Rihanna
02/24/2016 – Rihanna – BRIT Awards 2016 – Arrivals – O2 Arena – London, UK – Photo Credit: Landmark / PR Photos
Birth Name: Robyn Rihanna Fenty
Place of Birth: Saint Michael, Barbados
Date of Birth: February 20, 1988
Ethnicity:
*father – mix of African-Barbadian and European-Barbadian [Scottish, English, Irish]
*mother – African-Guyanese
Rihanna is a Barbadian singer, songwriter, businessperson, dancer, record producer, and actress. She has been Barbadian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, since 20 September, 2018.
She is the daughter of Ronald Fenty, who is from Barbados, and Monica (Brathwaite), who is from Guyana. She has two children with her partner, American rapper, songwriter, and record producer ASAP Rocky.
Rihanna’s paternal grandfather was African-Barbadian. Rihanna’s paternal grandmother, who is white, has Scottish, English, and Irish ancestry. Rihanna’s mother is of African-Guyanese descent. In an interview with Allure magazine, Rihanna stated that she was bullied in school and called ‘white’ by the other kids while growing up in Barbados.
Rihanna’s paternal grandfather was named Reginald Leslie Forde (the son of Helen Forde). Helen was the daughter of Joseph Nathanael “Joe” Forde and Louisa Jane Bascom.
Rihanna’s paternal grandmother is Elizabeth “Betty” Fenty (the daughter of Stanley Fitzherbert Fenty and Hilda Olga Coppin). Elizabeth is white. Her parents were born in Barbados. The surname Fenty is usually Scottish and the surname Coppin is usually English. Rihanna’s grandmother is also cited as having Irish ancestry. Elizabeth is from a family of “Red Legs,” descendants of slaves from the British Isles who were sent to Barbados. Stanley likely was the grandson of John Fitzherbert Fenty and Mary Louisa Jane Fenty.
Rihanna’s maternal grandfather is named Lionel Brathwaite.
Rihanna’s maternal grandmother is named Clara “Dolly” Viola Venetta Johnson.
Rihanna in 2011
Sources: Genealogy of Rihanna – https://www.geni.com
Death record of Rihanna’s paternal great-grandparents, Stanley Fitzherbert Fenty and Hilda Olga Coppin – http://www.findagrave.com
Obituary of Rihanna’s maternal grandmother, Clara Viola Venetta (Johnson) Brathwaite – http://downesandwilson.com
In other words, black.
There are blacks sprinkled in most black families who look like Rihanna. My family has a lot of admixture blacks. Some are dark-dark, and others look straight biracial, but just have two light-skinned parents, and identify as black. Two people can have the same parents, and one gets the recessive gene while the other gets the dominant (think Aaliyah and her brother or Beyonce and her sister). Same parents — different look — same race.
Also, Rihanna had a nose job and like most black women, has a perm. If it wasn’t for her sexy new look and those beautiful light eyes, plus her fame, nobody would question her blackness. It’s when beautiful women like she, Vanessa L. Williams (2 mixed/black parents) and Adriana Lima (also of African ancestry, but more mixed) become global sex symbols that people want to dilute their blackness.
If Rihanna was serving up mocha latte drinks at Starbuck’s with an attitude, her naturally course hair and original nose, nobody would question her race, trust me. There are many black women with light skin and light eyes who are treated like the rest of the black population — esp. if not ‘cute.’
By contrast, beautiful women of darker tones who are also admixtures or directly biracial/cultural are ignored and considered black without question. Pathetic.
…..at the end of the day she is mixed.
….at the end of the day she not.
At the end of the day, she is black.
I would not be surprised at all if you yourself are an African American because your statement is very closed minded. I say that to say that we as Americans of African descent have been warped and confused to believe that if a person is part, half, or mostly African descent they are black and nothing more. There is no such thing as diluting blackness or whiteness because nowadays neither is “pure”. People do not seem to understand that the one drop rule no longer exists and that just because a person is mostly or part black, does not mean that they are just black; they are mixed. We as African American people blindly measure our self identification on the scale of the “racist white man”. The “racist white man” has absolutely nothing to do with who you are and how you identify yourself. Stop making excuses to pigeonhole yourself and others to ONE thing.
I don’t understand why people feel the need to tell someone else who they are but self identification is not up to anyone but that individual and no one else.
To Gemini
This is actually still new to me,I’ve never met a person(part black or whatever),that had a problem with being called black.Since when has that word been such an ugly thing to be called someone?That no matter what,it’s the last thing someone wants to be called.Does it somehow take away everything else you are?Who are you trying to impress?If your called black 5000 times,it still doesn’t take away all the other things you are.You say you pigeonhole yourself saying your black period,again I ask who am I trying to impress?Am I mixed with other things yes,but if someone just called me black it wouldn’t bother me.The same way if I saw you,and called you black,I’m not doing it to hurt your feeling,I just see a black person.Now really,does me calling you black taken the fact that your 20% this and 15% that away from you?Now don’t get me wrong,if you want me to call you mixed,I have no problem with that.Oh that one drop rule,it still in effect,just in reverse
There is absolutely nothing wrong with being black. I am black, when people see me walking down the street they see a black man, when I apply for a job they see a black man, and when I die people will still see a black man. Although I am mixed with other things. When people see someone who they think is black that is all fine and dandy but when it gets to the point where you have to tell that person who they are based on appearances, you may be wrong. Many Americans unconsciously use the term black as if it were bad or something that is not preferred. Black (as far as I know) is a term used to describe someone of African descent who is very dark. I believe that black is the equivalent of white (which is used to describe a person of European descent who is very light). Imagine if Rihanna were the inverse(25% black 75% white) of what she is now(25% white 75% black) would she be just white? Regardless of what her ethnic background is my point is that we are stuck to racist double standards which we choose to, unconsciously, bind the world to.
