African American Lives - Wednesday on PBS

[msgadget]

I missed the first two installments but the remaining two will be aired Wednesday and I believe a video/dvd is available for sale. I heard a discussion on NPR today about the DNA of Dr. Ben Carson, Quincy Jones, Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Tucker, and Oprah were traced back to Africa.



* "Before the War" (2/8/06, 9:00 p.m. ET)--Dr. Gates finds his genealogical research becoming even more difficult as he continues from the Civil War back through the Colonial period of American history. War service records and ways of recording property during slavery's apogee - such as inventories and sales or gifts of slaves - help fill in the participants' family trees. In West Virginia, Dr. Gates learns from a court transcript about the legal struggle of his ancestor Isaac Clifford, a free man who was kidnapped and accused of being a runaway slave.


* "Beyond the Middle Passage" (2/8/06, 10:00 p.m. ET)--Having traveled genealogical trails until the paper trail ran out, Dr. Gates visits scientists who are using DNA analysis to trace ancestral roots. Among them is Dr. Rick Kittles, who is building a DNA database of present-day African populations, against which he compares the genetic signature of the series' participants. With their DNA results and genealogical research in hand, Dr. Gates meets with leading historians of the slave trade. Along the way, he learns several stunning facts about his own ancestry. Finally, Dr. Gates and one participant journey to Africa, where they visit the West African port from which the participant's patrilineal ancestor was most likely shipped into slavery and meet local tribal elders, whose DNA suggests they are the participant's long-lost cousins.