Questions a buyer asks before paying.
Short answers. The long version of the method is on the methodology page.
What is Code Black?
Archival lineage research for Black American families, built on an engine that holds 3.17 million slavery-era record rows across 66 datasets (Hall’s Louisiana databases, the Freedmen’s Bureau, Enslaved.org, SlaveVoyages, county registers and petitions) and on a method that was first worked on the founder’s own line. Every claim we deliver is cited to a record and carries a confidence tier.
Is this a DNA test?
No. We do not sell kits and you do not need one. If you already have AncestryDNA, 23andMe or GEDmatch results, note it on the intake and they are used as one more source. Records, not percentages, are the product.
What is the 1870 wall?
The 1870 census is the first federal record that names formerly enslaved people. Before it, people were recorded under a holder’s name by age, sex and colour, or by first name in a sale, succession, church or Freedmen’s Bureau record. Getting past 1870 means finding the holder and reading the holder’s papers. That is what the engine and the researcher do.
What do I get for $99 (Heritage Search)?
An instant-style first pass: your family’s migration-corridor match (population-level scholarly priors, labelled as such), your Lineage Traceability Score with the factor breakdown, and a documented research plan naming the exact archives and searches to run next. Delivered within 24–48 hours after your intake. It is a starting map, not a guarantee, and nothing in it is presented as proof.
What do I get for $499 (Identity Restoration)?
Human-assisted archival research across census, Freedmen’s Bureau and parish or notarial records, a multi-generation lineage narrative as far as the records allow, and a fully sourced heritage report (PDF) in 3–5 business days. Where a link is a lead and not a record, the report says maybe, not found.
What do I get for $2,499 (Heritage Dossier + Attorney Referral)?
Everything in Identity Restoration plus a full heritage dossier with an organized document and evidence index, and an introduction to a licensed, independent attorney who evaluates any potential claim on their own. We provide research, not legal advice, and never describe a report as evidence.
What is the $29 a month Research Circle + Explorer API?
One subscription, one key. You search the 3.2 million slavery-era records for your own ancestors from any browser (no code) or from an AI agent (ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor via MCP), run bridge searches, export GEDCOM, and receive the monthly record-set drops and member Q&A. The key is shown right after checkout. 500 units a month are included (about 50 bridge runs); overage is 3 cents a unit. Cancel any time.
Who does the research?
A human researcher using the engine — today that is the founder, Daniel Dajai Stewart-Handy, who built the engine on his own Louisiana and Carolina line. The engine drafts the leads and the negatives; a person reads the records and writes the report. No report is sent without human review.
What if you find nothing?
You still receive the report: every search run, every record that came back empty, and the next records to pull. A documented negative is part of the research. Refunds are covered on the refund policy page.
Which places are strongest?
Louisiana is deepest (Hall’s databases name people 1719–1820 by origin and holder). The Freedmen’s Bureau covers every former slave state 1865–1872. Virginia, Maryland and the Carolinas have specific registers and petitions in the pool. Other states lean on the Bureau, the Enslaved.org datasets and the free census searches we link you to. The full coverage table by place and years is on the API docs.
Can you prove descent from an African ancestor?
Only when a record names one, and we say which record. On the showcase line an African-born man is named in a 1804 manumission act and a land patent. Where no record exists, the Atlantic crossing is reported as a region and a corridor, never as a village or a named person.
Is this for reparations or legal claims?
No. Code Black is heritage research. The $2,499 tier includes an introduction to an independent attorney who makes their own assessment. We do not give legal advice, file anything, or call a report evidence.
What happens to my family’s information?
Your intake is stored for the research and never published. Living people are withheld from every public surface by construction, and nothing about your family appears on this site, in the API or in any case study without your written consent. You can ask for deletion at any time on the data-deletion page.
How do I cancel or get a refund?
Subscriptions cancel from the link in your Stripe receipt or by emailing [email protected]; billing stops at the end of the current month. Research tiers are refundable in full before a researcher starts; see the refund policy for the exact terms.
How do I reach a human?
Email [email protected] with your order reference, the surname and the state. You hear back within one business day.
Start free with one name at codeblack-api.dajai.io/start, or get your free Lineage Score on the Code Black page.