ancestry

In a history-changing turn of events, millions of Freedmen’s Bureau records from the 19th century have recently been updated to give many Black families the answers they've been hoping for in the journey to discovering their lineage.

Actor Sterling K. Brown was overwhelmed to the point of tears when he found out key details about his lineage on a recent episode of Henry Louis Gates’ show “Finding Your Roots.” Before Gates dove into Brown’s deep past, the Emmy-Award winning actor had to come to terms with the loss of his most recent ancestor, his father. The […]

Ancestry is something that most people are super interested in. Dr. Henry Louis “Skip” Gates, has been helping people discover their family history for years. He has had over 200 guests on his show “Finding Your Roots,” and still says his most moving experience was  “Tom Joyner without a doubt.” Tom found his family and […]

A white police officer in Michigan who says he was teased by fellow officers when he told them that he was part black will receive a $65,000 settlement, reports CNN. Sgt. Cleon Brown, a 19-year veteran with the police department in Hastings, Michigan, said he claims that his colleagues began to taunt him in 2016 […]

Before the Black Panther documentary airs on PBS Tuesday at 9 p.m., a new episode of Finding Your Roots featuring Sean “Diddy” Combs and LL Cool J premieres at 8, with both rappers discovering they have ancestors who were living in the U.S. before the Emancipation Proclamation — but were not enslaved. Dr. Henry Louis Gates talks about […]

NEW YORK (AP) — PBS’ popular “Finding Your Roots” series, temporarily shelved after an episode omitted references to the slaveholding past of Ben Affleck’s ancestor at the actor’s request, will return to public television for its third season in January The show has hired a new fact-checker and two new genealogists as part of its […]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — PBS put its “Finding Your Roots” series on hold Wednesday after determining an episode that omitted references to Ben Affleck’s ancestor as a slave owner violated its standards. The public television service said it is postponing the show’s third season and delaying a commitment to a fourth year until it is […]

Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.  has made it a mission to uncover and celebrate history. One of his most compelling ways to do so is the work he does in genealogy. On the show African-American Lives, he traced the ancestry of African-Americans (including Tom Joyner’s) through slavery and back to Africa. He expanded his reach […]