S11.E9: Moving on Up (Sheryl Lee Ralph and historian Lonnie Bunch)

[Yeah No]

Quote

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. meets actor Sheryl Lee Ralph and historian Lonnie Bunch—two African Americans whose ancestors broke boundaries as they moved from slavery to freedom. Traveling from plantations in the south to cities in the north, Gates uses his detective skills to piece together the lives of women and men who survived unimaginable ordeals—and emerged to forge thriving families.

Episode air date 4/1/2025.

Edited March 20 by Yeah No

[Dirge]

The 3/4 episode for me in CA was a rerun, I figured because of the SOTU address. 

[One Imaginary Girl]

My DVR has a new episode coming up on April 1.

[sempervivum]

More of the same. The only trope missing was: 'And guess what! Your ancestor served in the army in the Revolution/Civil War! Guess which side?!'

Sheryl is gorgeous and doesn't look anywhere near her age. However, she seemed so 'actressy' that I couldn't really tell if any of her reactions were genuine. Her imitation of her Jamaican mom was funny, though.

Lonnie Bunch is a historian, yet he seemed astonished that people 200 years ago thought about established institutions (ie slavery)differently than we do.

 

 

[buckboard]

So, when Sheryl Lee Ralph is told that her ancestor was a free Black woman in the South BEFORE the Civil War, neither she nor Gates asks how that came about.  Did her owner free her because he loved her?  Was he the father of her child?  Did the show do a DNA test? 

We may never know how this unusual situation came about, but at least you'd think it was reasonable for someone to ask.

Edited April 2 by buckboard

[Dirge]

8 hours ago, sempervivum said:

Sheryl is gorgeous and doesn't look anywhere near her age. However, she seemed so 'actressy' that I couldn't really tell if any of her reactions were genuine. Her imitation of her Jamaican mom was funny, though.

Yeah, I thought that she seemed a bit over the top but didn't look like she felt that way. But then I thought, she had 40 years of trying to be recognized for her talent in Hollywood, so maybe that affect is how she kept things together. 

[Yeah No]

I finally got around to watching this episode only to find that my PBS station goofed and aired the Dionne Warwick episode from last year by mistake even though it was marked as this one. Thankfully it's airing again a few times so I've set my DVR to record it tomorrow and hopefully it'll be the right episode this time. Ugh.

[shapeshifter]

I finally watched this last night. 
Sheryl Lee Ralph was terrific. 
I thought her family story was unique in some ways.
In these days when U.S. history and education are in danger of being dismantled, the more episodes, the better, IMO. 

Again HLG Jr seemed convinced of a romantic love story. 
Wouldn't it have been just as possible that her ancestor's first husband was actually her lighter-skinned, favored brother, and that the children were from her second husband, who she legally married right after he died? 
It seems like some further DNA research could confirm or deny either story. Or not? 

I appreciated her reaction to learning Samuel L Jackson was her relative — that her brother(?) always reminded her of him. 

 

Lonnie Bunch was great too, but he doesn't have great screen presence. 
Could they have had the camera not quite so close? 

 

I might rewatch it when I'm not so sleepy.