Access to this video is a benefit for members through
Back to Show
Watch Preview
Finding Your Roots
We Come from People
Season 2
Episode 6
Trace three guests’ roots into the heart of slavery, revealing that there is no singular narrative and challenging preconceptions of an era that shaped our nation’s sense of itself. Nas discovers a web of his slave ancestors' intimate relationship with their slave master; Angela Bassett meets ancestors whose slave family tragedy is rivaled only by a triumphant emancipation story
Support Provided By
Season
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:09
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. solves mysteries for 3 everyday Americans chosen to be guests.
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:09
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. uncovers the surprising roots of Michael Douglas & Lena Dunham.
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:09
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. maps family trees of comedian Tracy Morgan & actor Anthony Ramos.
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:09
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. shares ancestry with actor Danielle Brooks & singer Dionne Warwick.
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:09
Sunny Hostin and Jesse Williams discover ancestors from very diverse places.
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:09
Bob Odenkirk and Iliza Shlesinger—two very funny people whose family trees brim with drama
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:09
Sammy Hagar and Ed O’Neill discover the dramatic stories hidden within their own roots.
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:09
LeVar Burton & Wes Studi grew up fatherless, haunted by questions about their family trees
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:09
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. unearths the hidden roots of Valerie Bertinelli and Brendan Fraser.
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:09
Explore the roots of Alanis Morissette and Ciara and their hidden connections to history.
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:09
Henry Louis Gates uncovers the lost roots of actors Billy Crudup and Tamera Mowry-Housley.
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:09
Journalists Jim Acosta and Van Jones uncover the ancestors who blazed a trail for them.