If I'm not mistaken what byou propose was done by the BBC a year or so ago. I understand what you are saying, because that was sort of what I felt when I visited the website of the show. Once again American TV gives us entertainment instead of info.
Meta --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, "Keith Johnson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I started watching it, but for some reason the fact that it was mostly > celebrities--rich ones at that--irritated me. I turned to my wife and > said "Of all the people who can afford to pay for a team to get this > done, these people can". I know, they're no less "real" than me, and > their stories are compelling and of immense interest to them. I just > think, that in this time of media saturation and celebrity overexposure, > I'd have found the show more interesting if everyday people like me had > been chronicled. Those are the people who'd benefit from a magical and > empowering journey of self-discovery like this. > > -----Original Message----- > From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of ravenadal > Sent: Sunday, February 05, 2006 18:34 > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com > Subject: [scifinoir2] Taking Black Family Trees Out of Slavery's Shadow > > > http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aalives/ > > http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/01/arts/television/01heff.html?_r=1 > <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/01/arts/television/01heff.html?_r=1&inca > mp=articl\> &incamp=articl\ > e_popular&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin > > This DNA technology is fascinating to me. It has been a boon to the > black man (the so called African-American). It is no longer so easy > to send a black man to jail for a crime a white man committed. And it > is now possible to determine who your ancestors be. > > One of the things that have kept me from traveling to Africa was not > knowing where, on that great continent, my ancestors were from. In > other words, it wouldn't exactly be going home unless you knew where > home was. > > One of the interesting tidbits from the series: Oprah Winfrey doesn't > have a drop of European "blood" in her DNA. I guess you gotta be a > true "black" woman to love "white" people the way she do. > > I slept on the first episode...the second airs February 8th. > > February 1, 2006 > TV Review | 'African American Lives' > Taking Black Family Trees Out of Slavery's Shadow > By VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN > > The idea that race is a function of language, myth, social conventions > and even personal style captivated academic circles in the 1990's. The > concept was a boon for philosophers and literary critics, who churned > out books on how racial codes are engineered and deployed. Some of > this work was called deconstruction. The literary critic Henry Louis > Gates Jr., now chairman of the African and African American Studies > department at Harvard, wrote with particular force and imagination on > those themes. > > As provocative as the best of those books were - and, sure, the worst > of them were fanciful, jargony and obscure - they lacked drama and > suspense. Great novels did not come out of this way of regarding race; > it inspired more analysis than narrative. In fact, despite its passion > for storytelling in the abstract, 90's race philosophy didn't generate > many actual stories. Its proponents were too busy writing theory. > > That has changed, and a less rarefied way of thinking about race has > tapped a miraculous wellspring of great American stories. Tonight > "African American Lives," a four-hour series, begins on PBS; it's the > most exciting and stirring documentary on any subject to appear on > television in a long time. Once again, Professor Gates, the program's > host and an executive producer, is first among academics to exploit > the dramatic potential of the new intellectual apparatus - only this > time, it's genealogy, science and DNA analysis. > > In spite of its uninspired title (Professor Gates, what were you > thinking?), "African American Lives" is a quest romance. It chronicles > the exhilarating search by nine black Americans, including Professor > Gates, for their ancestry. Of course, it adds to the documentary's > excitement that many of the nine are serious celebrities, including > Quincy Jones, Chris Tucker, Bishop T. D. Jakes, Whoopi Goldberg and > Oprah Winfrey. The others - the surgeon Ben Carson, the astronaut Mae > Jemison and the Harvard professor Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot - are no > less distinguished. The not-so-muted question of "African American > Lives" is: what's the genetic recipe for these superstars? > > As Professor Gates points out on the first of tonight's two episodes, > most African-Americans lack complete family trees, and he admits to > envying American friends who can find records of their relatives' > immigration through Ellis Island. It turns out that a discontinuity - > the making of an exception - is, in fact, one of the first components > of family life that Professor Gates uncovers in interviews with his > guests. For many, that break seems to be the starting point of their > identities. > > Ms. Winfrey tells of watching her grandmother boil clothes in a black > pot: " 'One day you're going to have to learn this for yourself,' she > said to me." > > "I watched and looked like I was paying attention," Ms. Winfrey says, > "but distinctly recall a feeling that: No, I'm not. No, I'm not. That > this will not be my life." > > Acknowledging that these celebrities live very differently from their > parents and grandparents (Ms. Winfrey's father is a barber), Professor > Gates, who recruits various historians and geneticists throughout the > documentary, begins by reconnecting his guests with the 20th century. > For this part, he uses photographs and fairly thorough documentation, > as well as oral histories. The stories from the last century - of > perseverance, rape, murder, flight, poverty, humor, ingenuity - are > each worth a novel. > > But then the series turns to the 19th century, in which many of the > discoveries represent revelations to the guests themselves. Professor > Gates, for example, has always believed that a white slave owner named > Samuel Brady bought his great-great-grandmother, Jane Gates, a house; > Brady was also said to be the father of her children. What he finds in > his research is quite different - and still more intriguing. > > Ms. Winfrey discovers that an ancestor of hers owned land after the > Civil War, and had a school for black children on it. She is > astonished and moved to discover that education has been a priority of > her family for more than a century. Equally striking revelations turn > up in the family trees of the others. Professor Gates's laughing and > tearful discussions with the guests, as they all try to sort out what > having a family history might mean to them, are some of the best > scenes in the show. > > The series - which visits 18th-century America and finally Africa - > grows progressively more fascinating. The quest and the detective > story sharpen, and the documentary turns riveting. I couldn't stop > watching. When the guests all swab the inside of their cheeks for DNA, > and subsequently learn where exactly their ancestors came from, you're > on the edge of your seat. A teaser: one of the "African Americans" > turns out to be largely European, and another is considerably East > Asian. > > But what to make of all this? The excitement of it, as well as the > hooey of it, are both alive to Professor Gates, who is an excellent > host - funny, canny, generous. This exquisitely produced and > brilliantly conceived documentary doesn't miss a trick. The comic > difficulties, for example, of reconciling the new genetic information > with family mythology is part of what Professor Gates explores, as > when he discovers that the Gateses are not, in fact, related to Samuel > Brady, as family lore had it. > > His cousin is amused by this news, but doesn't want to give up the old > tales. Professor Gates is amused back. "Even if I send you the DNA > results, you're still going to tell the Brady story?" he asks. > > His cousin answers: "It'll be one of the stories, yeah. The DNA's one > story, and the Brady story is another." > > African American Lives > > On most PBS stations tonight and next Wednesday (check local listings). > > Episode 1, produced and directed by Jesse Sweet; Episode 2, produced > and directed by Leslie Asako Gladsjo; Episode 3, produced and directed > by Leslie D. Farrell; Episode 4, produced and directed by Graham Judd. > Ms. Farrell and Mr. Judd, series producers; Dyllan McGee, senior > producer for Kunhardt Productions; Henry Louis Gates Jr., William R. > Grant and Peter Kunhardt, executive producers. A co-production of > Thirteen/WNET New York and Kunhardt Productions Inc > ________________________________________________________________ > The Black Prince. The Black Church. 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