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GATES: I'm
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

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welcome to "Finding Your Roots".

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In this episode, we'll meet
comedian Tracy Morgan and

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actor Anthony Ramos,

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two men who grew up
in New York City,

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facing enormous odds.

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MORGAN: You got
swept up in it.

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And what I said was, "I don't
want to end up like my dad."

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My dad died when he was 39.

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GATES: Mm.

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MORGAN: I said, "I don't
want to go out like that."

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RAMOS: It's just like the
stuff we had to deal with at

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such a young age, metal
detectors in our school,

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because kids were getting shot.

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GATES: Yeah.

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RAMOS: I'm like,
"Yo, we're 11 years old."

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Kids is bringing
guns to school.

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Like ready, ready
to pop off at any moment.

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And you just like, "Yo, like,
I'm just trying to go to math."

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GATES: Yeah, right?

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To uncover their roots,

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we've used every
tool available.

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Genealogists combed through
paper trails stretching back

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hundreds of years.

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RAMOS: That's crazy.

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GATES: While DNA experts
utilized the latest advances

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in genetic analysis

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to reveal secrets that have
lain hidden for generations.

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And we've compiled it
all into a "Book of Life".

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RAMOS: You said this was my
dad's great-grandfather, right?

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GATES: It's your dad's side.

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RAMOS: Yo, this is wild.

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GATES: A record of
all our discoveries...

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Isn't that cool?

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MORGAN: It's awesome.

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GATES: And a window
into the hidden past.

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RAMOS: It means a lot.

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Gives me a newfound definition
of what my identity is,

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you know, especially
what my name means

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and where it comes from.

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MORGAN: I feel fortunate.
I feel found.

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I feel different.

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This book right here
has changed my life.

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GATES: My two guests
have followed similar,

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and equally unlikely, paths.

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Each escaped a troubled
childhood thanks

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almost entirely to
their own talents.

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In this episode, they're going
to meet ancestors whose paths

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were even more improbable,

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hearing stories of sacrifice,
courage, and survival,

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all hidden in the branches
of their family trees.

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(theme music plays)

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♪ ♪

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(book closes)

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♪ ♪

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(honking)

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PAPARAZZI: Do something wild,
get crazy a little bit.

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MORGAN: Get crazy?

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GATES: Tracy Morgan is a
man with very few secrets.

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The superstar comedian,
beloved for his roles on

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"Saturday Night Live"
and "30 Rock",

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has built an
extraordinary career...

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QUINN: Tracy Morgan!

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GATES: By being utterly open
about his struggles.

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MORGAN: As a child growing up
in the Brooklyn section

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of New York,

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Tracy Morgan dreamed
of being an astronaut,

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or the President of
the United States.

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Unfortunately, as Tracy Morgan
soon came to realize,

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he was Black.

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(laughs)

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So instead he sold T-shirts
at Yankee Stadium.

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GATES: But if you know Tracy's
life story, you know that

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it's not really an act.

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Tracy grew up under the
most dire circumstances,

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in a shattered family...

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Moving between housing
projects in New York City.

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By the time he was a teenager,
he'd seen many friends and

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relatives succumb to
life on the streets,

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and he would likely have
gone that way himself,

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were it not for his
sense of humor.

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MORGAN: I had a pretty
rough childhood, growing up.

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GATES: Mm-hmm.

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MORGAN: And you see,
uh, the drug dealers,

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you wanna be like them.

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They got the fancy car
and everything.

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GATES: Right.

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MORGAN: And I had older
friends that was hustling

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and selling drugs.

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And I also sold drugs,
you know, I was also

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scalping tickets at
Yankee Stadium...

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GATES: Of course.

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MORGAN: Uh, selling souvenirs.
I was a hustler by nature.

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GATES: Mm-hmm.

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MORGAN: But I knew I didn't want
to make it a lifelong career.

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I knew there...

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I knew, in my heart, there was
something else I wanted to do.

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GATES: That "something else"
was comedy.

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After dropping out of
high school, Tracy began

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performing in his neighborhood,

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doing stand-up routines on the
streets and in local stores.

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He was living on welfare,
with no idea where

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his talents would lead him.

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But he had faith in himself,
and that faith paid off.

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MORGAN: I was doing
comedy in a chicken spot.

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It's called The Chicken Spot,
where they used to sell

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fried chicken in
the neighborhood.

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GATES: Uh-huh.

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MORGAN: And a friend of mine's,
Do Wop and Mike Red,

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Mike Red came in there.

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And they were laughing at
my jokes, and he said,

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"I'm gonna come
get you, Tuesday,

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and take you to the
Uptown Comedy Club."

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And I went down there, and I
went to go in, and Miss Brown,

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God bless the dead,
stopped me and said,

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"Uh-uh babe, you can't
go in there. It's $15."

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And I didn't have $15.

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So I was leaving out, and
as I was leaving out,

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my friend "Rock",
who was security there,

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he stopped me and said,
"Are you funny?"

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I said, "Yeah, I'm funny."

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He said, "You look funny."

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"Come back Tuesday,
to the workshop."

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GATES: Hmm.

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MORGAN: And from that day,
I took off.

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GATES: Tracy is
not exaggerating.

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That workshop ultimately
led to an audition for

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"Saturday Night Live"
where his routine,

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almost entirely
based on his own life story,

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won him a spot in the cast,
and made him a star.

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Tracy would spend
seven years on the show,

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and his memories of those
years still delight him today.

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Do you have a favorite moment?

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MORGAN: Every moment.
I can't isolate nothing.

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Every moment there,

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that was some of the
best times of my life.

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There, I learned how to be
fearless from Will Ferrell.

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GATES: What do you mean?
How, how?

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MORGAN: You have
to be fearless.

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I learned how to take my shirt
off in front of the world.

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So that's what I got from him.

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I'm looking at
all these pictures,

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and I remember every moment.

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GATES: Mm-hmm.
MORGAN: Every moment...

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GATES: Mm-hmm.

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MORGAN: In detail.
I remember all of this.

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I remember doing this,
this song,

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♪ Rocket! I'm taking a rocket! ♪

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♪ I'm packing... ♪♪

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I remember doing that.

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So all these are moments,
with Jamie Foxx and Lorne,

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and these great times for me...

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GATES: Oh.

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MORGAN: And my career, and it
made me hone in on my craft.

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GATES: What do you
think made you so special?

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What did you do differently
than other comedians?

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MORGAN: I just believe
I stayed me.

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GATES: Mm-hmm.

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MORGAN: I stayed who I am.
I stayed in my skin.

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I, I always stayed who I am.
I let the world know who I am.

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GATES: Mm-hmm.

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MORGAN: And what I think I did
most in life that make people,

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that drew people to me, is
I showed my vulnerability.

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GATES: Mm-hmm.

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MORGAN: That comes from
everything that I went through

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as a child.

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GATES: Mm-hmm.

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MORGAN: I'm not afraid, I know
how to make you laugh,

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but I'm not afraid to cry.

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GATES: My second guest
is actor and singer

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Anthony Ramos.

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Anthony came to fame as one of
the original cast members of

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"Hamilton", leading to
a record contract,

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and a budding
career in Hollywood.

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But much like Tracy Morgan,

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Anthony is first and
foremost a survivor.

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He grew up in
Bushwick, Brooklyn,

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a neighborhood riven by crime,

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his father struggled
with addiction,

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and though his mother
did the best she could,

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Anthony was almost overwhelmed
by his surroundings.

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RAMOS: We just grew
up in a hard area.

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It was crazy.
It was like...

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Walking home from school,
you hope you don't get jumped.

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GATES: Yeah.

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RAMOS: And then you'd still
had to try to learn something

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in the midst of that.

