Yaya DaCosta
DaCosta in 2011, Featureflash / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Camara DaCosta Johnson
Place of Birth: New York City, New York, U.S.
Date of Birth: November 15, 1982
Ethnicity: African-American, one quarter African-Montserratian, one eighth African-Brazilian
Yaya DaCosta is an American actress and model. She was the runner-up in Cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model, and has featured in the films Tron: Legacy, The Nice Guys, and Whitney, and on the series Ugly Betty and Chicago Med, among other works.
Yaya is the daughter of Orundun DaCosta and Carl Awolowo Johnson. She has a sister, Djassi, and two brothers, Mamadou and Djani. Her family is pictured here. YaYa was raised in Harlem. She has a son with her former partner, independent film producer and director Joshua Bee Alafia. YaYa is a first cousin, once removed, of actor, writer, artist, and child advocate Roscoe Orman. Her maternal great-grandmother, Ethel/Mariel Moore, was the sister of his mother Viola.
Her father is African-American. Her mother is of one half African-Montserratian, one quarter African-Brazilian, and one quarter African-American, descent. YaYa is sometimes described as also having Irish and Cherokee Native American ancestry. It is not clear if this Irish or Native American ancestry has been verified/documented.
She has stated:
My mom’s dad is Brazilian, and that’s the aspect of my heritage I identify with most because I grew up around my Brazilian cousins, speaking Portuguese and going to capoeira rodas.
Yaya has also said, likely referring to her genetic ancestry, “Ghanaian, Nigerian, Ethiopian… etc. Being claimed by so many makes me feel wonderfully human! DNA test pending.”
Yaya’s paternal grandfather likely was named Carl A. Johnson. Carl was born in Washington, D.C., and was African-American.
Yaya’s paternal grandmother likely was Helena Mildred Twyman (the daughter of John W. “Jack” Twyman and Allean/Allien/Ellen Mamie Parland/Carland). Helena was born in either Minnesota or Connecticut, and was African-American. John was born in Virginia, and likely was the son of Ambrose Twyman and Cornelia Twyman. Allean was born in Georgia, the daughter of John H. Parland/Carland and Ella Wade.
Yaya’s maternal grandfather was José Santiago da Costa (the son of José da Costa Leite and Ethel/Mariel Moore). Yaya’s grandfather José was born in New York. Yaya’s great-grandfather José was born in Maranhão, Brazil, the son of John da Costa and Antoinette. Ethel was born in New York, the daughter of African-American parents, Charles Moore and Margaret “Maggie” Wales.
Yaya’s maternal grandmother was Lucille Bradshaw (the daughter of Thomas Bradshaw and Ann “Annie” John/Meade). Lucille was born in New York, to parents from Montserrat, British West Indies.
Sources: Information on Yaya’s ancestors – https://www.instagram.com
Yaya’s paternal grandfather, Carl A. Johnson, on the 1950 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Obituary of Yaya’s paternal step-grandfather, Frederick Henry Carl – https://www.familysearch.org
Obituary of Yaya’s paternal grandmother, Helena Mildred (Twyman) Johnson Carl – https://www.familysearch.org
Obituary of Yaya’s paternal great-grandfather, John W. “Jack” Twyman – https://www.familysearch.org
Yaya’s mother and maternal grandparents, José Santiago da Costa and Lucille Bradshaw, on the 1950 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Yaya’s maternal grandfather, José Santiago da Costa, on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Death record of Yaya’s maternal grandfather, José Santiago da Costa – https://www.familysearch.org
Marriage record of Yaya’s maternal great-grandparents, José da Costa Leite and Ethel/Mariel Moore – https://www.familysearch.org
Death record of Yaya’s maternal great-grandmother, Ethel (Moore) da Costa – https://www.familysearch.org
Quote:
(Yaya states My family is different. My father’s Brazilian and we have West African, Native American Cherokee, and Irish blood)
I don’t know what she considers so different about that. That ethnic blend of African, White, and Native, is a very common mixture on this side of the hemisphere
No it’s not. Most people don’t have Native blood. It’s a garbage lie that Henry Louis Gates exposed in his “find your roots” project. And most black people are between 1/8 and 1/5 mixed in America which isn’t significant. If it were, then there are no black people. There are only mixed people. And that KKK who was 14% black wouldn’t have looked 100% white
@Multiethnicchick
Quote(. Most people don’t have Native blood)
Well the DNA test from Ancestry.com that me and some of my family members took, says that it’s in our bloodline. Plus the 300 pages of 3rd, 4th, and 5th cousins I have says they have it to. So it’s apparent it’s in a lot of black people here.
