Last year I wrote about discovering through DNA testing that I am a descendant of enslaved Canadians and Americans.
All my life, I’ve felt like something was different. Inside, I felt like I didn’t match what others saw when they look at me.
I couldn’t explain this feeling to myself. I felt so disconnected.
After doing my DNA testing, discovering my paternal African roots, I felt a calm peace come over me.
I had a recent picture I took of myself. I was sitting in my living room and I decided to put the picture into AI and wrote “natural lighting”, just as it was in my living room and always is.
I wasn’t expecting AI to come up with a picture that was much different than the picture I uploaded.
What it showed me was how I have always felt inside—an inner truth that doesn’t always align with how the world reads my exterior.
I wasn’t shocked, but I was a little surprised… But my immediate feeling was “…what it revealed about how I feel inside…”.
How I am seen by the world.
A visual metaphor for an inner sense of self that came into focus after learning my family history.
About this post
This piece reflects a personal process of integration and understanding after learning more about my family history through DNA testing. It is shared as a personal reflection, not a statement about race, appearance, or identity in a broader sense. I offer it in the spirit of honesty and self-understanding.
Dr Kelly Fleming 
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