Meagan Good and Jonathan Majors gain Guinean citizenship after DNA ancestry test

Movie stars Meagan Good and Jonathan Majors are set to gain Guinean citizenship after tracing their ancestry to the West African country through DNA testing.

“We’re excited to be here,” said Goode, known for the film “Think Like a Man,” who went on to explain that this was her first visit to Guinea.

“Tenet” and “Ant-Man” star Majors added: “I’m excited to meet these people and hang out around town with my wife.”

Their naturalization ceremony, organized by the Ministry of Culture, is similar to other initiatives in the region aimed at encouraging people of African descent to reclaim their heritage and invest in the continent.

The private cultural ceremony will take place later on Friday at a new tourist garden on the outskirts of the capital Conakry.

Goode, 44, and Majors, 36, started dating in May 2023 and tied the knot last year.

They married after a turbulent period in Majors’ life. In 2024, he was sentenced to probation in the United States for assaulting his ex-girlfriend, British choreographer Grace Jabbari. He was ordered to complete a 52-week domestic violence intervention program.

The actors arrived at Conakry’s Gbesia International Airport in the early hours of Friday to a warm welcome from officials and musicians.

During their stay in Guinea, the two plan to visit Boquet, a coastal region with historic slave trade sites. It is unclear whether they plan to invest or move to Guinea.

In recent years, a number of celebrities have obtained citizenship from African countries.

This mainly started in 2019, when Ghana launched the “Year of Return”, inviting those with African ancestry to return and invest in the country. One of the biggest stars of 2024 is Stevie Wonder.

Other notable examples are Ciara, an American singer who obtained Beninese citizenship last yearand Hollywood actor Samuel L Jackson, who received a Gabonese passport in 2020.

Guinea itself has a long history of welcoming activists and the African diaspora.

In the 1960s, South African singer Miriam Makeba and her husband, American civil rights activist and Black Panther Party leader Stokely Carmichael, moved to Guinea.

Makeba was stripped of her citizenship for her opposition to apartheid and had her U.S. visa revoked after marrying Carmichael, who popularized “black power” slogans.

She is considered an honorary citizen and cultural ambassador of Guinea, while Carmichael, who went by the pseudonym Kwame Ture, remained in Guinea even after his divorce and died there in 1998.

Guinea has experienced political turmoil in recent years, and under the military junta that took power in 2021, the country has become less open to dissent.

Coup leader General Mamadi Doumbouya restricted the media and suppressed protests.

The country recently returned to civilian rule after last month’s elections, Doumbouya won with 87% of the vote.

Unlike other countries in the region that have experienced recent coups, Guinea maintains relations with Western governments, particularly France.

The country is rich in minerals, including bauxite, iron ore, diamonds, gold and uranium, but its people remain one of the poorest in West Africa.