Quote( It’s a garbage lie that Henry Louis Gates exposed in his “find your roots” project. )
Gates tested less than 47 people total back when when he made that comment
Quote(And that KKK who was 14% black wouldn’t have looked 100% white)
First you’re completely wrong, and obviously don’t know what you’re talking about. a person would most likely look completely white with only 14% black blood in them. Next, you even stated above that 1/5 or 20% wasn’t significant, so how would 14% affect someones outside appearance? This girl is DNA tested 20% black:
https://scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s480x480/e35/c0.79.1080.1080/21295007_120669581926259_8728015634492817408_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTQwODU5MDIxNjM0MDM4NjY2OA%3D%3D.2.c
Did you even read what I said? I said the guy who was 14% black looked completely white and you just parroted back what I said. So I guess according to you, we’re both wrong. Please learn to read, jesus.
Craig Cobb, the white nationalist, had his results on a talk show. He took another DNA test to find 1% “Iberian” thing – mistaken for being West or Sub-Saharan African. All I know is he has a lil bit of Black or maybe Jewish or connected to Hispanic or Latino/a peoples: he hates them all and yet, he’s a descendant of these races, faiths and ethnicities.
OMG another celebrity that’s Black, and Irish!!!!! i’m glad she claims her irish roots just like her African ancestry.
she was sooooooooo fucking annyoing on the show, bitchy, rude, prudish and immature
this bitch is black as hell.
She sure is and skinny as hell aswell where is the curves all black women are supposed to have.
No she’s clearly mixed. Black “as hell” would be very tightly coiled hair, thicker lips. and a broader and non protrusive nose .
@Multiethnicchick
(Black “as hell” would be very tightly coiled hair, thicker lips. and a broader and non protrusive nose .)
Your sound just like those racists on those stormfronts sites.
Sounds like you just hate black features and are insecure. To be phenotypically black means to have very tightly coiled hair, broad features and skin ramging from light brown to dark brown. There’s nothing wrong with having a broad nose and thick lips. You’re the racist on stormfront because you clearly have something against those features being associated with the black phenotype. Probably a self hating racist that wants to insist that black people ideally look like Halle Berry.
Quote(You’re the racist on stormfront because you clearly have something against those features being associated with the black phenotype.)
Wow this is almost 4 yrs back. Anyhow I’m not insecure about anything. My problem with you is, Those are the only Features that you’re willing to attach to black people, which shows true ignorance on your part. This the very reason why when Europeans took over part of Africa, They turned groups of people against each other, by saying your features are closer to ours, which makes you better than that other group . To be racist, I would have to believe a certain group was better than another, which I don’t. Now First of all Halle berry which I love, didn’t always look like Halle berry .Ideally, I unlike have no fixed idea about what a black person should or could look like. Self- hating? I don’t think so, I been told I’m really cute
Considering that physical anthropology describes Congoids as having such features, of course those features are related to black people. Climate favored broad features and tightly coiled hair in subsaharan Africa. Maybe you should read up on Charles Darwin and the finches.
Also you make an irrelevant argument about Europeans taking over Africa. What does that have to do with Yaya obviously being mixed and not have the same features as someone who is fully black? Nothing. The rest of your incoherent nonsense didn’t even come out as a sentence so I’m gonna guess that you may have been typing your response while under the influence.
Also, what you say on the internet sticks around forever(that should be common knowledge), either don’t reply to a response baed on your 4 year old comment, or don’t make comments on ther internet. You may have been told you’re cute but beauty fades and dumb forever. I suggest you work on self education. Start with physical anthropology.
Quote(Considering that physical anthropology describes Congoids as having such features, of course those features are related to black people. Climate favored broad features and tightly coiled hair in subsaharan Africa. Maybe you should read up on Charles Darwin and the finches.)
Maybe you should spend more time learning about Africa, You see that Africa pretty much has every climate within it and people living in those climates tend to be different from each other. Most of those anthropology books you’re probably reading such as Darwin were written in the 1920″s by people who have never even been to Africa. A lot of the information in them are outdated or just wrong.
Quote(The rest of your incoherent nonsense didn’t even come out as a sentence so I’m gonna guess that you may have been typing your response while under the influence.)
With All the nonsense you write, I pray you’re taking the good stuff, at least then you would have an excuses for being so ignorant
Quote(Also, what you say on the internet sticks around forever(that should be common knowledge), either don’t reply to a response baed on your 4 year old comment, or don’t make comments on ther internet.)
See this is way I say you’re ignorant . You’re the one who is replying to a comment from 4 yrs ago, not me. If you had just looked, you would have seen that comment was from 2013 also, when you made your comment.
@multie
Quote( You may have been told you’re cute but beauty fades and dumb forever.)
Well there are different kinds of beauty(physical , spiritual etc)
I don’t know what you look like physically
@fuzzybear,
You’re delusional if you think black subsahran Africans naturally look like Halle Berry without European influence.
And Charles Darwin is an authority in science whereas you are not. His origins of species applies to all animals. Nothing worse than someone who denies science. Stop using medicine, electricity and all other things invented in the 20th century since they apparently knew so little. Let me know how that works out.
Yaya literally has all those features you just mentioned. Her nose is wide, her hair is kinky and she has full lips. Both her parents are black. Stop calling everyone mixed. If she was fat and/or unattractive you wouldn’t be trying to claim her as mixed race.
guess what my name is isabel Da Costa