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So I have so much respect for
kids who are from the hood

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that can still get good
grades and can still excel,

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and you know what I'm saying?

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Because it's just like the
stuff we had to deal with at

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such a young age, metal
detectors in our school,

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you know, and, uh, because
kids were getting shot.

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GATES: Yeah.

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RAMOS: I'm like,
"Yo, we're 12..."

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GATES: Yeah.

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RAMOS: "We're 11 years old."
Kids is bringing guns to school.

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GATES: Hmm.

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RAMOS: Like ready, ready
to pop off at any moment.

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And you just like, "Yo, like,
I'm just trying to go to math."

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GATES: Perhaps unsurprisingly,

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Anthony had little
interest in education,

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and was often in trouble,

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both in and outside
of the classroom.

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His salvation was his voice.

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Anthony loved to sing
and in 11th grade,

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he went to an audition

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for a musical
at his high school,

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thinking that it
was a talent show.

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He was mistaken, but that
mistake changed his life.

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RAMOS: The teacher
Sarah Steinwise, she goes,

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"Yo, uh, so can you, can you,
read these lines?"

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And I was like,
"Read these lines?"

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I was like,
"For, like for what?"

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She's like, "For the show."
"The musical."

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I was like, "This is
not a talent show?"

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She's like, "No."

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I was like, "Nah, man.

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I'm, like, you know, I
don't do that really."

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Like, she's like, "Well, if
you wanna be in the show,

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you have to read these lines."

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And I'm like,
"All right, cool."

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And then they gave me a
lead role in this thing.

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And I was like,
"Yo, that's crazy."

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And, I decided to do it.

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I, first I didn't wanna do it
'cause I was a little nervous

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and scared about it.

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GATES: Of course.

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RAMOS: I also was
like it's a lotta work.

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Am I gonna
memorize all these lines?

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'Cause truthfully, like, yo,
I didn't even do my homework

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in high school.

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I'll be honest, I, I graduated,
I sang to a teacher.

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Like, she gave me...

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And she came to my
first show on tour.

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When I was doing my,
when I made,

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put out my first album,
she came to my show.

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And I'm like, yo.

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00:10:01,133 --> 00:10:03,466
I don't wanna say her name
in case she still teaching.

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But, um, you know...

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GATES: You sang your
way outta high school.

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RAMOS: I sang my way
outta high school.

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GATES: Anthony's attitudes
about work have changed

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00:10:12,933 --> 00:10:15,033
dramatically with success.

245
00:10:15,033 --> 00:10:18,133
He's become a
tireless performer,

246
00:10:18,133 --> 00:10:21,200
juggling movies,
music, and television

247
00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:24,866
with the precision of
a professional athlete.

248
00:10:25,533 --> 00:10:27,966
But looking back on
his accomplishments,

249
00:10:27,966 --> 00:10:30,600
Anthony takes the greatest
pleasure in something

250
00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:33,100
more fundamental:

251
00:10:33,100 --> 00:10:36,300
the fact that he has stayed
true to himself in the face of

252
00:10:36,300 --> 00:10:38,866
so much adversity.

253
00:10:39,300 --> 00:10:41,633
RAMOS: I'm just proud that,
you know,

254
00:10:41,633 --> 00:10:43,233
I didn't have to change...

255
00:10:43,233 --> 00:10:44,433
GATES: Mm-hmm.

256
00:10:44,433 --> 00:10:46,033
RAMOS: To do this.

257
00:10:46,033 --> 00:10:47,233
GATES: Mm-hmm.

258
00:10:47,233 --> 00:10:50,866
RAMOS: It's a blessing
because, um, for so many

259
00:10:50,866 --> 00:10:52,366
it hasn't been that.

260
00:10:52,366 --> 00:10:53,700
GATES: No.

261
00:10:53,700 --> 00:10:55,500
RAMOS: You know, people have
had to shape-shift, and people

262
00:10:55,500 --> 00:10:58,433
have had to do things just to,
you know, stay in the game.

263
00:10:58,433 --> 00:10:59,766
GATES: Yeah.

264
00:10:59,766 --> 00:11:02,400
RAMOS: Um, there was a part of
me that, um, also, you know,

265
00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:05,666
wanted to prove
people wrong too...

266
00:11:05,666 --> 00:11:06,800
GATES: Sure.

267
00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:08,466
RAMOS: Not, not to say
that they ever said

268
00:11:08,466 --> 00:11:09,800
I couldn't do something, but...

269
00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:11,000
GATES: Mm-hmm.

270
00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:12,466
RAMOS: It was almost like,
in case you thought

271
00:11:12,466 --> 00:11:13,566
I can't do that...

272
00:11:13,566 --> 00:11:14,733
GATES: Right.

273
00:11:14,733 --> 00:11:17,166
RAMOS: I'm gonna make sure
you know I can do it.

274
00:11:18,833 --> 00:11:22,766
GATES: Anthony and Tracy
share a common thread:

275
00:11:22,766 --> 00:11:26,133
each spent their childhood
in near-total chaos,

276
00:11:26,133 --> 00:11:29,433
grappling with the
most basic needs,

277
00:11:29,433 --> 00:11:32,833
before finding
an escape on the stage.

278
00:11:33,933 --> 00:11:37,333
Along the way, neither man
had time to piece together the

279
00:11:37,333 --> 00:11:39,666
branches of their family trees,

280
00:11:39,666 --> 00:11:43,366
much less contemplate
their ancestors.

281
00:11:43,366 --> 00:11:46,033
But that was about to change.

282
00:11:46,833 --> 00:11:50,500
I started with Tracy Morgan,
and with his father,

283
00:11:50,500 --> 00:11:53,433
a man named James Morgan, Jr.

284
00:11:54,700 --> 00:11:57,533
Sadly, Tracy's childhood
was dominated by

285
00:11:57,533 --> 00:12:00,633
James' personal demons.

286
00:12:01,766 --> 00:12:04,433
MORGAN: Well, he went to
Vietnam, so when he came back

287
00:12:04,433 --> 00:12:06,266
he was pretty messed up
because of all the trauma.

288
00:12:06,266 --> 00:12:07,366
GATES: Yeah.

289
00:12:07,366 --> 00:12:08,733
MORGAN: And then him and
my mom, my mom was young.

290
00:12:08,733 --> 00:12:09,933
GATES: Mm-hmm.

291
00:12:09,933 --> 00:12:12,066
MORGAN: I'll give her that,
she was very young when

292
00:12:12,066 --> 00:12:14,633
she had her children, so it was
a lot of fighting going on.

293
00:12:14,633 --> 00:12:15,733
GATES: Mm-hmm.

294
00:12:15,733 --> 00:12:17,266
MORGAN: It was a lot of turmoil,
a lot of trauma.

295
00:12:17,266 --> 00:12:18,433
GATES: Mm-hmm.

296
00:12:18,433 --> 00:12:20,500
MORGAN: Then my father
was kicked to the curb.

297
00:12:20,500 --> 00:12:22,400
Because he started using heroin.

298
00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:23,433
GATES: Mm-hmm.

299
00:12:23,433 --> 00:12:25,466
MORGAN: He went to
Vietnam as a young man,

300
00:12:25,466 --> 00:12:26,633
and he came back...

301
00:12:26,633 --> 00:12:28,100
he didn't go there
hooked on heroin,

302
00:12:28,100 --> 00:12:29,833
he came back and got
hooked on heroin.

303
00:12:29,833 --> 00:12:32,233
GATES: He had PTSD.
MORGAN: Yes.

304
00:12:32,233 --> 00:12:33,266
GATES: Yeah.

