Ludacris

Ludacris in 2008, Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com

Birth Name: Christopher Brian Bridges

Place of Birth: Champaign, Illinois, U.S.

Date of Birth: September 11, 1977

Ethnicity: African-American, as well as small amount of Native American

Ludacris is an American recording artist/rapper, entrepreneur, and actor. He got his first major break in 2000, with his album Back for the First Time, and stars in The Fast and the Furious films. He is also known as Chris Lova Lova, Luda, Velvet Jones, and Bronze Bridges.

He was born in Champaign, Illinois, to African-American parents, Roberta Shields and Wayne Brian Bridges. He moved to Atlanta, Georgia, with his family in his high school years. According to Ludacris’s family stories, one of his great-great-grandfathers was a white Jewish man who was said to be named Luther Smith. It is not clear if Ludacris’s Jewish ancestry has been verified.

Ludacris is married to Gabonese model Eudoxie Mbouguiengue. He has four children, including a daughter with Tamika Fuller; and two with Eudoxie. Ludacris has acquired Gabonese citizenship.

Ludacris’s paternal grandfather was Otha Paris Bridges (the son of Thomas H. Bridges and Augusta Cheek). Otha was born in North Carolina. Thomas was the son of Peter Bridges and Terra/Terry Cross. Augusta was the daughter of Hugh R. Cheek and Mary J. Davis.

Ludacris’s paternal grandmother was Mary Christine Davis (the daughter of William Ernest Davis and Mary Cassie Lewis). William was the son of Robert Davis and Maria Cunningham.

Ludacris’s maternal grandfather was Robert Edward Shields, Sr. (the son of William Shields and Mamie Jackson).

Ludacris’s maternal grandmother was Juanita Irene Craig (the daughter of William G. Craig and Bertha Cheatham Motley). Juanita was born in Illinois. William was the son of William A. Craig, who was of African-American and Native American descent, and Nancy. Bertha was the daughter of Luther Baker Smith and Stella Motley.

Ludacris is a cousin of singer Monica‘s stepfather.

Ludacris is also a second cousin, once removed, of comedian and actor Richard Pryor. Ludacris’s maternal great-great-grandparents, William A. Craig and Nancy, were also the maternal great-grandparents of Richard Pryor.

Sources: Genealogies of Ludacris – http://www.geni.com
http://www.wikitree.com

Ludacris’s paternal grandfather, Otha Paris Bridges, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Ludacris’s maternal great-great-grandfather, William A. Craig, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org

ethnic

Curious about ethnicity

36 Responses

  1. andrew says:

    According to Geni.com his third great-grandfather was Native American (https://www.geni.com/people/Unknown-Catawba-Cross/6000000032045512305?through=6000000031903947615) and Martha Craig was the illegitimate daughter of a white father and a black mother.

  2. LOL says:

    Holy sh1t LOL I didn’t know he had Native American blood in him

  3. Patrick says:

    I’ve noticed that many African Americans also have some Native American in them. That’s very interested indeed.

  4. MochaLadyMJJ says:

    Wow, I’ve been reading comments for a lot of celebrities on this site for a few weeks or so, quietly spectating, and passively giving a thumbs-up here or a thumbs-down there. But, now I feel it’s time to speak my own piece on this whole race issue…Race is a social construction formed by humans to seperate people for social and political reasons, i.e., creating a superior vs. inferior social hierarchy for the benefit of one group and the expense of the “other” group. Nationality simply refers to what part of the world we are from. I can be a Black British woman from the UK if I happen to have majority “Black” ancestry and also live in the UK. A White man can be a White South African if he has majority European blood but happens to live in South Africa. We are usually categorized within a race based on the most salient phenotypical traits we express along with our direct ancestry…Ok…I’m pretty sure that each and every person, especially in a place with a diverse populace such as America, has ancestors who have come from different parts of the world. However, majority of ancestors, if not almost all of them, probably represented more of a specific “race” over others. I am a Black woman who was born in and resides in America, so I’m Black or African-American or whatever other label society has put on me. This means that MAJORITY of my genetic lineage passed from both parents is majority, but not solely, African if I were to trace my lineage of ancestors as far back as possible. Race CANNOT put us in a box, however. Just cuz I’m categorized as a Black American doesn’t mean that I’ve never had a White or Asian or Native American or Hispanic ancestor. I have medium-brown skin, jet black curly thick long hair, full lips, a semi long-wide nose, dimples, and tight eyes. Looking at me would probably give you the impression that I’m Black with some close Native-American ancestry. The other hints of ancestry are simply distantly obscured. It’s almost impossible to pinpoint EVERY single race or ethnicity you or any celebrity is made of, in most cases where ancestors were displaced during slavery and trading and broken families. Now, some White ppl may not wanna read this, but they most likely don’t have homogenous blood of only European ancestry – The other tinges of ethnic ancestry may be so small that they are not obvious nor detected, and are thus obscured to the point that a White person may look “purely” White. However, due to history of slavery and trading and interracial copulation, even “White” ppl may have an undetectable tinge of non-European blood from a single distant obscure ethnic ancestor. Just like ppl with MAJORITY indirect African ancestry are considered Black, ppl with MAJORITY indirect European ancestry are considered White. This should not imply pure ancestry or pure blood so to speak. “Biracial” or “mixed” ppl, IMO, are ppl who have parents who are considered TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT RACES, i.e. Black-White, White-Asian, Black-Asian, Asian-White, Hispanic-Black, Hispanic-White parents, and so on. I think that any cultured adult who has a remote sense of intelligence should know by know that alot of ppl have bits and pieces of ancestral racial diversity, but to society, in political and demographic terms, we aren’t considered directly “mixed” automatically. All in all, we are original and exotic in our own ways: God took the time to ensure that we were all specially created with our own phenotypic and personal identity, down to the fingerprint. Love yourself!

  5. LamarteStaton says:

    I’m Black,White,Blackfoot,Cherokee,Neusok,Irish,and English I idenfy as mixed,Tri-racial,or Mullato I love what I am and very proud.

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