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Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates Jr. - General Discussion


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Tonight, January 2, 2024:
Season 10, Episode 1, "Born to Sing"

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Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the remarkable roots of singers Alanis Morissette and Ciara, using DNA analysis and genealogical detective work to travel back centuries, revealing his guest's hidden connections to history and to music.

 

 

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On 6/8/2023 at 4:48 PM, OtterMommy said:

According to the National Archives, the preferred terms are enslaved people and enslavers.

 

When I read this my first thought was, preferred by whom? Who does the National Archives represent? I still don't understand "who" decided that saying "slaves" is now wrong? Is this just American people that don't like the term? Because slavery still exists in so many areas in the world.

Edited by Chalby
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On 6/8/2023 at 7:48 PM, OtterMommy said:

According to the National Archives, the preferred terms are enslaved people and enslavers.

4 hours ago, Chalby said:

When I read this my first thought was, preferred by whom? Who does the National Archives represent? I still don't understand "who" decided that saying "slaves" is now wrong? Is this just American people that don't like the term? Because slavery still exists in so many areas in the world.

The linked article cites sources for the usage of the updated terms, with those sources authored by academics who are historically and genetically related and/or descended from enslaved people who were labeled slaves.

As a retired college reference librarian who still misses working with students, professors, and the public to find the information they seek, I offer this 2015 Slate article as an additional source that weighs the values of both terms:
https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/05/historians-debate-whether-to-use-the-term-slave-or-enslaved-person.html

In Library School, we were taught to end our Reference Interviews with: “Have I answered your question?”
But I am retired, so I’ll just say: I may have given you more questions than answers.
❤️👵🏻

Edited by shapeshifter
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1. your family were slaves

2. your family owned slaves

3. your extended family died horribly in the Holocaust.

After 9 years of the same story, I think I'm really done.  I always check the first few minutes, and if the celebrity guest is really engaging I stay on.  Otherwise, I can't believe that there isn't another story out there.

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17 minutes ago, Mermaid Under said:

1. your family were slaves

2. your family owned slaves

3. your extended family died horribly in the Holocaust.

After 9 years of the same story, I think I'm really done.  I always check the first few minutes, and if the celebrity guest is really engaging I stay on.  Otherwise, I can't believe that there isn't another story out there.

Your family was part of a rebel group 

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15 hours ago, Mermaid Under said:

1. your family were slaves

2. your family owned slaves

3. your extended family died horribly in the Holocaust.

After 9 years of the same story, I think I'm really done.  I always check the first few minutes, and if the celebrity guest is really engaging I stay on.  Otherwise, I can't believe that there isn't another story out there.

It's hard for me to imagine that I would get tired of genealogy stories, but the repetition is getting very tiresome.  Those are the stories they are looking for apparently.  I know there are ancestor stories with different focuses out there.

I don't see anyone in the lineup for this season as exciting to me either.  I will slog along with it though. 

Edited by Suzn
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5 hours ago, auntjess said:

There are some spoilers for this season in that video (in case you're like me and enjoy the "DNA cousin" reveals), his dream guests include: Al Roker, Dolly Parton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Johnny Mathis, Clint Eastwood, and Martin Scorcese.

He also tells a story about how he used to do only African-American guests, and after 2 seasons he got a letter from a Jewish lady who asked him why he didn't do white people!  So that might explain why his stories tend towards the African-American and Jewish experiences...

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Season 10, Episode 1, "Born to Sing,"
first aired on PBS, pbs.org/video/born-to-sing, January 2, 2024:

One thing that bothered me in 10.1 "Born to Sing," was that both of the subjects smiled at times that did not make sense. I've caught myself smiling on Zoom when recounting unpleasant experiences, but it's an odd editing choice for the show.

The other thing that bothered me was the positive spin that was included in both subjects' stories about events that were not really so positive:

  • Ciara's grandparent growing up looking different racially than his siblings had to have resulted in some alienation or resentments, but we only heard Ciara choosing to believe that her great-grandmother was in love when she got pregnant by the white man who had grown up with the black man who was her husband and fathered all her other children. That was an unfounded conclusion. Rape or unwanted compromise were just as likely.
     