305
00:12:33,266 --> 00:12:34,333
MORGAN: Absolutely.
To the day he died.

306
00:12:34,333 --> 00:12:35,433
GATES: Yeah.

307
00:12:35,433 --> 00:12:38,033
MORGAN: And, um, one day,
my mother saw me and my

308
00:12:38,033 --> 00:12:39,666
older brother Jim playing
with his needles.

309
00:12:39,666 --> 00:12:40,766
GATES: Mm-hmm.

310
00:12:40,766 --> 00:12:42,000
MORGAN: And that was it.

311
00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:43,300
GATES: Wow.

312
00:12:43,300 --> 00:12:46,133
MORGAN: She kicked him out.
And he was out of our lives.

313
00:12:47,133 --> 00:12:50,166
GATES: James died when
Tracy was a teenager,

314
00:12:50,166 --> 00:12:53,500
and though the two reconnected
at the end of his life,

315
00:12:53,500 --> 00:12:58,500
Tracy came to me knowing very
little about his father's roots.

316
00:12:59,466 --> 00:13:03,000
We set out to recover
what had been lost.

317
00:13:04,500 --> 00:13:07,366
In the 1950
census for Manhattan,

318
00:13:07,366 --> 00:13:10,866
we found James as a
two-year-old child,

319
00:13:10,866 --> 00:13:13,233
living in the home
of his grandmother,

320
00:13:13,233 --> 00:13:16,200
a woman named Nannie,
or "Nan", Morgan.

321
00:13:16,966 --> 00:13:19,533
Nannie is Tracy's
great-grandmother,

322
00:13:19,533 --> 00:13:22,066
and Nannie had a secret:

323
00:13:22,066 --> 00:13:25,233
she never married Tracy's
great-grandfather,

324
00:13:25,233 --> 00:13:28,100
a man named Julius Alexander,

325
00:13:28,500 --> 00:13:30,833
meaning that Tracy's surname

326
00:13:30,833 --> 00:13:35,366
was not passed down along
his direct paternal line...

327
00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:38,366
GATES: The source of
your surname is your

328
00:13:38,366 --> 00:13:40,033
great-grandmother, Nannie.

329
00:13:40,033 --> 00:13:42,100
Her maiden name was Morgan.

330
00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:44,200
MORGAN: Whoa.

331
00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:46,500
GATES: She and
Julius never got married.

332
00:13:46,500 --> 00:13:51,433
So James took her surname
and that's how you have it.

333
00:13:51,433 --> 00:13:54,733
That's why you are
Morgan because of Nan.

334
00:13:54,733 --> 00:13:56,266
MORGAN: Nannie Morgan?

335
00:13:56,266 --> 00:13:57,733
GATES: You got it.

336
00:13:57,733 --> 00:14:00,400
MORGAN: So my great-grandfather
is Julius Alexander.

337
00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:01,533
GATES: Yes, that's right.

338
00:14:01,533 --> 00:14:02,766
MORGAN: That's him.

339
00:14:02,766 --> 00:14:04,833
GATES: That's him. But they
just never got married.

340
00:14:04,833 --> 00:14:06,033
Her maiden name...

341
00:14:06,033 --> 00:14:07,366
MORGAN: That's okay,
I got his blood.

342
00:14:07,366 --> 00:14:09,233
GATES: No question.
You got his DNA and hers.

343
00:14:09,233 --> 00:14:10,500
MORGAN: So I don't need, I...

344
00:14:10,500 --> 00:14:12,133
Yeah, I got, I
got their blood.

345
00:14:12,133 --> 00:14:14,833
GATES: But you took your
surname from Nan's

346
00:14:14,833 --> 00:14:16,300
maiden name, Morgan.

347
00:14:16,300 --> 00:14:17,366
MORGAN: Morgan.

348
00:14:17,366 --> 00:14:18,533
GATES: That's
where it comes from.

349
00:14:18,533 --> 00:14:20,333
MORGAN: So my name would've
been Tracy Alexander?

350
00:14:20,333 --> 00:14:21,600
GATES: That's right.

351
00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:23,700
MORGAN: Wow!

352
00:14:24,333 --> 00:14:26,466
GATES: Tracy's
great-grandfather Julius

353
00:14:26,466 --> 00:14:30,533
was born in
North Carolina in 1894.

354
00:14:30,533 --> 00:14:33,933
And though his name was
unfamiliar, he actually had

355
00:14:33,933 --> 00:14:37,466
a great deal in common
with Tracy's father...

356
00:14:37,933 --> 00:14:40,700
The story begins in the
National Archives,

357
00:14:40,700 --> 00:14:44,966
where we found a draft card
that Julius filled out

358
00:14:44,966 --> 00:14:48,200
when he was 23 years old.

359
00:14:49,633 --> 00:14:52,566
MORGAN: "What military
service have you had? None.

360
00:14:52,566 --> 00:14:56,833
Date of registration.
June 5th, 1917."

361
00:14:56,833 --> 00:14:58,266
GATES: Your great-grandfather,
Julius,

362
00:14:58,266 --> 00:15:00,200
registered for the draft.

363
00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:02,500
And you know what was
happening at that time?

364
00:15:02,500 --> 00:15:04,400
World War I.

365
00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:09,733
MORGAN: So my great-grandfather

366
00:15:09,733 --> 00:15:11,466
fought in World War I?

367
00:15:11,466 --> 00:15:13,600
GATES: Turn the page.
Let's see.

368
00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:15,933
Tracy, would you please
read the transcription

369
00:15:15,933 --> 00:15:18,166
in that white box?

370
00:15:18,166 --> 00:15:22,400
MORGAN: "Date of sailing,
September 29th, 1918.

371
00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:26,333
Port of embarkation,
Hoboken, New Jersey.

372
00:15:26,333 --> 00:15:30,333
Name, Alexander Julius,
rank, private."

373
00:15:30,333 --> 00:15:31,500
GATES: You got it right.

374
00:15:31,500 --> 00:15:33,966
Your great-grandfather
was not only drafted,

375
00:15:33,966 --> 00:15:35,666
he got shipped out to France.

376
00:15:35,666 --> 00:15:38,266
How's that make you feel?

377
00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:41,300
MORGAN: It makes
me feel proud.

378
00:15:41,300 --> 00:15:43,033
It makes me feel proud.

379
00:15:43,033 --> 00:15:44,433
One word, just proud.

380
00:15:44,433 --> 00:15:45,766
GATES: Mm-hmm.

381
00:15:45,766 --> 00:15:48,366
MORGAN: Just proud.

382
00:15:48,366 --> 00:15:51,633
I wish all the males in
my family could hear this.

383
00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:55,433
That he was there
doing his duty.

384
00:15:55,433 --> 00:15:57,133
GATES: He was there
risking his life.

385
00:15:57,133 --> 00:15:59,000
MORGAN: For us.

386
00:16:00,566 --> 00:16:03,933
GATES: Julius was assigned
to a "depot" company,

387
00:16:03,933 --> 00:16:08,433
meaning he was likely providing
supplies to combat troops.

388
00:16:09,733 --> 00:16:12,600
The job was crucial
to the war effort,

389
00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:14,833
and when Julius
arrived in France,

390
00:16:14,833 --> 00:16:17,400
the war had
reached its peak.

391
00:16:18,100 --> 00:16:21,733
America and its Allies were
attempting to break through

392
00:16:21,733 --> 00:16:25,666
the infamous trench network
of the western front with a

393
00:16:25,666 --> 00:16:30,000
series of attacks now known
as the "100 days offensive."

394
00:16:31,566 --> 00:16:35,166
These attacks would prove
successful, and end the war,

395
00:16:35,166 --> 00:16:38,266
but at a tremendous cost.

