Finding Your Roots

Culture Series / 7 Seasons

For more than a decade, renowned Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has helped to expand America’s sense of itself, stimulating a national conversation about identity with humor, wisdom, and compassion. Professor Gates has explored the ancestry of dozens of influential people from diverse backgrounds, taking millions of viewers deep into the past to reveal the connections that bind us all.

Watch Latest: S11 E7

52m 10s / TV-PG

Leslie Odom, Jr.'s 5th Great-Grandfather Was a Slaveowner

1m 14s

Leslie Odom, Jr. wrestles with the realization that his 5th great-grandfather was a white slave owner after reading the will in which he bequeathed some of his belongings to his “illegitimate, colored” children.

Nathan Lane’s Grandfather Died in a Workhouse

51s

Nathan Lane gets the disturbing news that his great-great-grandfather died while living in a workhouse, an arcane system of labor in the UK that was basically a factory that exchanged dorms and food for hard labor. You literally lived at work.

John Leguizamo Learns About His 9th Great-Grandfather

1m 6s

“I can’t believe I got a ninth great-grandfather. What, are you gonna go to the beginning of time?” John Leguizamo is stunned by how far back his lineage has been traced.

John Leguizamo’s Lineage is Traced Back 17 Generations

1m

“My family is going to freak out and bug out.” We were able to trace back John Leguizamo’s lineage over ten generations, learning that his 15th great-grandfather was the governor of the Pompeian district in Spain.

Lena Waithe Discovers Her First Free, Post-Slavery Ancestor

1m 36s

“I’m filled with gratitude for all of these amazing human beings who lived and worked and raised their children and fought, and survived.” Lena Waithe after reading the birth record of her great-great grandfather, the first person on her family tree to be born free after the abolishment of slavery.

Lena Waithe Learns Grim Statistics on Slave Life Expectancy

1m 22s

“I think there’s a level of ‘not being able to understand’ that I don’t think will ever come. It’s not meant to be understood.” Lena Waithe learns that the life expectancy of slaves on a sugar plantation was seven to nine years.

Lena Waithe Learns the Source of the Name “Waithe”

1m 21s

“It’s painful because your name is such a huge part of your identity. So for someone to put their identity onto your family, it just feels unjust,” Lena Waithe reacts to hearing that her surname derives from her ancestors’ slave-owning family in Christ Church, Barbados.

A Family, Torn Apart by Slavery, Reunites

1m 29s

“This is a movie!” Terry Crews is relieved to hear that members of his family, torn apart during slavery when the children were sold off, eventually found their way back to each other again.

Fighters Preview

32s

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. sits down with Terry Crews and Tony Danza, both guests who overcame adversity, to discover they aren’t the first in their families to beat the odds through sheer force of will. Tuesdays at 8/7c

Mexican Roots Preview

31s / TV-PG

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the deep Mexican roots of talk show host Mario Lopez and comedian Melissa Villaseñor, uncovering ancestors stretching back to the 1500s. Weaving together stories of migratory farmers, Spanish Conquistadors and Native Americans, Gates conjures up personal histories of diverse, sometimes conflicting, elements.

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