DNA Testing Connects Unlikely Cousins
https://highered.nbclearn.com/portal/site/HigherEd/browse/?cuecard=2184
General Information
Source:
Creator:
NBC Today Show
Matt Lauer
Resource Type:
Copyright:
Event Date:
Air/Publish Date:
03/05/2007
03/05/2007
Copyright Date:
Clip Length
Video News Report
NBCUniversal Media,
LLC.
2007
00:03:47
Description
Cousins Vy Higginsen from Harlem, NY, and Marion West from Poplar Bluff, MO, find each other
through a web site that uses genetic testing to link long-lost or never-known kin.
Keywords
Family, Relatives, Ancestors, Race, Blood, Black, White, African-American, DNA, Genes, Genetic,
Testing, Traits, Website, Internet, Trace, Roots, Reunion, Native American, Science, New York City,
Poplar Bluff, Missouri, Cowboy
Citation
MLA
"DNA Testing Connects Unlikely Cousins." Matt Lauer, correspondent. NBC Today Show.
© 2008-2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Page 1 of 4
NBCUniversal Media. 5 Mar. 2007. NBC Learn. Web. 7 May 2015
APA
Lauer, M. (Reporter). 2007, March 5. DNA Testing Connects Unlikely Cousins. [Television series
episode]. NBC Today Show. Retrieved from
https://highered.nbclearn.com/portal/site/HigherEd/browse/?cuecard=2184
CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE
"DNA Testing Connects Unlikely Cousins" NBC Today Show, New York, NY: NBC Universal,
03/05/2007. Accessed Thu May 7 2015 from NBC Learn:
https://highered.nbclearn.com/portal/site/HigherEd/browse/?cuecard=2184
Transcript
DNA Testing Connects Unlikely Cousins
MATT LAUER, co-host:
Here's some living proof that the issue of race in America is not just black and white, there are also many
different shades of gray. Vy Higginsen began looking for the truth about her ancestors more than 20 years
ago, and she never could've guessed where the path would lead her.
A long way from her home in Harlem, New York, Vy's search brought her to Poplar Bluff, Missouri.
After taking a DNA test and posting the results on a Web site that links people looking for long lost
relatives, Vy was surprised to learn she was related to a rancher in the heartland.
She was even more surprised to learn the man she now calls her cousin...
...was white. This is video of the unlikely cousins meeting for the first time. They made an immediate
connection.
Ms. VY HIGGINSEN: Oh, my God. I am so happy to see you.
Mr. MARION WEST: Our roots go a long way.
Ms. HIGGINSEN: It goes a long way. We share...
Mr. WEST: Long ways.
Ms. HIGGINSEN: ...a common ancestor. Cousins.
LAUER: Only months after the first reunion, Marion West flew to New York and met the rest of his
newfound family. On the surface, they're two people who appear to be different. But science now tells
them they're family.
Vy Higginsen and Marion West join us live in the studio this morning. Hey folks, how are you? Nice to
have you here.
Ms. HIGGINSEN: Hi. Hi.
LAUER: So you spend 20 years...
Ms. HIGGINSEN: That's right.
LAUER: ...searching for your roots. And--and without being cliché about it, Vy, you thought this was
© 2008-2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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going to end up like a Kunta Kinte moment, right?
Ms. HIGGINSEN: Yes, yes...
LAUER: Back to Africa. The ancestors.
Ms. HIGGINSEN: Absolutely.
LAUER: It didn't happen?
Ms. HIGGINSEN: It didn't happen. Through genetic testing, it just turned out this way. You know, we
don't ask questions sometimes. I asked my grandmother, `Well, who are we,' where we came from. She
said we were Indians, and so I was looking for the Indian blood and I was looking for the African blood,
and then we did some testing, and the next thing I know I get a call, he says, `I'm Marion West, I'm from
Poplar Bluff, Missouri.'
LAUER: You're going `Poplar Bluff? I thought this was going to be from Africa.' Right. Yeah. And what
was that first conversation like, Marion, after you introduced yourself?
Mr. WEST: Well, I said `Hello, kiddo, you're my cousin.'
LAUER: And did you hear something in that voice that maybe got you a little bit suspicious?
Ms. HIGGINSEN: I heard--I heard some--I got a clue from the voice.
LAUER: Yeah.
Ms. HIGGINSEN: And Missouri, and Poplar Bluff. I thought, `Hm.'
LAUER: When did the--when did the issue of race become addressed?
Ms. HIGGINSEN: It never did become addressed. He said, `I'm going to send you a picture.' And I saw
the cowboy hat and I saw the picture, and I said, `Here's my cousin!' And then I sent him a picture.
LAUER: And he--and you said?
Ms. HIGGINSEN: `Whoa!'
LAUER: My cousin's a sister.
When you first saw each other, I mean, that--that first meeting, I mean, it looked awfully warm in the
pictures we saw. It--was it just beyond what you expected?
Ms. HIGGINSEN: You know, I got off the airplane and he was standing right there at the gate. And there
was this cowboy with the cowboy hat, you know, I'm a real city girl so the country thing is a little
different for me. And I said wow, the buckle, the shoes, I said wow. But he threw his arms around us and
he said `I prayed for this day and I welcome you here to Poplar Bluff.' And the time I spend in Poplar
Bluff was so warm and so spiritual.
LAUER: He said something to you, he said, `You are a West. I can tell it right off the bat. You're a West.'
Ms. HIGGINSEN: That's exactly what he said.
Mr. WEST: I told her them by looking at her eyes.
LAUER: You saw it in the eyes? So there's a connection you two have that's not just in your genes, it's in-you're both very much active in your community, and you kind of think that's maybe a genetic tie?
Mr. WEST: Oh. Oh, yeah. It is.
Ms. HIGGINSEN: I was--I was shocked and surprised and pleased to see the kind of work Marion does in
Poplar Bluff. His name is over a lot of places like the Three Rivers College. He's responsible for having
built that. The--the Baptist youth camp. He's responsible for that. And his wife is on many boards.
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LAUER: And you do a lot of community in work in Harlem, as well?
Ms. HIGGINSEN: Yes, we do--at the Mama Foundation for the Arts and the Gospel for Teens program.
And, you know, serving the communities in positive ways.
© 2008-2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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