396
00:16:38,266 --> 00:16:42,633
The Allies suffered over
700,000 casualties,

397
00:16:42,633 --> 00:16:45,233
and Julius was lucky
not to be one of them.

398
00:16:45,966 --> 00:16:51,433
He returned safely to the
United States in July of 1919,

399
00:16:51,433 --> 00:16:54,933
just months after the
end of the fighting.

400
00:16:55,433 --> 00:16:57,966
He made it.
He made it through hell.

401
00:16:57,966 --> 00:17:01,900
Your great-grandfather served
in France for nine months.

402
00:17:01,900 --> 00:17:05,266
MORGAN: Knowing a lot of
this about my father's side

403
00:17:05,266 --> 00:17:08,466
it is helping me
let a lot of things go.

404
00:17:08,466 --> 00:17:09,633
GATES: Oh yeah.

405
00:17:09,633 --> 00:17:11,000
MORGAN: Because this...

406
00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:13,966
I thought I was doing bad when
I met the man with no shoes...

407
00:17:13,966 --> 00:17:15,066
GATES: Mm-hmm.

408
00:17:15,066 --> 00:17:16,366
MORGAN: Until I met
the man with no feet.

409
00:17:16,366 --> 00:17:18,100
GATES: Yeah, that's right.

410
00:17:18,100 --> 00:17:20,500
And just think this, your
great-grandfather must have

411
00:17:20,500 --> 00:17:23,233
come back with PTSD.

412
00:17:23,833 --> 00:17:26,133
Two generations PTSD brother.

413
00:17:26,133 --> 00:17:28,400
How do you think he
dealt with all that?

414
00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:30,833
I mean, he was a, a
kid from North Carolina.

415
00:17:32,300 --> 00:17:33,933
MORGAN: A sense of humor.

416
00:17:33,933 --> 00:17:36,200
GATES: Maybe it's a
sense of humor, maybe so.

417
00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:37,333
MORGAN: If you don't
laugh about it,

418
00:17:37,333 --> 00:17:38,666
you're gonna cry about it.

419
00:17:38,666 --> 00:17:40,333
GATES: Yep.

420
00:17:40,333 --> 00:17:41,766
MORGAN: That's how I
dealt with all mine.

421
00:17:41,766 --> 00:17:43,900
GATES: Yep.
MORGAN: Things in my life.

422
00:17:43,900 --> 00:17:46,000
GATES: Yep.
MORGAN: I laugh about it.

423
00:17:48,533 --> 00:17:50,566
GATES: Tracy wondered
what happened to Julius

424
00:17:50,566 --> 00:17:52,900
after the war.

425
00:17:52,900 --> 00:17:56,166
in the 1920 census
for North Carolina,

426
00:17:56,166 --> 00:17:58,800
we found our answer,

427
00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:01,433
and uncovered yet
another generation

428
00:18:01,433 --> 00:18:04,366
of Tracy's newfound family.

429
00:18:05,866 --> 00:18:07,800
MORGAN: "Alexander Samuel,
head of household."

430
00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:08,933
GATES: Mm-hmm.

431
00:18:08,933 --> 00:18:12,966
MORGAN: "Black. Age, 54.
Home, owned or rented."

432
00:18:12,966 --> 00:18:14,100
GATES: Mm-hmm.

433
00:18:14,100 --> 00:18:17,033
MORGAN: "Rented.
Occupation, operator farm.

434
00:18:17,033 --> 00:18:19,200
Cheryl, wife, Black, age 48.

435
00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:23,366
Julius, son, Black, age 25.
Occupation, farm laborer."

436
00:18:23,766 --> 00:18:25,600
GATES: So there's your
great-grandfather Julius

437
00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:27,633
living on a farm
with his parents.

438
00:18:27,633 --> 00:18:29,433
You just met your
great-great-grandparents,

439
00:18:29,433 --> 00:18:33,133
Samuel Alexander
and Sarah Frazier.

440
00:18:33,733 --> 00:18:36,200
MORGAN: This is my
great-great-grandparents

441
00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:38,200
and my father didn't
even know all of this?

442
00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:40,700
GATES: He didn't
even know that, no.

443
00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:43,700
MORGAN: It's just incredible,
it's surreal.

444
00:18:44,566 --> 00:18:48,600
GATES: We know very little
about Samuel and Sarah,

445
00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:51,233
but we believe they
were sharecroppers,

446
00:18:51,233 --> 00:18:54,433
because the 1920
census indicates

447
00:18:54,433 --> 00:18:57,066
that they were
renting their home.

448
00:18:57,066 --> 00:19:00,733
Which means it was likely
owned by a White farmer,

449
00:19:00,733 --> 00:19:03,566
and that they were
working for him.

450
00:19:05,166 --> 00:19:08,800
So when he returned
from the war in 1919,

451
00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:11,366
your great-grandfather,
Julius, went back to live

452
00:19:11,366 --> 00:19:14,633
with his mom and dad to help
his family sharecropping.

453
00:19:14,633 --> 00:19:16,133
What's it like to see that?

454
00:19:16,133 --> 00:19:17,366
He was a good son.

455
00:19:17,366 --> 00:19:19,466
He went home and helped
because that was a hard life

456
00:19:19,466 --> 00:19:20,866
being a sharecropper.
You know that.

457
00:19:20,866 --> 00:19:22,300
MORGAN: 25 years old.

458
00:19:22,300 --> 00:19:23,766
GATES: Yeah.

459
00:19:23,766 --> 00:19:26,066
MORGAN: I think about me
and all my achievements.

460
00:19:26,066 --> 00:19:27,533
GATES: Mm-hmm.

461
00:19:27,533 --> 00:19:29,600
MORGAN: It pales in
comparison to this.

462
00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:31,466
GATES: Definitely.
Without a doubt.

463
00:19:31,466 --> 00:19:33,500
MORGAN: All of this I,
I've done in my life

464
00:19:33,500 --> 00:19:35,733
pales in comparison to this.

465
00:19:35,733 --> 00:19:37,900
GATES: What would
your father have felt?

466
00:19:37,900 --> 00:19:39,433
What would he have
made of all this?

467
00:19:39,433 --> 00:19:41,366
MORGAN: The same thing,
my, probably more,

468
00:19:41,366 --> 00:19:43,466
me to the 10th power.

469
00:19:43,466 --> 00:19:44,833
GATES: Yep.

470
00:19:44,833 --> 00:19:48,900
MORGAN: Me to the 10th power.
I know my dad.

471
00:19:48,900 --> 00:19:51,200
I, I've seen my dad cry.

472
00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:53,733
And it wasn't over nothing.

473
00:19:53,733 --> 00:19:56,666
It was over things
that were important.

474
00:19:56,666 --> 00:19:59,266
My dad would've
felt the same way I feel,

475
00:19:59,266 --> 00:20:03,200
like glorious, happy
to know these things,

476
00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:05,633
but he would've been
emotional, more than me.

477
00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:09,100
GATES: Much like Tracy,

478
00:20:09,100 --> 00:20:11,533
Anthony Ramos has
a deep affection for

479
00:20:11,533 --> 00:20:13,366
his troubled father.

480
00:20:13,366 --> 00:20:16,933
Indeed, with the
passage of time,

481
00:20:16,933 --> 00:20:20,133
Anthony has come to see
how his father's character

482
00:20:20,133 --> 00:20:24,200
informed the man he is today.

483
00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:26,500
RAMOS: I think I get
my acting from my dad.

484
00:20:26,500 --> 00:20:29,100
GATES: Uh-huh.
RAMOS: For sure.

