LOS ANGELES – FEB 23: Riley at the 2019 Film Independent Spirit Awards on the Beach on February 23, 2019 in Santa Monica, CA kathclick/bigstock.com
Birth Name: Raymond Lawrence Riley
Place of Birth: Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Date of Birth: April 1, 1971
Ethnicity: African-American, one quarter Ashkenazi Jewish (maternal grandmother), small amounts of German, English, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Scottish, distant Wampanoag Native American
Boots Riley is an American rapper, film director, producer, screenwriter, and activist. He is the founder of hip-hop group The Coup, and is the lead singer of rock group Street Sweeper Social Club. He directed and wrote the film Sorry to Bother You.
Boots is the son of Anitra and Walter Riley, who is a civil rights attorney and activist. His father was born in North Carolina, and is African-American. His mother was born in New York City in 1944, to an African-American father and a German Jewish refugee mother. Boots grew up in Detroit, Michigan and Oakland, California. He has four children.
Boots’ paternal grandfather was Willie Lee Riley (the son of John Riley and Molly McMannen). Willie was born in North Carolina. Boots’ great-great-great-grandfather, Nathan McMannen, was the son of slaveowner Samuel Turrentine, and of a black slave woman. Samuel was of English, Scottish, and Scots-Irish/Northern Irish descent.
Boots’ paternal grandmother was named Flora Bell Atkins. Flora was born in North Carolina.
Boots’ maternal grandfather was Lawrence Edward Patterson (the son of Jesse Franklin Patterson and Marguerite Darrow). Lawrence was born in Montour Falls, Schuyler County, New York. Jesse was the son of Joseph Patterson, who was born in Pennsylvania, and of Sarah Denning, who was born in New York. Boots’ great-great-grandmother Sarah was the daughter of William Denning and Adelia Sharp, who was the daughter of Burlin Sharp and Elizabeth. Adelia is listed as “Mulatto” on most U.S. Censuses, but is listed as “Indian” on the 1865 New York Census and as “White” on the 1900 U.S. Census. On the 1880 U.S. Census, Adelia stated that her father was born in New York and her mother was born in Pennsylvania, on the 1900 U.S. Census, she stated that her mother was born in Germany, and on the 1910 Census, she stated that both of her parents were born in Pennsylvania. Her father Burlin is listed as “White” on the 1830 U.S. Census and on his death record. Her mother is listed as “Mulatto” on the 1855 New York Census and as “White” on the 1860 and 1870 U.S. Censuses, and the 1865 New York Census.
Boots’ great-grandmother Marguerite was the daughter of William Darrow and Lapette Dorsey. Boots’ great-great-grandmother Sarah Denning, and Lapette, were first cousins, once removed, making Boots’ maternal great-grandparents, second cousins, once removed. Lapette’s mother, Mary Denning, was Sarah’s cousin. William was the son of Charles Darrow. Charles’ sister, Mary Darrow, was Lapette’s maternal grandmother, making William and Lapette first cousins, once removed.
Through both of her parents, Marguerite was a descendant of Kofi/Cuffe Slocum, a slave of Ashanti Ghanian descent, who bought his own freedom in the 1740s, and of Ruth Moses, a Wampanoag Native American, who was born in Massachusetts. Their son, Paul Cuffee, Boots’ fifth great-uncle, was an abolitionist who helped establish a colony of free Blacks in Sierra Leone.
Boots’ maternal grandmother was Anita Luise Pinner (the daughter of Oskar/Oscar David Pinner and Jenny Perlmann). Anita was born in Königsberg, Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany, to a Jewish family. Anita and her parents left Germany because of the Nazis, and settled in Oakland, California. Oskar was born in Berlin, the son of Adolf/Adolph Pinner, who was born in Birnbaum, Poznań, Poznań County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, and of Klara Herrnstadt, who was born in Waldenburg, Wałbrzych County, Poland. Jenny was born in Jurburg, Kaunas, Kauno miesto savivaldybė, Kaunas County, Lithuania, then part of the German Empire, the daughter of Louis Perlmann and Rebecca Rosenkrantz.
Sources: https://www.bostonreview.net
https://www.nytimes.com
Genealogy of Boots’ paternal grandfather, Willie Lee Riley – https://www.familysearch.org
Story of Boots’ paternal sixth great-grandfather, Cuffee Slocum – https://paulcuffe.org
A descendant of Nathan McMannen who says she is a DNA match to Samuel Turrentine’s descendants – https://www.ancestry.com
Genealogies of Boots’ mother – https://www.familysearch.org
https://www.geni.com
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