Not every person of black/African descent is the same around the world. They have different cultures and views that separate them from one another.
And again I emphasize; self identification up to the individual and no one else.
To Gemini
I do feel what your saying.However if Rihanna was reverse,she most likely would have a white look about her like Victoria Rowell daughter.Also she most likely would see herself as white,yet again maybe not.My father saw himself as black,and so have many other people in the past like (Walter f. White).But like I said,I do feel what your saying
In yout country then, Lillian. In mine, no matter who it is, a person that light wouldn’t be called Black, there are other words for lighter people.
PLUS: everyone sees that Rihanna is of African descent and that she has a perm, that has NOTHING to do with it. Some people don’t perceive her as Black because race is a social construct, in case you don’t know, so people are perceived differently in each culture! I don’t think she’s Black because no one in my country would consider her Black, it’s not because she’s famous, that’s ridiculous! Poor people that look like her ARE NEVER CONSIDERED BLACK over here. And you even mentioned Adriana Lima, who was born and raised in my country and no one here says she’s White. No one is trying to take no one’s “Blackness” away, you’re the one who seems to be trying to make them all Black!
AND Rihanna was perceived as White in HER country, so it’s different everywhere!
To Juli
So in your home,unless your skin is actually blackish,your not called that?
she wasnt percecived white in her country i live in america and black people and i am black call me a white girl all the time and at the end of the day we all know im black what your saying has nothing to do with why she was called white as black people alot of us have self hatered because of that slave mentality the lighter the better that the closer you look like master the better have you heard of the light skin blacks working in the house and the dark skined working in the fields the way the world is today is that the lighter you are the prettier the more you will be close to the white people because they are race of people that symbol power and beauty all over the world willy linch did his job and he still is today and no matter what you say all blacks no matter what color where in slavery and had to go through civil rights she still is black just lighter then some!
vicy ur mentaly retarted and ur ugly
untalented, annoying, whore-sig, ugly, photoshopped, camera with filters, tons of make up, most horrible voice along with Shakira…
She’s only rich and famous because of the Illuminati. Along with Jay-Z and Beyonce.
Please go over to : YOU TUBE… and watch : “Journey Of Man!”
-John 8:32
“What Does DNA Say?”, race is defined primarily by skin color. Since that’s a genetic trait, the logic goes, race itself must be genetic, and there must be differences that are more than skin deep.
But that’s not what modern genetics reveals. Quite the contrary, it shows that race is truly skin deep. Indeed, genetics undermines the whole concept that humanity is composed of ”races”—pure and static groups that are significantly different from one another. Genetics has proven otherwise by tracing human ancestry, as it is inscribed on DNA.
After, analyzing something called mitochondrial DNA. Almost all human cells contain tiny bacteria-like entities called mitochondria. They provide energy to cells, and they have their own DNA, separate from the DNA that actually makes a person. Mitochondria are not in sperm cells; therefore, they are inherited only from the mother. They record a person’s matrilineal heritage.
The paternal counterpart is the Y chromosome. Women, of course, lack the Y chromosome, so it is inherited strictly from father to son. It can be quite revealing to trace how the Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA mix in a single population. Under the old South African apartheid categories, ”colored” people were those who descended from black and white parents—but their Y chromosome almost always shows a European ancestry, whereas their mitochondrial DNA usually shows an African heritage. To put it plainly, white men were sleeping with black women, but black men were not sleeping with white women.
But sometimes only DNA can settle questions of human history.
Two million years ago, various hominid ancestors of modern humans migrated out of Africa. Neanderthals settled in Europe–and some scientists argued that Europeans descend from Neanderthals, Asians from other hominids such as Peking Man or Java Man, and Africans from still other sources. Genetics has helped demolish this ”multiregional” theory.
Mitochondrial DNA indicates that all living humans descend from one maternal source—christened Mitochondrial Eve—who lived in Africa between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago. Similarly, the Y chromosome shows that all men have a common ancestor, Y-chromosome Adam, who lived at the same time. (Actually, both analysis indicate that modern humans descend from a small founding population of about 5000 men and an equal number of women.)
Did modern humans coming out of Africa completely replace Neanderthals and the other earlier hominids—or did they interbreed with them? This year, Stoneking and researchers in Germany compared the mitochondrial DNA of modern humans to that of a Neanderthal skeleton between 30,000 and 100,000 years old. The conclusion: Neanderthals contributed nothing to human maternal ancestry.”
For example, light skin color is needed in northern climates for the sun’s ultra- violet light to penetrate into the body and transform vitamin D into a usable form. This mutation may well have arisen at different times, in different ancestral groups, on different points along the DNA. That’s true for cystic fibrosis, which occurs almost exclusively in people of European descent but is caused by several different mutations.
In other words, ”white people” do not share a common genetic heritage; instead, they come from different lineages that migrated from Africa and Asia. Such mixing is true for every race. ”All living humans go back to one common ancestor in Africa,”
Over time, ”genetics will help beat down racist arguments,” says Eric Lander, a world-renowned geneticist at M.I.T.