485
00:20:29,100 --> 00:20:33,533
You know, he's, uh, he's like,
you know, my dad would come

486
00:20:33,533 --> 00:20:36,700
to, to the apartment with
a bunch of papers, about

487
00:20:36,700 --> 00:20:39,933
something, you know, what case
he was about to win against

488
00:20:39,933 --> 00:20:42,800
what government
institution he was going to...

489
00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:44,066
GATES: Right.

490
00:20:44,066 --> 00:20:46,100
RAMOS: He's always just like,
"Yeah. I'm gonna get 'em.

491
00:20:46,100 --> 00:20:47,366
I'm telling you."

492
00:20:47,366 --> 00:20:49,066
This, you know, this
happened, and that.

493
00:20:49,066 --> 00:20:50,666
He's like, "They owe me."

494
00:20:50,666 --> 00:20:53,566
They, and he'd a, you know,
he'd give you an elaborate,

495
00:20:53,566 --> 00:20:57,666
you know, explanation
as to what's going on.

496
00:20:57,666 --> 00:20:59,800
The dude could sell,

497
00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:01,600
he could sell
Raid to a bug, bro.

498
00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:02,866
I promise.

499
00:21:02,866 --> 00:21:04,033
Like, he'd be like, "I'm
telling you, this is actually

500
00:21:04,033 --> 00:21:05,100
good for you.

501
00:21:05,100 --> 00:21:06,266
This is a
different kind of Raid.

502
00:21:06,266 --> 00:21:07,566
This one has nutrients."

503
00:21:07,566 --> 00:21:08,633
GATES: Give me two cans.

504
00:21:08,633 --> 00:21:10,500
RAMOS: Right.
Give me, give me two cans.

505
00:21:10,500 --> 00:21:12,366
You know what I'm saying?
Like, uh, he's...

506
00:21:12,366 --> 00:21:14,100
GATES: So, charismatic,
storyteller.

507
00:21:14,100 --> 00:21:15,466
RAMOS: Smart.

508
00:21:15,466 --> 00:21:16,633
GATES: Smart.
RAMOS: Super smart.

509
00:21:16,633 --> 00:21:17,666
GATES: Quick.
RAMOS: Quick.

510
00:21:17,666 --> 00:21:18,966
GATES: Quick-witted.
RAMOS: Quick-witted.

511
00:21:18,966 --> 00:21:20,566
GATES: So you can see how your
mom fell in love with him.

512
00:21:20,566 --> 00:21:23,166
RAMOS: Yeah.
100%, you know.

513
00:21:24,033 --> 00:21:26,933
GATES: Despite his charms,
Anthony's father was absent

514
00:21:26,933 --> 00:21:32,200
for much of his childhood, and
although Anthony knew that his

515
00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:34,700
roots lay in Puerto Rico,

516
00:21:34,700 --> 00:21:38,366
his father's family stories
had not been passed down.

517
00:21:38,900 --> 00:21:41,866
Indeed, Anthony knew
almost nothing about his

518
00:21:41,866 --> 00:21:46,200
paternal grandfather,
Mario Martinez Cedeño,

519
00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:49,766
the man who brought the
family to New York City.

520
00:21:52,566 --> 00:21:56,200
RAMOS: "Date of birth,
8th of October, 1929.

521
00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:58,066
Place of birth, Bayamón."

522
00:21:58,066 --> 00:21:59,266
GATES: Mm-hmm.

523
00:21:59,266 --> 00:22:01,233
RAMOS: Wow.

524
00:22:01,233 --> 00:22:03,633
"Name, Mario Martinez Cedeño."

525
00:22:03,633 --> 00:22:06,866
GATES: Yeah.
What's it like to see that?

526
00:22:07,933 --> 00:22:10,833
RAMOS: It's wild, you know.

527
00:22:10,833 --> 00:22:12,300
I didn't know he
was from Bayamón.

528
00:22:12,300 --> 00:22:13,666
GATES: Have you
been to Bayamón?

529
00:22:13,666 --> 00:22:15,866
RAMOS: Yeah. I've been
to Bayamón a few times.

530
00:22:15,866 --> 00:22:19,600
Um, yeah.

531
00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:24,066
It's just, it's just crazy,
like, seeing, I just,

532
00:22:24,066 --> 00:22:25,466
I, I, Cedeño,

533
00:22:25,466 --> 00:22:26,533
I didn't know his last,
I didn't even know his last,

534
00:22:26,533 --> 00:22:29,233
I mean, I knew it was
Martinez, but obviously,

535
00:22:29,233 --> 00:22:31,366
you know, we Latinos,
we got 18 last names.

536
00:22:31,366 --> 00:22:33,200
GATES: Yeah. I know.
I like that system, though.

537
00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:36,000
RAMOS: Yeah. Yeah. We like
to hold onto everything.

538
00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:37,466
We can't let that go.

539
00:22:38,100 --> 00:22:40,366
GATES: Though Mario
was born in Bayamón,

540
00:22:40,366 --> 00:22:43,200
he didn't stay there long.

541
00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:47,933
In 1952, he joined the
United States Army,

542
00:22:47,933 --> 00:22:50,966
and sent to fight
in the Korean War,

543
00:22:50,966 --> 00:22:54,166
as part of the
65th Infantry Regiment,

544
00:22:54,166 --> 00:22:57,133
an almost entirely
Puerto Rican regiment

545
00:22:57,133 --> 00:23:01,500
known famously as
"The Borinqueneers".

546
00:23:02,900 --> 00:23:04,266
GATES: Those are photos...

547
00:23:04,266 --> 00:23:05,566
RAMOS: Wow.

548
00:23:05,566 --> 00:23:07,800
GATES: Of the Puerto Rican
soldiers in the 65th in Korea.

549
00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:11,633
RAMOS: Wow.
They got that flag, yo.

550
00:23:11,633 --> 00:23:13,066
Puerto Ricans are proud,

551
00:23:13,066 --> 00:23:14,466
Borinqua is proud,
yo always, be like,

552
00:23:14,466 --> 00:23:17,433
"He ain't leaving
home without this flag."

553
00:23:18,300 --> 00:23:20,600
Wow.

554
00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:22,366
GATES: Now, how do you
think your grandfather felt?

555
00:23:22,366 --> 00:23:23,633
He was 20 years old,

556
00:23:23,633 --> 00:23:25,500
joined the Army in
the middle of a war,

557
00:23:25,500 --> 00:23:27,366
biggest war since World War II.

558
00:23:27,366 --> 00:23:29,666
RAMOS: I mean, I would
imagine he was nervous.

559
00:23:29,666 --> 00:23:32,066
GATES: Yeah. Big time.

560
00:23:32,966 --> 00:23:36,433
The Borinqueneers were
front-line combat troops,

561
00:23:36,433 --> 00:23:39,900
and they found themselves
in a brutal war.

562
00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:43,633
They fought under the
harshest of conditions,

563
00:23:43,633 --> 00:23:46,500
and sustained
heavy casualties.

564
00:23:46,900 --> 00:23:49,833
But as Hispanics, they
also faced prejudice from

565
00:23:49,833 --> 00:23:52,566
their fellow soldiers.

566
00:23:52,566 --> 00:23:55,000
They were openly mocked
for the way they spoke,

567
00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,133
what they ate, and the
color of their skin.

568
00:23:58,966 --> 00:24:03,000
Even so, they distinguished
themselves repeatedly in battle,

569
00:24:03,633 --> 00:24:07,733
and in 2014 the
regiment finally received the

570
00:24:07,733 --> 00:24:10,700
Congressional Gold Medal.

571
00:24:11,266 --> 00:24:12,700
RAMOS: 2014?

572
00:24:12,700 --> 00:24:16,633
GATES: Yeah.
2014, Obama did this.

