Mona Scott-Young Speaks on Love & Hip Hop, and How Dr. Gina Paige Helped Her Find Her Cultural Roots (Video)

While working the Urban One Honors red carpet, we got the chance speak with Mona Scott-Young, and Dr. Gina Paige. Scott-Young spoke on the Love & Hip Hop brand, and how Dr. Paige and AfricanAncestry.com helped her gain knowledge on her cultural roots.

Love & Hip Hop has been on for 10 years, and has 4 franchises. New York (The OG), Atlanta, Hollywood, and Miami. Scott-Young has taken her platform, and provide opportunities for many talented individuals. Now, while Scott-Young did not start off in the reality television world, she has proven she can master anything she sets her mind to.

“I don’t think I had any idea that it would achieve the kind of success it did,” Scott-Young said about the Love & Hip Hop franchise. “But what I did know was that it was rooted in a world that the people who watch this show ,did not have an opportunity to see themselves represented very often. And I knew that Hip-Hop is global, it’s universal, it’s music, so it connects us all. And I knew that all of those elements together would provide something that we just haven’t seen when watching television for ourselves. 10 years later, it’s proven itself over and over again. So I’m happy that people continue to support, and find that connection with the show. 

We also talked bout how Scott-Young got a deeper knowledge and understanding of her history through AfricanAncestery.com, by the help of Dr. Gina Paige.

“I actually grew up championing the fact that I was Haitian-American,” started Scott-Young. “Right, and not really having a clear understanding of how far back it traced. It stuck with me. My mother’s mother, mother, mother, mother was forcibly taken from her place in Cameroon, and dropped in Africa at some point. So all it’s done for me is provide a deeper attachment to what I’m made of. Not only literally in my DNA, but spiritually, emotionally, ethically, my; everything about who I am is now clear to me, and it allows me to fully walk in that purpose.”

“… It’s our knowledge of ancestry that has been broken,” stated Dr. Paige. “We’ve been disconnected, and that’s why AfricanAncestry.com exists. We exist to help expand the way that Black people; we view ourselves, and the way we view Africa. Mona is a great example of the impact of that knowledge.”

Check out the interview below, and subscribe to our channel. The Two-Hour Telecast will air on TV One on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, January 20, 2020.