WE ARE OLD. WE ARE WISE.
WE ARE SISTERS AND BROTHERS.
WE ARE FROM AFRICA.
When we feel uncertain of ourselves – of our knowledge, of our wisdom, of our capacity to be creative, or our capacity to survive through difficult times, we all have a resource within ourselves we can draw on. This is a set of proteins (three billion) which is in every cell of our body (sixty trillion) and which contain the blueprint for how every cell and so the whole body can function in an optimal fashion. This is the spiral of our DNA, which is made up of a strand of protein from our mothers and a strand of protein from our fathers which combined to form 23 chromosomes and the foetus from which we grew. And our parents received their DNA from their parents, who received theirs from their parents etc. And each parent managed to survive floods, starvation, wars, violence, illness, imprisonment, migration etc. and be attractive enough to find a mate and be fertile enough (along with the mate being fertile enough) to reproduce. So, the spiral of DNA in each of our cells now is actually very old having been on this incredible journey through history, and is very wise and clever as a result. Therefore, deep down we are knowledgeable and experienced. We can tune into – and encourage the expression of – that core of our cells, of our selves. And be encouraged.
And how far back do we go, and where do we go back to? The estimate is that we go back as homo sapiens (humans) about 120 000 years, and that we go back to Africa. Specifically, we go back to Southern Africa. Research has shown that some of the oldest mtDNA lineages and Y chromosome haplotypes found in living humans are found in Khoisan populations of the Kalahari. Thus, there is strong evidence from genetic data to claim that the origins of our species lie here in Southern Africa. Of course, our genetic material and the mineral elements making up our body are even older, stretching back to the dawn of time.
So, we are all related because of our origins, our common ancestors. 99.9% of our genetic material is the same, no matter what our race or current geographical location is.
We are sisters and brothers. Africa is our home.
REFERENCES
1. A Walk in the Garden of Eden: Genetic Trails into our African Past.
Professor Soodyall Himla, MRC/SAIMR/WITS Human Genomic Diversity and Research Unit, Department of Human Genetics, School of Pathology, The South African Institute for Medical Research and University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
https://www.hsrcpress.ac.za/books/a-walk-in-the-garden-of-eden
2. Human Origins – Evidence in the Genes.
http://www.scienceinafrica.com/biotechnology/human-origins/human-origins-evidence-genes
3. Recent Nature and Science papers on Patterns in Human Genetic Variation.
4. HSV-1 Phyologenetics as a Model for Human Migrations.
5. Humanity's Forgotten Return to Africa Revealed in DNA.