573
00:24:18,166 --> 00:24:20,266
RAMOS: Wow.

574
00:24:20,266 --> 00:24:21,833
GATES: A little late.

575
00:24:21,833 --> 00:24:24,066
RAMOS: Just a little bit.

576
00:24:24,066 --> 00:24:26,400
GATES: What's it
like to learn this?

577
00:24:26,666 --> 00:24:28,833
RAMOS: It's crazy.

578
00:24:28,833 --> 00:24:32,233
It's like you got shipped,

579
00:24:32,233 --> 00:24:34,433
you know, against, you know,

580
00:24:34,433 --> 00:24:37,500
you get shipped over and, um,

581
00:24:37,500 --> 00:24:39,766
you know, didn't have a choice.

582
00:24:39,766 --> 00:24:42,400
Still went out there and
I mean, whatever he,

583
00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:44,100
I mean, you know, he still,

584
00:24:44,100 --> 00:24:47,133
he still went out there
and, and fought, and contributed

585
00:24:47,133 --> 00:24:51,133
to this war that none of
these guys asked for, you know?

586
00:24:51,133 --> 00:24:52,300
GATES: Right.

587
00:24:52,300 --> 00:24:55,500
RAMOS: But they still protected,

588
00:24:55,500 --> 00:24:58,766
you know, protected
people who, um, going out there

589
00:24:58,766 --> 00:25:00,400
and fighting for
people who, again,

590
00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:01,600
didn't look at them as equals.

591
00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:02,766
GATES: Yeah.

592
00:25:02,766 --> 00:25:06,466
RAMOS: And he, he, you know,
he still, he did it.

593
00:25:07,766 --> 00:25:08,933
GATES: What's your father
gonna say when you

594
00:25:08,933 --> 00:25:10,900
tell him about this?

595
00:25:10,900 --> 00:25:14,066
RAMOS: Yo, I mean,
I don't know.

596
00:25:14,066 --> 00:25:16,400
GATES: Do you think he knows
that his father served in Korea?

597
00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:19,366
RAMOS: He's never said
anything about it, but,

598
00:25:19,366 --> 00:25:22,200
um, but he might.

599
00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:23,433
I mean, I...

600
00:25:23,433 --> 00:25:24,900
He might have an idea,
but I wouldn't be surprised

601
00:25:24,900 --> 00:25:26,133
if he said he had no idea.

602
00:25:26,133 --> 00:25:27,400
GATES: Mm-hmm.

603
00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:29,333
RAMOS: And, um,
I'm looking forward to

604
00:25:29,333 --> 00:25:30,600
telling him about this.

605
00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:31,600
You know, he might be like,

606
00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:33,166
"Yo kid, so, uh,
about that medal,

607
00:25:33,166 --> 00:25:35,933
you think I could, uh..."

608
00:25:36,500 --> 00:25:39,266
"Sure, Dad, you
can have the medal."

609
00:25:40,733 --> 00:25:44,333
GATES: This story was about
to darken significantly.

610
00:25:44,733 --> 00:25:48,700
Following his service,
Mario returned to Puerto Rico

611
00:25:48,700 --> 00:25:53,433
and, in 1954, he married
Anthony's grandmother,

612
00:25:53,433 --> 00:25:56,766
a woman named Ada Otero Rey.

613
00:25:57,966 --> 00:26:01,600
Mario and Ada moved to
New York City soon after,

614
00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:07,566
and Anthony's father was born
in Brooklyn in March of 1958.

615
00:26:09,300 --> 00:26:12,300
But then tragedy struck.

616
00:26:12,300 --> 00:26:15,100
RAMOS: "Martinez Ada,
wife of Mario,

617
00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:17,333
the date of death,

618
00:26:17,333 --> 00:26:19,500
January 28th, 1959.

619
00:26:19,500 --> 00:26:21,800
Place of death,
Brooklyn, New York."

620
00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:24,066
GATES: Sadly, less than five
years after they were married,

621
00:26:24,066 --> 00:26:26,766
your grandmother,
Ada, passed away.

622
00:26:26,766 --> 00:26:30,033
and your father was
not even one year old

623
00:26:30,033 --> 00:26:31,500
when he lost his mother.

624
00:26:31,500 --> 00:26:32,900
Did you know that?

625
00:26:32,900 --> 00:26:35,100
RAMOS: I knew he lost
his mom really young.

626
00:26:35,100 --> 00:26:37,400
Um, I didn't know it was
at one years old though.

627
00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:41,200
One year old.
I ain't know it was like that.

628
00:26:43,333 --> 00:26:47,433
GATES: How do you think
that affected your father?

629
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:51,300
RAMOS: I can't imagine that
doesn't leave a hole in you,

630
00:26:51,300 --> 00:26:53,833
for your whole life.

631
00:26:53,833 --> 00:26:55,266
GATES: Yeah.

632
00:26:55,266 --> 00:26:56,866
RAMOS: A lot of questions
you'll never get answered.

633
00:26:56,866 --> 00:26:59,300
GATES: Your father never
talked about any of this?

634
00:26:59,300 --> 00:27:01,100
RAMOS: My dad never spoke
to me about any of this.

635
00:27:01,100 --> 00:27:02,300
GATES: Wow.

636
00:27:02,300 --> 00:27:03,566
RAMOS: Ever.

637
00:27:03,566 --> 00:27:05,666
GATES: Hmm.

638
00:27:05,666 --> 00:27:08,166
RAMOS: And I think maybe it's
just 'cause he tried to bury it.

639
00:27:08,166 --> 00:27:09,933
GATES: Mm-hmm.
Too painful.

640
00:27:09,933 --> 00:27:12,133
RAMOS: It's too painful.

641
00:27:13,233 --> 00:27:16,700
GATES: This terrible
loss effectively severed

642
00:27:16,700 --> 00:27:20,400
Anthony's connection
to his roots in Puerto Rico...

643
00:27:21,133 --> 00:27:24,200
But those roots
had not disappeared.

644
00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:27,533
When we focused on his
grandmother Ada we were able

645
00:27:27,533 --> 00:27:32,766
to trace her ancestry back
more than three centuries

646
00:27:32,766 --> 00:27:36,733
to a ship that arrived
in Puerto Rico

647
00:27:36,733 --> 00:27:39,766
in the year 1695!

648
00:27:41,233 --> 00:27:45,066
On board, were Anthony's
ninth great-grandparents,

649
00:27:45,066 --> 00:27:47,500
and they were coming
from a place that

650
00:27:47,500 --> 00:27:51,100
he'd never associated
with his heritage.

651
00:27:51,933 --> 00:27:56,433
RAMOS: "List of 20 families
that will, board the Brigantine

652
00:27:56,433 --> 00:28:00,200
named Jesus Maria y Joseph,"
wow.

653
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:04,833
"In the port of Santa Cruz,
of this island of Tenerife..."

654
00:28:05,066 --> 00:28:06,133
GATES: Mm-hmm.

655
00:28:06,133 --> 00:28:07,633
RAMOS: "To make the
voyage to the port of

656
00:28:07,633 --> 00:28:09,100
San Juan, Puerto Rico."

657
00:28:09,100 --> 00:28:11,200
GATES: You have any idea
what you're looking at?

658
00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:12,833
RAMOS: I mean, was this
when all my family members

659
00:28:12,833 --> 00:28:14,300
traveled to PR?

660
00:28:14,300 --> 00:28:16,433
GATES: This is the moment your
ancestors left the old world

661
00:28:16,433 --> 00:28:18,066
for the new world.

662
00:28:18,066 --> 00:28:21,733
And you now know the moment
and the name of the boat...

