Laverne Cox
Cox in 2019, photo by DFree/Bigstock.com
Place of Birth: Mobile, Alabama, U.S.
Date of Birth: May 29, 1972
Ethnicity: African-American
Laverne Cox is an American actress and LGBTQ+ advocate. She is the first openly transgender woman to receive a Primetime Emmy nomination in acting, and the first to appear on the cover of Time magazine.
She was raised by her single mother, Gloria Cox, and grandmother. Her twin brother is composer, performer, and artist M Lamar (Reginald Lamar Cox). Laverne grew up in the AME Zion church.
Laverne’s maternal grandfather was J. P. Cox (the son of Henry C. Cox and Ada L. Jackson). J. P. was born in Alabama. Henry was the son of Emmanuel Cox and Ann Scruggs. Ada was the daughter of Calvin Jackson and Tamar Johnson.
Laverne’s maternal grandmother was Emma Jane “Madea” Jones (the daughter of A. C. Jones and Winnie McGuire). Emma was born in Alabama. Winnie was the daughter of George Washington McGuire and Georgianna/Georgiana Banks.
An AncestryDNA test whose results were displayed on the show Who Do You Think You Are? (2018) stated that Laverne’s genetic ancestry is:
*22% Benin/Togo
*20% Nigeria
*17% Africa Southeastern Bantu
*16% Mali
*9% Senegal
*4% Cameroon/Congo
*3% Africa South-Central Hunter-Gatherers
*3% Scandinavia
*2% Ireland/Scotland/Wales
*1% Finland/Northwest Russia
*1% Ivory Coast/Ghana
*<1% Europe East
*<1% Caucasus
Source: Genealogy of Laverne Cox – https://www.geni.com
She was part of a Finding Your Roots episode, though I can’t remember much from it aside from the fact that they did at least one of her mother’s lines.
That’s incorrect. Maybe you’re thinking of Janet Mock.
Nope. What happened is that I mixed up the shows. Laverne was on Who Do You Think You Are which I’d mistake for Finding Your Roots.
https://ew.com/tv/2018/05/18/laverne-cox-who-do-you-think-you-are/
Ah, alright.