Henry Louis Gates Jr. Unearths Genealogy of Religious Leaders On 'Finding Your Roots'

This season on his PBS series, "Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr.," Henry Louis Gates has already helped media legend, Barbara Walters, discover her genealogy and uncovered a connection between Kevin Bacon and his wife Kyra Sedgwick.

This week, the renowned Harvard professor is tackling the origins of three religious leaders from different faiths. Pastor Rick Warren, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl and Sheik Yassir Qadhi all have complex family histories that shaped their religious beliefs. With Gates' help, the three unearth a fascinating discovery about the struggle to attain religious freedom in the U.S. and the challenge of assimilating while simultaneously practicing one's faith.

Find out what the three uncover on Sunday night at 9 p.m. on PBS.

From our partners

• Selita Ebanks Gets Back To Werk With New S&M Style Editorial. Peep The Pics! - styleblazer.com
• Ahmad 'Real' Givens Of VH1's 'Real Chance Of Love' In The Fight Of His Life After Stage 4 Cancer Diagnosis - madamenoire.com
• 5 (Fun) Things You Should Know About March Madness Right Now - colorlines.com

Comments

[LFox6]

04:00 PM on 04/17/2012

This is a great show, and Prof. Gates does a wonderful job as host and enlightener - bravo!

[flying hawk]

09:54 AM on 04/17/2012

How would old Beer buddy Gate's know his own relatives for sure. Remember mothers baby fathers maybe. No one knows what bull jumped in the pasture when no one was watching including mine

[sf girl]

06:31 PM on 04/17/2012

You sound ridiculous.

[suemj]

09:23 PM on 04/17/2012

Whaaaa? Huh?! You're not making any kind of sense.

[vergoton]

09:51 AM on 04/17/2012

I can easily tell that their roots are from Africa......but, he likes to tell them that they are descendants from kings, queens and mumble jumble to make them feel important.............

[MSchlagel]

11:58 AM on 04/17/2012

I don't think you watch the program. If you did, you would know that there are multiple aspects to what Professor Gates does in this program. He doesn't insist that you are incapable of distinguishing yourself from your ancestors nor does he insist that everyone is lost royalty (just ask Stephen Colbert and Geoffrey Canada). He treats our history as part jigsaw puzzle and part introspection on our past and what we may have learned as humans and members of a civilization as each generation progresses.

[vergoton]

03:47 PM on 04/17/2012

If someone looks Irish, Mexican, German, African....there you go what difference does it make. However, I just do not see it possible to trace African's roots because, even today there are not computers or records in Africa.....through DNA I understand but, there is a very broad spectrum of possibilities to where someone is from obviously they are not going to embrace the twon drunk but, the Nubian Queen....................

[Lkdub7]

09:33 AM on 04/17/2012

Don't let em drag you out your own house next time, beer summit or not lol. Seriously, nice Job Professor. Keep up the good work.

[westreal]

09:23 AM on 04/17/2012

I love this show.

[LFox6]

04:00 PM on 04/17/2012

Me, too! :D

[Crisdean Wulver]

11:50 PM on 04/16/2012

He looks like a lack Burl Ives.

:-)

Burl Ives:
http://blog.allanellenberger.com/wp-content/uploads/ives-burl.jpg

[westreal]

09:23 AM on 04/17/2012

Maybe they're related. lol

[Crisdean Wulver]

11:41 AM on 04/17/2012

:-)

P.S. I meant to say "black" Burl Ives, not "lack" Burl Ives.

[Crisdean Wulver]

11:42 AM on 04/17/2012

Maybe they were twins separated at birth.

[HawaiiShira]

04:05 PM on 04/16/2012

Professor Gates has unlocked the genealogy key for many Americans. What many African-Americans realize is that their genes have been commingled with those of slave masters' from the beginning of this nation, to wit, Thomas Jefferson & his ongoing relationship with Sally Hemmings & the numerous children she bore, fathered solely by Jefferson, and whose modern day descendants still bear striking resemblance to their "great-great-great grandfather".