663
00:28:21,733 --> 00:28:23,066
RAMOS: That's wild.

664
00:28:23,066 --> 00:28:24,666
GATES: Which they
sailed to the new world.

665
00:28:24,666 --> 00:28:26,333
RAMOS: Jesus Maria y Joseph.

666
00:28:26,333 --> 00:28:28,366
GATES: From Tenerife.

667
00:28:29,066 --> 00:28:30,366
RAMOS: From Tenerife.

668
00:28:30,366 --> 00:28:32,033
That's like, that's
the Canary Islands.

669
00:28:32,033 --> 00:28:34,300
GATES: Mm-hmm.

670
00:28:35,133 --> 00:28:36,766
RAMOS: Wow.

671
00:28:36,766 --> 00:28:38,200
GATES: That's where
your family's from.

672
00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:39,533
What's it like to learn that?

673
00:28:39,533 --> 00:28:41,833
RAMOS: Yo, that is bananas.

674
00:28:42,033 --> 00:28:44,333
GATES: The Canary Islands
are an archipelago off

675
00:28:44,333 --> 00:28:46,500
the coast of North Africa,

676
00:28:46,500 --> 00:28:50,000
they were conquered by
the Spanish in the 1400s,

677
00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:54,500
and some of Anthony's ancestors
arrived not long after,

678
00:28:54,500 --> 00:28:56,733
but they only stayed
in their new home

679
00:28:56,733 --> 00:28:59,866
for a few generations.

680
00:28:59,866 --> 00:29:03,600
In the late 1600s, the
Spanish crown began offering

681
00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:07,266
incentives to shipping agents
in the Canary Islands

682
00:29:07,266 --> 00:29:11,000
who could entice people to
resettle in the Americas,

683
00:29:11,766 --> 00:29:15,700
the goal was to populate
Spain's New World colonies,

684
00:29:15,700 --> 00:29:20,233
and Anthony's ancestors were
soon recruited to sail for

685
00:29:20,233 --> 00:29:23,566
Puerto Rico, which tells
us something significant

686
00:29:23,566 --> 00:29:26,300
about their lives.

687
00:29:27,333 --> 00:29:31,466
So what would motivate a person
to come to the wilderness?

688
00:29:31,466 --> 00:29:33,100
RAMOS: Uh, they
must have been broke.

689
00:29:33,100 --> 00:29:34,166
GATES: You got it.

690
00:29:34,166 --> 00:29:36,000
RAMOS: 100%.
GATES: Broke.

691
00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:38,700
Most of the immigrants
were poor and landless.

692
00:29:38,700 --> 00:29:40,566
And once they arrived
in Puerto Rico,

693
00:29:40,566 --> 00:29:42,066
they got free land.

694
00:29:42,066 --> 00:29:44,000
They got a stipend
from the crown.

695
00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:47,466
They got seeds to plant and
supplies to plant the seeds.

696
00:29:47,466 --> 00:29:48,900
Pretty good deal.

697
00:29:48,900 --> 00:29:49,966
RAMOS: Yeah.

698
00:29:49,966 --> 00:29:51,500
GATES: It was a risk,
you know, you had to have

699
00:29:51,500 --> 00:29:52,966
a pioneer mentality.

700
00:29:52,966 --> 00:29:55,500
You had to roll the dice,
but you go, what the hell?

701
00:29:55,500 --> 00:29:57,066
I'm living here in poverty.

702
00:29:57,066 --> 00:29:59,133
RAMOS: What have I got to
lose if it's already hard?

703
00:29:59,133 --> 00:30:01,200
GATES: Yeah, you got it.

704
00:30:01,833 --> 00:30:04,433
After arriving in Puerto Rico,

705
00:30:04,433 --> 00:30:08,666
Anthony's ancestors settled
around the city of San Juan,

706
00:30:08,666 --> 00:30:12,733
they would remain there
until the early 1950s,

707
00:30:12,733 --> 00:30:17,400
when Anthony's grandmother
Ada set off for New York.

708
00:30:18,300 --> 00:30:21,433
Meaning that there is a
continuous paper trail

709
00:30:21,433 --> 00:30:23,866
mapping Anthony's roots

710
00:30:23,866 --> 00:30:27,166
from the Canary Islands
in the 1500s

711
00:30:27,166 --> 00:30:31,833
to his own birth in
Brooklyn in 1991.

712
00:30:33,166 --> 00:30:37,200
What does it mean to you
to have this incredible

713
00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:39,100
history restored to you?

714
00:30:39,100 --> 00:30:40,766
It'll never be lost again.

715
00:30:40,766 --> 00:30:42,166
RAMOS: It means a lot.

716
00:30:42,166 --> 00:30:44,066
It gives me a newfound, uh,

717
00:30:44,066 --> 00:30:45,800
definition of what
my identity is,

718
00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:48,133
where it comes from and...

719
00:30:48,133 --> 00:30:50,400
Because I didn't
know any of this.

720
00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:53,300
I mean, I, I never had
a relationship with...

721
00:30:53,300 --> 00:30:56,333
I mean, I had a short
relationship with my mom's mom

722
00:30:56,333 --> 00:30:57,600
and that was it.

723
00:30:57,600 --> 00:30:59,233
The rest of, all three of
my other grandparents,

724
00:30:59,233 --> 00:31:00,966
I didn't know 'em.

725
00:31:00,966 --> 00:31:02,500
GATES: Wow.

726
00:31:02,500 --> 00:31:04,566
RAMOS: You know, so I didn't
grow up with grandparents,

727
00:31:04,566 --> 00:31:08,133
you know, and I think that
was a, you know, that was

728
00:31:08,133 --> 00:31:09,366
a hard thing for me.

729
00:31:09,366 --> 00:31:11,000
You know, I hear stories,

730
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:12,866
you know, from my friends about
how they can't wait to see

731
00:31:12,866 --> 00:31:14,466
their grandmother
or their grandfather

732
00:31:14,466 --> 00:31:16,733
and they, you know, uh,
you know, I love my nan,

733
00:31:16,733 --> 00:31:20,166
or I love my, my ito, you know,
I, I loved, you know,

734
00:31:20,166 --> 00:31:22,166
and, and I just, I
didn't have that.

735
00:31:22,166 --> 00:31:23,533
GATES: Right.

736
00:31:23,533 --> 00:31:26,900
RAMOS: You know, ever, so...

737
00:31:27,433 --> 00:31:29,566
It makes me feel closer to them.

738
00:31:29,566 --> 00:31:30,733
GATES: Yep.

739
00:31:30,733 --> 00:31:32,633
Now you got 500 years
of grandfathers.

740
00:31:32,633 --> 00:31:35,266
RAMOS: 500 years. 500.

741
00:31:35,266 --> 00:31:36,400
GATES: By name!

742
00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:40,000
RAMOS: Right.
Yo, yo, that's crazy.

743
00:31:41,633 --> 00:31:43,600
GATES: Turning back
to Tracy Morgan,

744
00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:46,166
we uncovered the
story of another family

745
00:31:46,166 --> 00:31:48,900
that been lost to time.

746
00:31:49,500 --> 00:31:52,033
It begins with
Tracy's grandmother,

747
00:31:52,033 --> 00:31:54,333
Alice Ponder.

748
00:31:54,533 --> 00:31:57,700
Alice was a powerful figure
in Tracy's upbringing,

749
00:31:57,700 --> 00:32:00,400
providing him with
love, support,

750
00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:03,933
and a sense of
family continuity.

751
00:32:04,666 --> 00:32:08,433
Tracy even knew
Alice's mother Viola.

752
00:32:10,066 --> 00:32:13,400
But Alice's father, a man
named Carmen Ponder,

753
00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:15,533
was another matter.

