Glamsquad Magazine December 2022

REPORTAGE What Part of

REPORTAGE What Part of Africa is Lupita Nyong’o From? Lupita Nyong’o East Africa story is in the right place. The internationally acclaimed actress is a pure Kenyan by blood although she was born in Mexico to Kenyan parents. Her politician father Prof Anyang Nyong’o together with her mother Dorothy Nyong’o lived in Mexico in 1983 when Lupita came to the world. Prof Nyong’o – the current Governor of Kisumu County – was a lecturer at a Mexican University back in the day. The family jetted back home in Kenya when Lupita was three years old. She grew up here and later flew to the US where foir further studies. She attended Hampshire College and pursued a degree in film and theatre studies. She then attained her Master’s degree from Yale School of Drama in Acting. Her acting exploits never diminished Lupita Nyong’o East Africa birth roots. 22 www.glamsquadmagazine.com

REPORTAGE What Ethnicity is Lupita Nyong’o? She is a Luo, one of the largest five tribes in Kenya. The 39-yearold is the only guest to date to be invited on the show who carries DNA from the oldest maternal lineage termed Mitochondrial Eve. Based on her East African ancestry, she is a direct descendent of the woman who all humans descended from. The science in Mitochondrial Eve suggests that the descendant was of African origin too. That’s besides the fact that scientific research shows that there were no humans living anywhere in Africa then. However, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) comes nearly entirely from the female parent. It is concentrated in the egg of a parent and is extremely rare in sperm. Therefore, mtDNA passed down through the female line. When there are no daughters in the family, the mother’s mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is lost. Thus, this explains the Lupita Nyong’o East Africa genesis. www.glamsquadmagazine.com 23