Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. traces the genealogy of more famous (and one non-famous) black people in African American Lives 2 on PBS. I watched the first series last year and was riveted by his exploration of the documentary record and DNA to uncover the family histories of people like Oprah Winfrey and Quincy Jones.
The second series premiered last Wednesday. Check your local listings to find a replay of the first 2 hours and don’t miss the last 2 hours this Wednesday. It’s fascinating stuff and deeply affecting.
See the impact on Chris Rock when he discovers his great-great grandfather Julius Caesar Tingman fought for the Union after 21 years as a slave in this clip. Now multiply that times 12 to get a sense of how amazing this program is.
I LOVE this show, especially because one of the people’s ancestors is from my home county. I’ll have to set the DVR.
Oh cool! Which of the people is your countyperson?
Dr. Ben Carson–the neurosurgeon. You can read about my reaction to this in my archives on my blog–. Tarhar. And sorry if my tags don’t work!
Ok, I don’t think my tags worked–it’s the 02/06/2006 entry, if you’re interested.
Holy crap you went to Copeland High in Copeland City! That’s awesome.