Benjamin Jealous – National Action Network’s 14th Annual Convention at Washington Convention Center in Washington on April 11, 2012 – Washington Convention Center – Washington, DC, USA – Photo Credit: Aaron J. Thornton / PR Photos
Birth Name: Benjamin Todd Jealous
Place of Birth: Monterey, California, United States
Date of Birth: January 18, 1973
Ethnicity:
*English (father)
*African-American (mother)
Benjamin Jealous, also known as Ben Jealous, is an American civic leader and politician. He served as President and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), from September 1, 2008 to November 1, 2013.
Benjamin is the son of Ann Fredericka (Todd) Jealous, a psychotherapist, author, and activist, and Fred Jealous, who was also a civil rights activist.
Benjamin’s father, who is from Maine, is white. Benjamin’s mother, who is from Virginia, is black.
He has two children with his former wife, NAACP lawyer Lia Epperson.
A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2014) stated that Benjamin’s genetic ancestry is:
*80% European
*18.2% Sub-Saharan African
*0.5% Middle Eastern and North African
*0.2% East Asian / Native American
In his 2016 book about the show, Finding Your Roots, Season 2: The Official Companion to the PBS Series, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. wrote that Benjamin’s European ancestry was mostly Northern European, and that his African DNA matches southeastern Bantu (Mozambique, Angola), as well as Benin and Togo, the Ivory Coast, and Ghana, and smaller amounts from Cameroon, Congo, and Senegal.
Benjamin’s maternal grandmother was named Mamie Bland. Mamie was born in Virginia. Mamie’s grandfather was Edward David Bland, a politician in Virginia (who was black). Ben’s maternal great-great-great-grandfather, Peter G. Morgan, was also an influential black politician in the late 1800s.