  • Alanis Morisette thought the foolhardy dare that led to the drowning of three men displayed a spirit of adventure.

Again, I wonder what was edited out, and if these positive spins were selected to offset the grim stories of slavery and genocide.

Here are the admixture charts shown at the end:

alanis-morissette-fyr-10-1-born-to-sing-52-12.thumb.png.d3020335d72f16466b7368d9ae736a9a.png

ciara-princess-harris-fyr-1o-1-born-to-sing-52-04.thumb.png.21e17c07f0b5e6f13054f16624a7f0e1.png

It would have been interesting to learn about Ciara's Native American ancestor.

____________________

 

On 1/2/2024 at 8:43 PM, Mermaid Under said:

After 9 years of the same story, I think I'm really done. 

23 hours ago, Suzn said:

It's hard for me to imagine that I would get tired of genealogy stories, but the repetition is getting very tiresome.

When I am no longer interested in the stories in any TV series, my MO is to stop watching and stop following.
But just the other day I saw that a series I intended to drop because it had devolved into soap opera and gratuitous crime stories (9-1-1) is now premiering with the original disaster plot scenario.
So I guess I'll keep watching. 

Since FYR started out as exploring just African American roots and then branched out a bit, I guess there's always a chance that any person's ethnic background might be featured in a future episode. 
So those who are bored might want to keep checking back.
But since HLG Jr says they diversified in response to a letter (or email?) from a viewer, perhaps that's a legitimate avenue for any of us to see our backgrounds included on the show?

 

 

Edited by shapeshifter
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For me, the wildest part of the episode was the "Who's Your Cousin?" segment, when Derek Jeter turned out to be Ciara's distant cousin. As a long-time NY Yankees' fan, subjected for a couple of decades to the New York Post's continual "Page Six" coverage of the parade of beautiful, famous women Jeter was dating, the first thing that ran through my mind was, "Wait, weren't they together at one point?" 😄 While that was NOT the case, the two did meet at the 2015 ESPY Awards and there were photos, which I probably saw at the time.

Ciara Reacts to Learning She’s Related to Derek Jeter on ‘Finding Your Roots’

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On 1/2/2024 at 2:29 PM, shapeshifter said:

 

As a retired college reference librarian who still misses working with students, professors, and the public to find the information they seek, I offer this 2015 Slate article as an additional source that weighs the values of both terms:
https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/05/historians-debate-whether-to-use-the-term-slave-or-enslaved-person.html

❤️👵🏻

Thank you so much! I was a teacher, newly retired, but I can't say I've actually used slave or enslaved while teaching because I don't recall this ever been discussed. Usually our curriculum instruction centered around First Nations' people.

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On 1/3/2024 at 7:44 AM, Suzn said:

It's hard for me to imagine that I would get tired of genealogy stories, but the repetition is getting very tiresome.  Those are the stories they are looking for apparently.  I know there are ancestor stories with different focuses out there.

I don't see anyone in the lineup for this season as exciting to me either.  I will slog along with it though. 

I realized after reading some comments, that this show wasn't meant to start out analyzing everybody. I thought it was a way in which to allow black Americans to try and connect the dots when tracing their roots? But in the last 3 years of watching, I saw there were other people on but it seemed to be what you're saying the same story with each one they were either Jewish and in the Holocaust or they were enslaved.

still love genealogy shows, but I think I'd prefer one that combines Finding Your Roots with Who do you Think You Are?

Mind you, I also enjoy anyone who has criminals in their history, or a big scandal, or even learning that they had different parents than they thought. I know it's twisted but I love twists and turns like that in genealogy. I'm pretty sure my history has a lot of twists...lol

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7 minutes ago, Chalby said:

I realized after reading some comments, that this show wasn't meant to start out analyzing everybody. I thought it was a way in which to allow black Americans to try and connect the dots when tracing their roots? But in the last 3 years of watching, I saw there were other people on but it seemed to be what you're saying the same story with each one they were either Jewish and in the Holocaust or they were enslaved.

