roots-stars-dna-revelation/amp/
Interesting… so he might have a Chinese-Jamaican grandparent
“so he might have a Chinese-Jamaican grandparent” – That is most likely. But there are also a lot of Western and South Asians descendants in Jamaica too.
Agreed. He has said in other interviews that his Asian roots are “South Asian”. I’m guessing Indian.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3619005/Meet-Malachi-Kirby-South-London-star-Roots-mini-series-set-big-British-export-Hollywood.html
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/malachi-kirby-i-couldnt-stop-crying-just-shivering-and-crying-30zhgd2vs