Brandy Norwood
Brandy Norwood in 2011, s_bukley / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Brandy Rayana Norwood
Place of Birth: McComb, Mississippi, U.S.
Date of Birth: February 11, 1979
Ethnicity: African-American
Brandy Norwood, also credited simply as Brandy, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She has starred in the films Cinderella (1997) and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998).
Brandy is the daughter of Sonja (Bates) and Willie Norwood (William Ray Norwood), a gospel singer. Her brother is singer and actor Ray J. She is also known as Bran’Nu and B Rocka.
Brandy has a daughter with her former partner, record producer, composer, songwriter, and musician Big Bert.
Brandy’s paternal grandfather was W. T. Norwood (the son of Ray Norwood and Kitty Triplett). W. T. was born in Mississippi. Ray likely was the son of Martha Norwood. Kitty was the daughter of Dock Triplett and Mary F. Haynes.
Brandy’s paternal grandmother was Cecile/Cecil Friday (the daughter of Reuben Friday and Mattie Crosby). Cecile was born in Mississippi. Reuben was the son of Jack Friday and Maggie. Mattie was the daughter of Henry Crosby and Lizzie Metts.
Brandy’s maternal grandfather is Fred “Freddie” Bates (the son of Eugene W. Bates and Genora/Geornia Day). Fred was born in Mississippi. Through this line, Brandy is a first cousin, once removed, of blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter Bo Diddley. Eugene and Genora were Bo’s paternal grandparents.
Brandy’s maternal grandmother is named Mary Thompson. Two of Brandy’s great-great-grandparents were named Elijah Thompson and Delsey/Dolsy Marsalis.
She is said to be a cousin of rapper Snoop Dogg and professional wrestler Sasha Banks.
Sources: Brandy’s paternal grandmother, Cecile/Cecil Friday, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Obituary of Brandy’s paternal grandmother, Cecile/Cecil (Friday) Norwood – https://www.newspapers.com
Monolid eyes are not an “Asian” trait. Many ethnicities, including black Africans, have monolid eyes with no relation to people of Asia. Educate yourself, people.
My family is from the same region of Mississippi/Louisiana as Brandy. McComb, MS is literally on the edge of Louisiana. We are black Americans but most of us have received comments about how we “look partially Asian”. These claims were always met with confusion because as far as we knew we were black (at least mostly) and that’s it. As an adult when I look at some of my family members, especially the older ones they definitely look a bit “blasian”.
I recently took a DNA test and discovered that I have African, European, and distant Native American and Filipino ancestry. African, European, and Native were expected but the Asian ancestry was baffling because I have never heard a single story of an Asian ancestor. There are also not many Asian people in or from that region.
Upon further investigation I discovered that a large group of Filipino men settled in Louisiana in the late 1700s and eventually mixed with native Americans, black Americans and white Americans. They are known as the “Manila Men”. Turns out a large portion of Southern Americans have Filipino ancestry as a result f this settlement.
I am thinking that Brandy has a distant Filipino ancestor somewhere in her family tree. Many black people from Mississippi and Louisiana look similar to her.
More info on the “Manila Men” settlement:
https://www.pbs.org/ancestorsintheamericas/time_06.html
YouTube video about the “Manila Men”:
https://youtu.be/ssyNqt_ejts
This is super interesting.
Really depends on the two major commercial DNA test. It seems 23andMe finds trace “Asian” results for a lot of African Americans aside from Indigenous American. While I’m sure this certain region of America might have an explanation for it, too many African Americans who have ancestry from all the South for it to mostly be measuring actual “Asian” ancestry.
I’ve done both tests, and trust AncestryDNA’s trace regions more. I got nearly 1% of various East and Southeast Asian trace regions on 23andMe. If you have something “exotic” in your line as an African American, it’s usually passed down orally.
Long story short, for MOST African Americans, these trace results are almost certainly noise, or measuring something else like indigenuous ancestry.
Why does having Asian ancestry have to be “exotic”? It was only surprising to me. I dont consider this “exotic” or even that big of a deal.
For the record I did not take a 23andme ancestry DNA test. I would also like to point out that black AND white Americans that live along or who have family from the Gulf Coast (from Florida to Texas) are seeing Filipino ancestry show up on DNA reports in varying degrees. I have not seen many reports of Filipino (specifically) ancestry from Americans from South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia or people who have lived along the Atlantic Coast.
With all due respect, you are not a geneticist. Just because my DNA results make you uncomfortable for whatever reason, does not make them false or “just noise”.
My comment wasn’t directed at your specific case, but at the idea that this is more common than it actually is. You’re not a geneticist, so I’m not sure why you thought that was some kind of interesting retort.
I saw this pic of her and was convinced she was half East Asian.
https://images.app.goo.gl/a1q84i6cRz4K7TKH8
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNRN-3J1
Freddie was the son of Eugene W. Bates and Genora Day.
Bo Diddley is sometimes said to be her third cousin. Also, Snoop Dogg is sometimes said to be her related to her.
This might be her grandmother:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMBH-2JR
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VYL5-NTT
Online trees say Bo Diddley’s paternal grandparents were Eugene Bates and Genora Day. That would make Brandy his first cousin once removed, not third cousin.
Is she nigerian?