 

I'm wondering if it's because some people have a tough time finding resources connecting to their families/roots.  Immigrants often left the old country because of revolutions and/or war, so information could have been destroyed.  If you're of Chinese heritage, your family kinship book could have been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (where anything that is seen as "tradition" was destroyed) or during the Pacific War - or other wars/revolutions (I'm using the Cultural Revolution as an example since it was a HUGE Cancel Culture Campaign).  In Europe, church records could have been burnt during various revolutions or wars.  

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5 hours ago, PRgal said:

I'm wondering if it's because some people have a tough time finding resources connecting to their families/roots.  Immigrants often left the old country because of revolutions and/or war, so information could have been destroyed. 

I came to a similar conclusion. The show has vast resources at the ready and anyone whose family tree only goes back 3 generations would appreciate this assistance. I'd like it too as I know nothing on my mother's side (aside from her mom's name).

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3 minutes ago, Chalby said:

I came to a similar conclusion. The show has vast resources at the ready and anyone whose family tree only goes back 3 generations would appreciate this assistance. I'd like it too as I know nothing on my mother's side (aside from her mom's name).

I think I only know ONE great-grandmother's maiden name.  And it's going to be pretty hard to track her family down since it's really common.  To be honest, to really track down the women in my family, I'd have to go through a gazillion kinship books since women are barely a blip in traditional Confucionist cultures.  And if the woman is a concubine?  That blip is probably even smaller.  

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7 hours ago, Driad said:

It would be helpful if people who create episode threads would include the guests' names with the titles.  adTHANKSvance!

I was still able to add the guests’ names.
Hopefully that will set a precedent for other episode thread starters.🙂

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HLG Jr. is on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon tonight (Friday, January 19. 2024, 11:34 p.m. ET, Season 11, Episode 63) on NBC. 

It will also be available on Peacock.

Here’s the YouTube clip:

 

Edited by shapeshifter
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Saw Seth Myers do standup tonight and he does a bit about his experience of doing the show. Mocked the whole "how do you feel about it?", especially finding out a relative did a school play, and said he wasn't an interesting guest. He talked about turning the page and finding out his relative committed suicide and Dr Gates said "sorry, we'll edit that out. Turn the next page". 

Was really interesting seeing his experience turned into comedy.

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6 hours ago, marina to said:

Saw Seth Myers do standup tonight and he does a bit about his experience of doing the show. Mocked the whole "how do you feel about it?", especially finding out a relative did a school play, and said he wasn't an interesting guest. He talked about turning the page and finding out his relative committed suicide and Dr Gates said "sorry, we'll edit that out. Turn the next page". 

Was really interesting seeing his experience turned into comedy.

Thanks for this information. Kind of a revelation. 
I wonder if Seth's stand-up tour will result in a Netflix special including this bit.

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I guess either no one watched last night or no one was interested.

I was impressed by Lena Dunham's thoughts on what she learned about her ancestors.  Reconciling the things to be proud of with unfortune slave ownership was something she was working out and coming to terms with it. 

I'm really looking forward to next week with the non-celebrities. 

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Suzn, I thought it was one of their better shows.  Both guests had more inciteful responses than the usual "Oh, wow."  

I wish they would go into more detail than focusing on one or two ancestors per guest.  I saw in passing that one of Michael Douglas's ancestors was named Rutgers.  Any relation to Henry Rutgers, for whom the college was named?

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1 hour ago, Suzn said:

I guess either no one watched last night or no one was interested.

I was impressed by Lena Dunham's thoughts on what she learned about her ancestors.  Reconciling the things to be proud of with unfortune slave ownership was something she was working out and coming to terms with it. 

I'm really looking forward to next week with the non-celebrities. 

