Thomas “Detour” Evans is a Denver-based artist. After a life-changing trip to Africa, he was inspired to take an AncestryDNA test to learn more about his roots.
His test results inspired him to create breathtaking multi-medium art – and sparked the idea for a one-of-a-kind project:
For Evans, the They Still Live project was the culmination of a lifelong passion for the arts and a burning desire to gain a deeper understanding of his roots. This is his story.
A Lifechanging Trip to Africa
Thomas Evans has been passionate about art since childhood. His father was in the military, and as his family moved around from place to place, Evans used art as a way to connect with new friends.
After an injury prevented him from also joining the military, he began creating art professionally, donating some of his work to a nonprofit.
Through his work with the nonprofit, Evans connected with an individual who ran a school in Tanzania. He then spent 8 months in that East African country, working for the Indigenous Education Foundation.
In an interview with 303 Magazine, he shared his memories of his time there:
“It was the most fun I have ever had. Very simple living- no reliable electricity or water; you had to get food from the market every day. It really humbled me. I was taking bucket showers, I was wearing pretty much the same thing and walking everywhere, so I got over that fear of failure.”
Taking a DNA Test
When he returned from Tanzania, Evans was inspired to take an AncestryDNA test to learn more about his background.
The results gave him insights into his identity, a deeper sense beyond the broad label of African American, as he described in a Huffington Post interview.
He was 91% African, with the two largest ethnicity estimates (29% each) representing the regions of Cameroon/Congo and Ivory Coast/Ghana.
In addition, his results showed 13% Mali, 11% Senegal, 3% Nigeria, and 3% Benin and Togo.
Thomas was also 9% European: Great Britain and Ireland each made up 4% of that. And he also had a trace of Scandinavian (1%).
They Still Live
Getting his AncestryDNA results impacted how Evans viewed the world, through his art and his everyday life.
His passion sparked a conversation with Dr. Paul Hamilton, an author, community activist, and owner of the impressive Hamilton Collection of Traditional African Art.
Dr. Hamilton’s amazing collection, comprised of over 400 statues, textiles, and masks, inspired Evans to launch a photography show:
“The ‘They Still Live’ project is a project where we take…these African artifacts outside of their usual context.”
The project, as Evans described, was a powerful way for these artists to reconnect with their roots:
“As African Americans we still have some of that DNA within us [and] we want to show it visually.”
A Ripple Effect
The models for They Still Live were chosen for their involvement in activism and the arts. Panama Soweto, a Denver poet and performance writer was among them and passionately affirmed,
“‘They Still Live’ is an amazing experience that is still living within me. Having that knowledge has definitely empowered me, and it’s living in me so much that we are expanding it to 40 youth who are at risk of gang involvement.”
Part of the youth program is a mask-making project where the participants make two masks: one based on how they see themselves before a DNA test and one after their DNA has been tested*.
For Evans, the youth program is just one example of the impact he aspires for his art to have:
“At the end of the day I want my work to change the way people think. I want them to leave and think, ‘What else can I apply this to? What else can change in my daily life?'”
What’s Your DNA Story?
No matter your roots, there may be more to your story than you realize. In the words of Thomas Evans,
“Everyone has a story. Everyone has this background that they can shine a light on.”
What’s your DNA story? Find out with an AncestryDNA test.
*The AncestryDNA service is intended for adults. Minors can only use AncestryDNA with the consent of their parent or guardian.</font size=”-1″>