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.
She has said that her mother is a cousin of U.S. General and Secretary of State Colin Powell.
One of Kerry’s grandmothers is named Isabelle.
Sources: https://www.nytimes.com
https://people.com
Kerry with her parents Earl and Valerie in 2013; photo by Prphotos
@Dogg your numbers are InFLATED most African Americans fall into the 0 to 13% range.
Of white admixture. But who really cares???? Theyre still majority Africans still. Theres no point arguing about percentages created by tape in slavery
Midor you’re ignorant as hell. Her mother would stick out like a sore thumb in a crowd of people straight out of SS Africa. Even Kerry looks very white influenced Though idk if that’s her natural state.
And stop with the whole black people are diverse. They are but there are some features that don’t come with them and some features that are obviously from admixture.
This is a perfect example of what’s I was talking about on the Beyonce post. You all like to single her out and call her “mixed race”, when she’s not. She has the same roots as of us black americans. White and Native American. No different.
That still makes you mixed. Most African Americans are MIXED with white, and 1 out of every 20 AA are mixed with Native American. You might choose to identify with only one race, but that doesn’t change your ancestry.
@angrygirl19 I am convinced that to ignorant people, every attractive black woman no matter how black she is , is considered “mixed”. Black and attractive for a female simply cannot go together.
It’s not ignorant if it’s the truth. Why can’t you just accept that African-Americans have European ancestry?
Amen
@Dogg whats the point of arguing over whether someone is 15 or 50% white???? You are still black , look black and will be treated as black. Whats the point?
Who cares??? Honestly evryone in the world is mixed in the past. if your parents are not two different races why bother? You are black, even if you have past mixture and will be treated that way.
I’m not a racist, but I rarely find non-mixed black women attractive. That’s just my personal taste.
@Dogg, I am sure you would find non mixed black women very attractive but the American media purposely shuts them out. Its like people want to hide the fact that there are many many super attractive non mixed black women.
You should see the Tyra Banks post. Both her parents are black, her DNA results came out 80% African but the comments are saying she should still identify as mixed.
she is pretty and to me she look african american but Midori29 but if people say that someone look mixed or have white in them its not mean that full black is not beautiful….
Yes here is a pic of Kerri Washingtons parents, they look like regular old black people
http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-moms/news/kerry-washington-my-mom-cried-about-my-acting-career-2014259
She’s got a huge forehead.
lmfao i agree. she’s not even that pretty, she’s hella average. there’s prettier black women than her. idk why they hype her up for some reason. meagan good looks better than her.
AT LAST!!!!!! Someone speaks the truth. Kerry’s mother is very light-skinned and West Indian, so she is mixed. Most West Indians and Latin Americans ( dark and light-skinned )- especially Trini’s, Bajans and Guyanese are mixed. Trinidad had settlers from at least a dozen countries. Within this small island, everyone mixed freely and sometimes re-mixed with blacks further down the family tree. As a result, even some dark-skinned citizens have non-African/Black ancestors. However, the truth is that so many of these black actresses have (ethnic) plastic surgery that people tend to forget what they look like naturally. You have to look at old High School yearbooks, older music videos, older movies, etc. to be reminded about how these women ( and sometimes men ) really looked. Many black actresses ( for example, the bi-racial Halle Berry ) have lightened their skin, had obvious nose jobs, etc.. There is a childhood photo of Alicia Keys that shows that her natural nose was very wide. Kerry Washington’s complexion and nose has changed over time also. It’s not just studio lighting and photo-shopping; it’s also plastic surgery. Also, hair weaves, wigs, chemical hair processing, etc. tend to give these actresses a less African look at times. Beyonce’s nose, skin color and lips have changed. It does not matter that her mother is mixed. Beyonce has obviously undergone changes as a result of cosmetic changes. You have to look at these celebrities, their parents and other blood relations in their NATURAL state to really know their ethnic mix. You cannot assume that someone is vey mixed because they are light-skinned. Sometimes, the skin color is a result of chemical peels and fade creams- this has been going on for a very long time. I believe that skin lighteners that can be ingested ORALLY also exist. Also, just because someone is darker-skinned does not mean that they are not mixed. Some mixed Blacks/African-Americans/West-Indians, etc. have the full spectrum of shades in their family. One has to look at that person’s natural hair texture and phenotype- not just the skin color. For example, if one sibling is light-skinned and the other is not, it DOES NOT mean that one is mixed and the other is not. if they both have the same parents, they are both mixed. Take a look at Tyra Banks original nose, Kelly Rowland’s original nose, Cicely Tyson’s original nose and complexion, Aaliyah’s original nose and complexion, etc., etc.. Everyone should look at older footage and photos of celebrities and their blood relations before trying to guess their ethnicity.
