Yara Shahidi and Sayeed Shahidi at the Los Angeles premiere of ‘Alex Cross’ held at the ArcLight Cinemas in Los Angeles, USA on October 15, 2012. Starfrenzy/Bigstock.com
Place of Birth: Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Date of Birth: February 14, 2003
Ethnicity:
*father – Iranian
*mother – African-American
Sayeed Shahidi is an American actor and model.
Sayeed is the son of Afshin Alexander Shahidi, a photographer, and Keri Shahidi (born Keri Jamelda Salter), an actress. His father is Iranian. His mother is African-American. His sister is actress, model, and activist Yara Shahidi. A picture of Sayeed’s parents can be seen here.
Sayeed’s sister Yara has said:
We’re Choctaw Native American and African-American—our family originated in Ghana, and then there’s a portion of our family that’s the descendants of Vikings.
Yara’s mention of Vikings is referring to the fact that the Jones family of their maternal grandmother, through DNA testing, was found to descend patrilineally from Scandinavian ancestors, possibly over 1000 years ago. It is not clear if Sayeed’s Native American ancestry has been verified/documented.
Sayeed is a first cousin, once removed, of musician and entrepreneur Nas. Sayeed’s sister Yara has said, “My momma grew up with him. He got his genealogy done at Harvard and Henry Louis Gates Jr. did his entire family background. I was a flower girl at his wedding.”
Sayeed’s paternal grandmother is named Forough Emami.
Sayeed’s maternal grandfather is Kwame Samuel Salter (the son of Samuel Leon Salter and Reva Daniels). Sayeed’s great-grandfather Samuel was the son of The Rev. Moses Washington Salter and Maria Moore. Reva was the daughter of William Daniels and Gracie Marie Cobb/Cobbs.
Sayeed’s maternal grandmother is Connie Sue Jones (the daughter of Charles Rufus “Charlie” Jones II and Ella Mae Jones). Charles was the son of Charlie/Charles Rufus Jones and Rose/Rosa Johnson. Ella was the daughter of Charlie S. Jones and Latisha Jackson.
Sources: https://people.com
Obituary of Sayeed’s maternal great-grandmother, Reva (Daniels) Salter – http://www.legacy.com
Death records of Sayeed’s maternal great-grandparents, Charles Rufus “Charlie” Jones II and Ella Mae Jones – https://www.findagrave.com
Genealogy of Sayeed’s maternal great-grandfather, Charles Rufus “Charlie” Jones II (focusing on his own father’s side) – https://www.geni.com
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