Media and Recognition
Medium •
October, 2026
Four Caribbean Branches, One Family in Key West, Florida: Raymond Suarez’s Ancestry
Black Ancestries traces journalist Raymond Suarez’s paternal ancestry across Cuba, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, and Key West, correcting long-held assumptions about his family’s origins. The research reveals how migration, maritime work, cigar making, and family relationships brought four Caribbean branches together and reshaped Raymond’s understanding of his paternal ancestry.
Medium •
September, 2026
Generations of Readers, Generations of Writers
The publication of Finding Cornerstone Stories inspired a deeper look at a family legacy of literacy, education, reading, and writing. From ancestors who pursued education after emancipation to descendants who became authors, this story explores how knowledge and storytelling can become an inheritance passed from one generation to another.
Medium •
September, 2026
A Day of Service, Remarkable History, and Django Unchained
A tombstone discovered during a day of service leads to the remarkable story of Henry Hatton, a free Black blacksmith, and his sons who served in the United States Colored Troops. Their story demonstrates how extraordinary Black history can be hiding in plain sight, waiting to be uncovered and preserved.
Medium •
August, 2026
The Woman Behind the Byrd Name: Lewis Byrd’s Family Story Across Three Centuries
Black Ancestries follows Lewis Byrd’s family across three centuries, uncovering the people and relationships behind a surname passed through generations. The research demonstrates how genealogy can recover overlooked lives, connect families across time, and reveal the ancestors whose choices and perseverance created opportunities their descendants still carry forward.
Medium •
August, 2026
From Enslavement to Enterprise: The Family Legacy Behind Gail Moody-Byrd’s Leadership
Black Ancestries traces Gail Moody-Byrd’s maternal family from enslavement in Georgia through emancipation, landownership, education, and enterprise. The discoveries reveal generations of resilience and ambition behind her leadership and demonstrate how the opportunities and achievements of one generation can become the foundation for those who follow.
Medium •
July, 2026
From the Gullah Sea Islands to the Walmart Executive Suite
Black Ancestries traces Kelvin Buncum’s family journey from the Gullah Sea Islands of South Carolina to extraordinary educational and professional achievement. His story reveals generations of resilience, sacrifice, faith, education, and determination behind contemporary success and shows how understanding our ancestors can transform how we understand our own accomplishments.
Medium •
July, 2026
A Homecoming Across Generations: How the Pittman Family’s Story Came Back Home
What happens when family history comes home? Black Ancestries research helped reconnect the Pittman family with people and places from their past, demonstrating how genealogy can move beyond names and records to restore family connections and return a nearly forgotten story to the descendants who inherited it.
Medium •
June, 2026
From the Governor’s Coachman to the Ballot Box: The Bailey Family’s Journey Through Freedom
Black Ancestries traces the Bailey family from enslavement through emancipation and into citizenship. Beginning with an ancestor who served as a governor’s coachman, the research reveals how one Black family navigated freedom, work, family, and political participation while creating new possibilities for the generations that followed.
Medium •
May, 2026
A Stumbling Stone for Julia Roberts
A genealogical discovery can reconnect a family with history extending far beyond the family tree. Inspired by Julia Roberts’s ancestry, this story explores remembrance, identity, and the power of restoring an ancestor’s name while connecting one family’s past to a much larger chapter of history.
Medium •
April, 2026
What Is Past Is Prologue, and Worth Fighting For
Family history helps us understand not only where we came from, but why preserving the past matters. This reflection explores the importance of remembering the people and experiences that shaped us and ensuring their stories remain part of our families, communities, and shared history.
Medium •
February, 2026
What We Inherit, What We Heal: The Amprey Family Story
An intimate family history revealing how uncovering the past can heal generational wounds, restore connection, and transform inheritance into understanding and purpose.
Podcast •
February, 2026
My Home Is Special | Episode 46: Among the Ancestors — Andre’s Home
Andre Kearns shares his journey from corporate leadership to founding Black Ancestries, exploring how genealogy, storytelling, and technology help families reconnect with ancestors, reclaim legacy, and redefine what “home” truly means.
Medium •
January, 2026
America250: Freedom in the Blood
A meditation on freedom, memory, and lineage—exploring how the unfinished promises of America live on in the bloodlines of those who fought, survived, and built anyway.
