In Search of Our Roots

Starred review from November 10, 2008
In this companion book to a two-part PBS series, Gates (Colored People
) combines rigorous historical research with DNA analysis to recreate the family trees of African-American celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Quincy Jones, as well as intellectuals, authors, comedians, musicians and athletes. Most of the subjects knew very little about ancestors as recent as grandparents, to say nothing of the information DNA results provided about their African and European ancestry. Gates connects gaps in ancestral knowledge to the fundamental evil of the American slave era, when slave owners and sellers purposely “robbed black human beings of... all aspects of civilization that make a human being 'human’: names, birth dates, family ties.” Though the book relies too heavily on the notion that knowing one’s ancestry leads to a better understanding of aspects of one’s own personality, Gates proves in case after case that the past brings itself to bear on the present. In Chris Rock’s case, had he known he had a 19th-century ancestor who had served as a South Carolina legislator, “it might have taken away the inevitability that I was going to be nothing.”

January 15, 2009
Harvard historian Gates argues that family history has a special place in African American culture, in part because the American institution of slavery allowed for the creation of precious few records of African Americans' lives. By detailing individuals' stories, he writes, we may tell an important part of the larger American story. In these genealogies, Gates uses the search for the family history of 19 notable African Americans to form a narrative that goes beyond family lore. He illuminates the technical challenges of tracing African Americans' roots, but he also shares his famous subjects' memories and reflections about their families' reticence in discussing slavery or telling ancestors' stories about it. These elements combine in an intelligent narrative that will be accessible even to those who aren't genealogists. A closing chapter introduces some of the tools and methods for African American genealogical research, with bibliographic sources. This book is an able companion to the PBS series Gates hosted, but it stands on its own as well. Essential for genealogy collections; recommended for all public and high school libraries.Emily-Jane Dawson, Multnomah Cty. Lib., Portland, OR

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 1, 2008
Following up on the PBS series tracing the genealogy of 19 prominent African Americans, Gates details the long and arduous efforts given the abrupt disruption of the Middle Passage and the secrets created by illicit race mixing during and after slavery. In each chapter, he highlights the personal family history of each subject andthe particular challenges of tracing the familysroots. Photographs and personal recollections of family stories add to the fascinating detail as Gates reveals tothesubjects the results of searching genealogical records and using DNA testing to find their specific African origins. Among those whose roots he traced are Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou, Morgan Freeman, Tina Turner, Quincy Jones, and Peter Gomes, all of whom recall cherished family legends and intimate secrets. Gates puts each search in the broader context of African American and American history with an appreciation for the texture of the lives of ordinary people in contributing to the history of a nation and the complexity of race. The final chapter offers sound advice and insight on conducting genealogical research. Gates famous enthusiasm for history and African American genealogy is evident throughout this fascinating book.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)