Regarding Lena Dunham, I think everyone will find something about their ancestors that would be considered inappropriate by today's standards.  I often tell people that at least one of my great-grandfathers had concubines/more than one wife.  I mentioned this on another person's Substack post and one of the replies came from someone who said she felt badly for my great-grandfather's concubines/sister wives and "countless other women" who had to go through that.  However, those for those women, it was the norm.  And we can't use our normal for them (I told her that it was a very outsider perspective).  Plus just like marriages everywhere, abuse happens in some while not in others.  I'm not ashamed at my history that these relationships occurred.  It was just a thing.  

Hierarchy is STILL a thing in East Asian cultures (just look at how we address family members.  Each and every person has more than one title, according to how they're related to another.  As in, you call your dad's older brother one name, but said uncle's children will call your dad something else (by the way, you'd call that uncle "Bak" while your cousin(s) call your dad "Suk").

Edited by PRgal
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6 minutes ago, tessaray said:

The cousin reveals were good too. 

  Hide contents

Wasn't another guest also related to Larry David?

 

And there was another guest who was related to ScarJo.

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I did an internet search and came up with Andy Cohen.  I think there may be another one - if she was revealed on his episode, there may have been someone else on her episode.

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Despite the article title, this is not per se about the show, but I thought it would be of interest to posters here, so I'm providing a "gift" link to this NYT "Tech Talk" article in its entirety:
"Finding Your Roots With Help From Your Phone:
"Everyday tools and free apps on your mobile device can help you collect, translate and digitize new material for your family-tree files."
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/05/technology/personaltech/digitize-family-photos-genealogy-phone.html?unlocked_article_code=1.yk0.WcQO.eU6W24BcE_zD&smid=url-share

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51 minutes ago, LizDC said:

 

OMG, and Lea Salonga will be on it too!!! She's my favourite Eponine!

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I wish I could figure out why my DVR thinks every single repeat of this is New!  Last night's was David Duchovny and Richard Kind which I've seen at least twice before.

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On 8/15/2024 at 6:34 PM, meep.meep said:

I wish I could figure out why my DVR thinks every single repeat of this is New!  Last night's was David Duchovny and Richard Kind which I've seen at least twice before.

It has to do with your TV provider and how they "flag" it on their online guide. They're the ones to complain to about this. This used to happen to me with Comcast/Xfinity for this show but it hasn't happened in a while so maybe they got the message.

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20 hours ago, DanaK said:

Wow. That's a lot of detail, including 2 chefs on Feb. 4 and:

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The public can explore and share their family histories via social media using the hashtag #FindingYourRoots on Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok, via Facebook.com/FindingYourRootsPBS and @HenryLouisGates, and on the series companion site, pbs.org/FindingYourRoots.

About:

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Corporate support for Season 11 of FINDING YOUR ROOTS WITH HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR. is provided by Gilead Sciences, Inc., Ancestry(R) and Johnson & Johnson. Major support is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Support is also provided by Ford Foundation; Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; Candace King Weir; the Inkwell Society; and by public television viewers.


 

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A fun twist would be finding NON royal ancestors of royals.   Sure we know about their most royal ancestors, but most of them have a few doozies mixed in over the past 800 years. 

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José Andrés, Joy Behar, Kristen Bell, Rubén Blades, Lonnie Bunch, Rita Dove, Laurence Fishburne, Debra Messing, Natalie Morales, Michael Imperioli, Melanie Lynskey, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Lea Salonga, Amanda Seyfried, Dax Shepard, Sean Sherman, Sharon Stone, Amy Tan and Chrissy Teigen

This is the list of guests from the link in the previous posting.  I don't know Lonnie Burch or Rita Dove, but they are black academics, and Gates always includes a few shows devoted to academics, rather than politicians or entertainers.  I don't know Sean Sherman but looking him up I see he is Indigenous/Native American.  I wonder if he will refuse genetic testing like the woman from Canada whose name I don't remember did?

Just to add, other than José Andrés, whose work I admire, and whose personality always seems to shine through when I see him interviewed, none of these people interest me. 

Edited by Mermaid Under
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