Medium •
December, 2025
Rivers Carry Us: Tracing the Hobson-Strange Legacy to Lillian Lincoln Lambert
Following waterways and kinship networks, this story traces ancestry, migration, and ambition—culminating in the remarkable legacy of entrepreneur and trailblazer Lillian Lincoln Lambert.
Medium •
November, 2025
From Enslavement to Ownership: Tracing the Sanchez Legacy to Boston Frazier
A powerful journey from bondage to land ownership, revealing how the Sanchez family transformed survival into legacy through resilience, records, and reclaimed identity.
Medium •
October, 2025
From Poverty to Purpose: Tracing the Legacy of Clinton Ellsworth “Pop” Warner Sr., Morehouse Educator and Patriarch
This blog offers a moving portrait of a Black educator’s journey from Philadelphia’s “Hell’s Half Acre” to leadership at Morehouse College, showcasing how education transforms lives.
Medium •
September, 2025
From Emancipation to Africa: Tracing the Golden Lineage of Ambassador June Carter Perry
Tracing Ambassador June Carter Perry’s roots from emancipation to Africa, this piece uncovers her lineage through Thomas Golden, revealing resilience, rediscovery, and a transatlantic tie that reclaims heritage and identity.
Podcast •
September, 2025
Black Ancestries - A New Model for African Descended Genealogy with Andre Kearns
Andre Kearns joins genealogist Bernice Bennett's podcast and shares how Black Ancestries helps African descendants reconnect with their roots through research, storytelling, and legacy-building, redefining Black genealogy as healing and empowering.
Lake Norman Citizen •
July, 2025
The journey to establish roots to the American Revolution
Black Ancestries founder André Kearns traces his lineage to the American Revolution, uncovering ancestral ties to slavery at Cedar Grove plantation and honoring their legacy through historical research and community healing.
Medium •
June, 2025
Black Ancestries Traces Client Back to African-born Ancestor
This blog recounts Black Ancestries' rare success tracing a client’s lineage to a named African-born ancestor using in-depth genealogy research.
Medium •
June, 2025
Black Ancestries Uncovers Dr. Louis W. Sullivan’s Roots
Former HHS Secretary Dr. Louis W. Sullivan’s Lineage Uncovered by New Genealogy Firm, Black Ancestries
Washington Post •
May, 2025
Pope Leo XIV’s Creole ancestry uncovered
Census records list the new pope’s maternal grandparents as Black and living in New Orleans at the turn of the 20th century. Black Catholics, an often overlooked part of the American Catholic community, have celebrated the discovery.
National Geographic •
March, 2025
Where were enslaved Africans taken from? The answer could be hidden in their bones.
Scientists have created a groundbreaking map of strontium isotopes found across sub-Saharan Africa—which could help descendants of enslaved people reconstruct their family histories.
WTOP News •
February, 2024
My ancestors had the strength to endure: Genealogy workshop at MLK Library helps African Americans trace their roots
Andre Kearns leads workshops helping others discover their family histories, sharing techniques and inspiration for genealogical research.
Harvard Business School •
September, 2023
Money Does Grow on (Family) Trees
How genealogy research grew from a hobbyist project into a multibillion-dollar industry, featuring insights from Andre Kearns.
Conversations with Kenyatta •
June, 2023
A Conversation with Andre Kearns
In-depth discussion about genealogy, ancestry, and what it means to have enslaved ancestors with host Kenyatta D. Berry.
FamilySearch Blog •
February, 2022
Andre Kearns Discusses African American Ancestry
Andre Kearns explores his deep Southern roots and mixed heritage, tracing African American ancestry back to 1619. His research preserves and honors their legacy.
USA Today •
December, 2018
Looking for your roots? For Asians, blacks and Latinos, DNA tests don't tell whole story
Exploring the challenges and opportunities in genealogical research for people of color, featuring insights from Andre Kearns.
Medium •
From Enslaved Ironworker to Sacred Ground: Why Brevard’s Chapel Still Matters
The story of an enslaved ironworker whose legacy endures through sacred space, community memory, and a chapel that stands as testimony to faith, skill, and perseverance.
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