Rashida Jones
Jones in 2011, kathclick/bigstock.com
Birth Name: Rashida Leah Jones
Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, United States
Date of Birth: February 25, 1976
Ethnicity:
*father – African-American, with some English, Scottish, and Welsh
*mother – Ashkenazi Jewish
Rashida Jones is an American actress, writer, and producer. Her roles include I Love You, Man, Our Idiot Brother, Boston Public, The Office, and On the Rocks.
She is the daughter of music producer Quincy Jones and actress and model Peggy Lipton. She is a sister of actress Kidada Jones and a half-sister of model Kenya Kinski-Jones. She has a son with her partner, musician Ezra Koenig.
Rashida’s father was mainly of African-American [West African/Central African] ancestry, with some English, Scottish, and Welsh, heritage. Rashida’s mother was Jewish, of Russian Jewish, Belarusian Jewish, and Latvian Jewish descent. Rashida was raised Jewish, studied Hinduism, and is now a practicing Jew.
Rashida’s paternal grandfather was Quincy Delight/Delightt Jones (the son of Caesar Jones and Susannah/Susanna Burgess). Rashida’s grandfather Quincy was born in South Carolina, and was a semi-pro baseball player. Caesar and Susannah were both black. Susannah was the daughter of West Burgess and Adele, or of Osborne Burgess and Elizabeth.
Rashida’s paternal grandmother was Sarah Frances Wells (the daughter of Love Adam Wells and Mary Belle Lanier). Sarah was born in Mississippi. Love, who was black, was the son of Nelson Wells and Sarah Campbell. Mary’s father, James Balance Lanier, was white, and had mostly English, as well as Scottish and Welsh, ancestry. Mary’s mother, Cordelia Dickson, was black.
Rashida’s maternal grandfather was Harold Arlen Lipton (the son of Max Lipschitz/Lipton and Alice Goldfarb). Harold was born in The Bronx, New York City. Max and Alice were Jewish emigrants, Max from Slutsk and Alice from Brest, both in Belarus, then in the Russian Empire. Max was the son of Harris/Harold Lipschitz and Rebecca Leah Pitovsky/Witkowsky. Alice was the daughter of Aaron Goldfarb and Frieda/Freude Bass/Bab.
Rashida’s maternal grandmother was Rita Hetty Benson/Rosenberg (the daughter of Hyman Rosenberg and Jeanie “Jane” Benson). Rita was born in Dublin, Ireland. Hyman was a Russian Jewish emigrant, who was born in Saga, Province of Kemerovo, the son of Marko Benjamin Rosenberg and Sarah Hahn. Jeanie was born in Manchester, Lancashire, England, to Jewish parents from Latvia and/or Kaunas, Lithuania, Benjamin Joseph Bensohn/Benson, from Kovno, and Sophia Winestein/Weinstein.
A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show African American Lives (2006) stated that Rashida’s father’s, Quincy Jones’s, genetic ancestry was:
*66% Sub-Saharan African
*34% European
In his 2009 book about the show, In Search of Our Roots: How 19 Extraordinary African Americans Reclaimed Their Past, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. wrote that Quincy’s African DNA matched the Tikar people of Cameroon, the Sukuma people of Tanzania, the Tonga people of Mozambique, and the Fang people of Equatorial Guinea.
Sources: Genealogy of Rashida Jones – https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Rashida Jones (focusing on her mother’s side) – http://www.wikitree.com
And oh yea, 1 more thing to Adrian, you also talked about us calling each other “black”, what’s it to you? Caucasians call each other “white” all the time, but unless ya’ll roll around and cover yourselves in flour and powder lmao, you need to get it straight. So you really need to shut up and keep those stupid ass ignorant comments to yourself.
This goes to Adrian. First off, Sonia didn’t say “africans” are mixed, she said black ppl in America are of mixed descent. Which we are since we are offsprings of white slave masters and slaves that came to america, so most black ppl have white in their family history therefore we have mixed ancestry. That’s wat she meant, u idiot, and we are not africans, we are african AMERICAN there is actually a difference, or I jus like to say I’m American because this is where I’m from and I love my heritage. So u get real and get some knowledge while you’re at it, ass hole.
I am worried when people get so happy that someone is “exotic” because they are biracial or mixed race. Almost all African descendant people in the Americans are mixed race but our political identity ranges from wanting to be “mixed” to not caring what tone of skin we have and identifying solely as Black or African American/Afro-Latino/Afro-Canadian etc. I hate when people look at me and say wow you are beautiful or exotic, where are you from? When I say I am from the US they say oh..I thought you were Latino or CAribbean. Then they insult black women from the US by saying I have never met a beautiful black woman from here. Soooo ignorant! It makes me embarrassed for them and sad for all the pretty little black girls from my old neighborhood who are beautiful and exotic in their own way. Just because someone is mixed doesnt mean they are somehow more beautiful.
Interesting perspective. Of course, for me though, I ALWAYS hear such compliments because unlike some African Americans, I am mixed and not multigenerationally–I have a white father and a mixed black mother–and many of my family members appear mixed as well–since they are mixed also–It’s typical in the Caribbean and in Latin America–and I am from the Latin/Caribbean, just as my family–In fact, I’m an immigrant from Central America–so I suppose you can see why I would get such comments and questions.
For me, though, it doesn’t insult or offend me–I take it as a compliment. Maybe it’s cause I know that I am MIXED and it shows…and I don’t mind telling others that I am…I’m a Mixed Latina to be exact—so in the USA I am classified as HISPANIC.
I’m so thankful that I am not burdened with some of the things AAs have to go through. BTW, I heard that not ALL African Americans are multigenerationally mixed–It is probably true that there are a great many who are, but it would be incorrect to say that ALL of them are—Not all of their ancestors were raped by whites and not all whites owned plantations or slaves.
…Growing up, I do recall seeing black families who kept multiplying with other blacks, so they apparently kept their ‘blood pure’ so to speak—so to say that ALL AFRICAN AMERICANS are mixed or that most of them are or even 90% are mixed, would be inaccurate.
Profile edited.
Just wondering why the post for kidada lists African first under heritage, yet her sister’s post lists Jewish-Russian and Jewish Irish first? They are sisters with both parents in common, I believe. Is the difference in the post due to the fact that kidada looks more African American than her sister?