Being light skin doesn’t make you mixed ! LOL Smh ! the ignorance erh! :/ since when light skin means you mixed?? And Im born and Breed West indian
Dumbass bitch! How the fuck you think light skinned black people got their light skin??? Of course they have white in them and are mixed. Haven’t you ever heard of a multigenerational mixed person? Educate yourself, idiot!!
A MGM person may have had great grandparents or grandparents who were mixed, but identified as black. Therefore if they reproduced with other black people, their offspring became MGM’s.
Sometimes the mixed ancestors of MGM’s married other light skinned or mixed Blacks and therefore, their offspring carry traits from both their non-African and African ancestors for generations, even though the mixing occurred generations prior. Cape Verdeans, some Louisiana Creoles, Basters, and some ethnic black-Americans are often MGM’s.
Actually, African people have the most diverse phenotype because it is the oldest, which is why you can get all other colors from black and not the other way around. You don’t have to be mixed with anything when you have African blood to come out looking like another race. This fact is already known in the black community because we know that black/African people come in all shades.
Yes but people of african descent in America or in the west indies are of WEST african descent and west african people are dark-skinned and not light skinned like ethiopians for example so yes, light-skinned african-americans or jamaicans etc. Are MIXED deal with it.
@WTF black african people can be light skinned without European race admixture. Black Africans go from midnight tar to Cafe au Lait, light brown.
@WTF, you are very confused . I think you need to hang out with more black peoples.
If you make that arguement about blacks , you had better make the same arguement about Southern European meddittaranean whites. You can say they have olive skin form admixture. Everyone is mixed.
@historybuff who actually cares, most blacks are mixed anyhow and I am carribean descent too.
Honestly, I hate the fact that when these black celebs get famous they have to bring up all of this past generational admixture, from like 200 yeas ago. Keyy Washington is a black woman period. Everyone is mixed far back and NO she does not have a white grandparent. All black Carribeans have the same admixture in the 200 year ago past because of slavery. I have it myself but if someone asks , I am 100% black. But I have white and native american. It gets so annoying that people just cant be black. I mean if you have black parents and grandparents, you are black. She wants to be whiter than she is obviously. It sends a really bad message and self loathing.
Her mother looks white and she has european features
@Samirraa many 100% Africans are light with so called European features, everyone came out of Africa. Africans owned these features first.
You’re an idiot. It’s funny you swear all light skin people are mixed and my sister and I have the same Mother and Father she’s light skin and I’m brown skin. Now here’s where it get tricky, she has the kinkiest hair in the whole family while I have the “mixed” curly fine texture. I’ve gotten the “what are you mixed with?” question far more than she has, but according to you she’s the mixed one.
@Samiraa, I guess all whites with olive skin are mixed too. If true blacks cannot have light skin then true whites cannot have olive skin.
Her mother in NO WAY looks white, you lie. Here we go again, no pretty black woman in Hollywood can just be black. it shows the insecurity of some non-black peoples.
Her parents
http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-moms/news/kerry-washington-my-mom-cried-about-my-acting-career-2014259
African-Americans have on average 20% European ancestry. Some can have up to 50% European ancestry. I wouldn’t call a person who is 50% European “black”.
@Dogg at 50 percent mixture, you have a black parent, so Yes you can take the ancestry of your black parent and call yourself Black, yes you are allowed to do so.