New York (AP) – For 11 seasons, Henry Louis Gates Jr. sat in front of his guests on the PBS series popular “Find your roots” And led them through the secrets of their family tree. Tuesday, it is in turn.
The Harvard scientist has learned a puzzle for a long time on his great-great-grandmother, Jane Gates, information that blurs his ancestry and opens a new branch that dates back to Ireland.
“I was moved to tears,” Gates told the Associated Press before broadcasting. “I used to pass his grave to the plot of the Gates in the cemetery of Rose Hill and I would say:” grandmother, I will get you out. I will tell the world your secret. “”
“Finding your roots” is PBS’s most watched program on linear television and the most broadcast non -dramatic program. Season 10 has reached nearly 18 million people on linear and digital platforms and also received its first Emmy appointment.
“The two subliminal messages of” finding your roots “, which are necessary more emergency than ever is that what has made America formidable is that we are a nation of immigrants,” explains Gates. “And secondly, at the level of the genome, despite our apparent physical differences, we are the same at 99.99%.”
Secrets of season 11
Season 11 presented Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell, Melanie Lynskey, Chef Jose Andres, Sharon Stone and Amanda Seyfried, Who learned why his third paternal great-grandfather was murdered.
Gates shares the last episode with Laurence Fishburne, who learns the identity of his biological father. It turns out that the two men loved jazz, which delighted Dyllan McGee, who helped to create and produce “find your roots”.
“This pointed out how family connections can shape us, even without knowing it, and I wondered if the reconnection with our past somehow affirms the meaning of our own stories by showing us how every individual on our tree shapes us even when we do not know,” she said.
How it started
The series started in 2006 under the title “African American Lives”, designed by Gates in the middle of the night in his bathroom. He invited eminent black celebrities and traced their family trees in slavery. When the paper path was exhausted, they used DNA to see which ethnic group they came to Africa.
Beginning by a spectator to open the show to non -black celebrities, Gates agreed and the series was renamed “Faces of America”, which had to be changed again after taking the name. Along the way, Gates had an intensive DNA course.
“For a guy with a doctorate in English literature, I think I can do the exam in Genetics,” he said, before proving it with a deepened explanation of autosomal DNA.
Over the years, the show has given fascinating results, as when Natalie Morales discovered that it was linked to one of the legendary Pirates of the Caribbean and when the former star of “Saturday Night Live” Andy Samberg found his organic grandmother and grandfather. He revealed that Rupaul and US SEN. Cory Booker are cousins, just like Meryl Streep and Eva Longoria.
The guests included the former American president of the Chamber Paul Ryan, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, designer Diane von Furstenberg and the author of “Game of Thrones” George RR Martin.
“I always tell my guests that you are not responsible for the crazy things of your ancestors. I don’t care what they did. Guilt is not inheritable, ”says Gates. “You have to understand how people worked in the past without judging them.”
A core of truth
He and his team – in particular the Cece Moore genetic genealogist – have found that traditional family stories transmitted through generations are often filled with a few lies, often to hide bad behavior.
“I call it where there is smoke, there is fire. The stories are never accurate, but they are often close, ”explains Gates. “There is a core of truth there.”
Researchers took four years to resolve the mystery of whom was the great-great-grandfather of Gates, the man who imbued Jane Gates. The story she told about the father of her children turned out to be correct.
The researchers show her a VECRology of 1888 for her and an announcement of 1839 for her sale. Gates comments that he saw a thousand sales like that, but it struck differently. At the end, he looks again a photo of Jane Gates. “I see a lot of pain in these eyes and now I know why.”
“Something has changed for him that day,” said McGee. “I remember that he was calling me after the revelation saying:” It was the best day of my life! ” It was a treat for the whole team to be able to give him the gift of a missing link in his family history that he gave hundreds of our guests. »»
Gates is a great defender that everyone should have their family tree traced and pushing the idea that digging the past is division.
“I believe that knowing our ancestors is fundamental to knowing us,” he says. “The only way to manage the past is to know the past.”
“In terms of people who claim that the past is not relevant and that we have to wait impatiently, William Faulkner wrote:” The past is never dead. It has not even passed, “adds Gates.” It is always with us, shaping both who we are and society and our standards in which we operate. “