My family is more fortunate in being able to trace my father's maternal roots back to our first known Plummer, Cupid Plummer, who fought in the Revolutionary War, taking his Maryland slaveowner's place to gain his freedom. Sadly, his extended family would fall back into slavery, but their history would be recorded. The Plummer Family history is enshrined in the Smithsonian at Anacostia through the only known diary written by a slave, my great-great grandfather, Adam Francis Plummer, and his experiences as part of the Calvert Plantation owned by Lord Baltimore.

We were always aware of our history & genealogy, something that allowed us to understand our roots, and the promise of literacy & education.

[Lechiffre]

04:53 PM on 04/16/2012

Well aren't you guys from Africa ? how come it is never a part of the ethnic narrative , I mean it helps explains the genesis of black people ? or is it that "not obvious " .Because I don't think Skip Gates seem to have a problem with it or does he ?
I'd like to understand why everyone explains a distant european gene with such great details but when it comes to rest of the black DNA people get nervous.

There is always this tendency to explain away the african bloodlines.

[gthpplschmp]

05:42 PM on 04/16/2012

I think the show delves into the African ancestry of people a lot. But seeing that black people were forced to give up their language and customs, it's harder to narrow down the specifics of where the black ancestors originated from. Little detailed info was documented about where they came from, too. So a lot has to be discovered through scientific testing to try to figure the place of origin. Think about having to do that for all your previous ancestors, not just one. You will see that a lot of black people with Native American ancestry don't know the exacts of that as well because their population almost being dwindled down to nothing. Although when genes are tested, a lot of time it shows a Native American component as well. Whereas if the black person has white ancestors, their history has been more documented and can be researched more easily. I wish everybody could take the test because many white Americans would find out they had black, Native American, Asian, etc..ancestry. The man that devised the test was a white scientist, but I can't think of his name. He came to find that he had 11% African ancestry. So the majority of us have several admixtures in our ancestry.

[RiceStarz]

05:49 PM on 04/16/2012

You need help. Not in just tracing your own African blood lines, but help in spirit and life overall.

[flying hawk]

09:57 AM on 04/17/2012

THAT MEANS THAT THE SLAVE OWNERS ARE YOUR RELATIVES NOT MINE.

[Hoodooman]

03:49 PM on 04/16/2012

The whole concept of race and ancestral background having anything to do with who you are as a person, or that you should feel a kinship with someone who you have never met, is trivial at best.

[vergoton]

09:52 AM on 04/17/2012

AGREED..................

[hypyrwyf]

03:36 PM on 04/16/2012

I was so not surprised Rick was 100% white. It's a great show, I love to watch it.

[LFox6]

04:03 PM on 04/17/2012

I know LOL, don't think he was surprised either, that was so funny - "Brother, you are a WHITE man" LOL

[Paul]

03:14 PM on 04/16/2012

Really like these shows...

[bleak]

06:56 AM on 04/16/2012

I've been watching this series since it started. Mr. Gates has revealed to us, in the best possible of ways, through its people, what America is.
PBS keeps coming up with such amazing television. I’m entertained as well as informed.
Something that would sorely be missed if it was ever to go.

[mr whiteffolks]

07:27 AM on 04/16/2012

America is a stolen land made of up of many diverse people ! Some of us may be very distant relatives and may not want to acknowledge it but facts are facts !

[Aesthete]

11:51 AM on 04/16/2012

True. I am descended from both the ranks of those stolen and those who did the stealing.

[Hoodooman]

03:50 PM on 04/16/2012

Stolen land?

[LFox6]

04:04 PM on 04/17/2012

LOVE ME some PBS!

[Calimomof2]

12:38 AM on 04/16/2012

Watching and enjoying the show right now.

[janman50]

05:02 PM on 04/15/2012

Dr. Gates has inspired me to preserve what history of my family that I have and dig deeper for the for the un-named ancestors that I only know of by the stories my grandparents spoke of.

[Aesthete]

11:53 AM on 04/16/2012

Great! Keep up the good work and continue researching your family history. I have found my family's oral and recorded history to be a great treasure.

[hoochie-coochie]

01:52 PM on 04/15/2012

Skip Gates is a national treasure. I wish more academics would try to contribute half as much to our society.