754
00:32:15,533 --> 00:32:18,200
It seemed that Carmen had
abandoned his family when

755
00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:21,466
Alice was a
child and disappeared.

756
00:32:22,366 --> 00:32:25,233
At least that was
what Tracy believed.

757
00:32:25,233 --> 00:32:28,166
The truth, however,
was more complicated.

758
00:32:28,933 --> 00:32:31,133
In the archives of
Savannah, Georgia,

759
00:32:31,133 --> 00:32:34,400
we found Viola and
Carmen's divorce file,

760
00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:38,166
and saw that Tracy didn't
know everything about

761
00:32:38,166 --> 00:32:40,666
his grandmother's parents.

762
00:32:40,666 --> 00:32:42,833
MORGAN: My grandmother
was my girl.

763
00:32:42,833 --> 00:32:45,200
GATES: Would you please
read the transcribed section?

764
00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:47,733
MORGAN: "Carmen Ponder
versus Viola Ponder.

765
00:32:47,733 --> 00:32:52,733
Dear Viola, please be advised
that on July 29th, 1955,

766
00:32:52,733 --> 00:32:57,733
the plaintiff and the
above-styled case filed suit for

767
00:32:57,733 --> 00:33:02,066
a total divorce against you
alleging desertion."

768
00:33:02,066 --> 00:33:03,966
GATES: Yes. Your
great-grandfather Carmen,

769
00:33:03,966 --> 00:33:06,233
filed for divorce,
did you know that?

770
00:33:06,233 --> 00:33:07,533
MORGAN: He filed for divorce?

771
00:33:07,533 --> 00:33:09,566
GATES: He filed for
a divorce. Yeah.

772
00:33:09,566 --> 00:33:11,166
MORGAN: He said his
wife deserted him?

773
00:33:11,166 --> 00:33:13,866
GATES: Yes. He said
that she deserted him.

774
00:33:13,866 --> 00:33:15,400
MORGAN: Viola?

775
00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:18,466
GATES: Yes.
It's a surprise, huh?

776
00:33:19,100 --> 00:33:21,466
MORGAN: Wow.

777
00:33:23,366 --> 00:33:26,500
GATES: When Carmen filed
for divorce, he and Viola

778
00:33:26,500 --> 00:33:30,466
had been separated for
almost 20 years.

779
00:33:31,300 --> 00:33:35,500
They'd married when
they both were very young,

780
00:33:35,500 --> 00:33:38,766
but if Carmen's words
are to be believed,

781
00:33:38,766 --> 00:33:42,733
it seems the breakup
still pained him.

782
00:33:43,533 --> 00:33:45,233
MORGAN: "My name
is Carmen Ponder.

783
00:33:45,233 --> 00:33:48,666
My wife and I lived
together until

784
00:33:48,666 --> 00:33:52,600
on or about the
first of May, 1937.

785
00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:56,500
My wife left me at said time,

786
00:33:56,500 --> 00:33:59,700
and we have not been
living together since.

787
00:33:59,700 --> 00:34:03,866
I did not give her any
cause to leave me,

788
00:34:03,866 --> 00:34:05,900
but on the contrary,

789
00:34:05,900 --> 00:34:08,233
she was living with another man,

790
00:34:08,233 --> 00:34:10,933
and finally left
Savannah with him.

791
00:34:10,933 --> 00:34:15,266
I have not condoned
her acts of desertion

792
00:34:15,266 --> 00:34:17,833
and not forgiven
her for leaving me."

793
00:34:17,833 --> 00:34:20,633
GATES: Your great-grandmother
took up with another man

794
00:34:20,633 --> 00:34:22,566
and split.

795
00:34:22,566 --> 00:34:25,200
What's it like to read that?

796
00:34:26,066 --> 00:34:27,433
MORGAN: It's horrible.

797
00:34:27,433 --> 00:34:29,466
GATES: Well, she was 15
when they got married,

798
00:34:29,466 --> 00:34:31,066
and he was 22,

799
00:34:31,066 --> 00:34:32,866
so what do you think happened?

800
00:34:32,866 --> 00:34:35,100
Nobody is ready to
get married at 15.

801
00:34:35,100 --> 00:34:36,533
MORGAN: You're a child.

802
00:34:36,533 --> 00:34:37,800
GATES: Yeah, you know.

803
00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:39,933
MORGAN: I think she might have
just outgrew the marriage.

804
00:34:39,933 --> 00:34:41,466
GATES: Yeah, or fell in
love with another guy,

805
00:34:41,466 --> 00:34:43,566
or fell out of love,
you know how that goes.

806
00:34:43,566 --> 00:34:45,833
MORGAN: Wow.

807
00:34:46,833 --> 00:34:49,166
Explains a lot.

808
00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:53,700
GATES: We now began to
look at Carmen's roots,

809
00:34:53,700 --> 00:34:57,400
and soon uncovered another
shocking surprise.

810
00:34:58,666 --> 00:35:02,300
Carmen's mother, Daisy Wright,

811
00:35:02,300 --> 00:35:05,433
was married to a man
named "Julius Ponder".

812
00:35:06,133 --> 00:35:09,366
But when we compared
Tracy's DNA to that of

813
00:35:09,366 --> 00:35:12,133
Julius' known descendants,

814
00:35:12,133 --> 00:35:14,500
we didn't find any matches,

815
00:35:14,500 --> 00:35:19,933
meaning that Julius was not
Carmen's biological father.

816
00:35:20,966 --> 00:35:23,200
And though we could not
determine who was,

817
00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:25,966
we know something about him...

818
00:35:25,966 --> 00:35:28,333
based on Tracy's
genetic profile,

819
00:35:28,333 --> 00:35:31,100
Carmen's father
was a Jewish man,

820
00:35:31,900 --> 00:35:36,333
and Tracy himself
is 5% Ashkenazi...

821
00:35:37,833 --> 00:35:39,300
How does it make you feel?

822
00:35:39,300 --> 00:35:41,133
MORGAN: I'm a brother on
the street man, you know?

823
00:35:41,133 --> 00:35:43,500
I'm all about jive, man.

824
00:35:43,500 --> 00:35:45,733
And, um, to find out that my

825
00:35:45,733 --> 00:35:48,166
great-great-grandfather
was Jewish...

826
00:35:48,166 --> 00:35:50,133
GATES: 100% Jewish.

827
00:35:50,133 --> 00:35:52,166
MORGAN: It's like
getting knocked out.

828
00:35:52,166 --> 00:35:56,200
Not in a bad way, but I just,
I don't mind that.

829
00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:57,600
I just wanna know how my

830
00:35:57,600 --> 00:35:59,233
great-great-grandmother
got pregnant.

831
00:35:59,233 --> 00:36:00,300
GATES: Right.

832
00:36:00,300 --> 00:36:01,633
MORGAN: Was it love,
was it rape, I mean,

833
00:36:01,633 --> 00:36:02,700
what was it?

834
00:36:02,700 --> 00:36:04,233
GATES: Right.
Well, we don't know.

835
00:36:04,233 --> 00:36:05,733
MORGAN: I'm gonna think
about it in a good way.

836
00:36:05,733 --> 00:36:07,000
GATES: Yeah.

837
00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:08,966
MORGAN: I'm gonna, in my mind,
gonna say he loved her.

838
00:36:08,966 --> 00:36:11,433
GATES: Well, let's
hope that was true.

839
00:36:11,933 --> 00:36:13,466
Now I wanna show
you something else.

840
00:36:13,466 --> 00:36:15,800
Please turn the page.

841
00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:19,166
That is your
great-grandfather, Carmen.

842
00:36:19,166 --> 00:36:20,766
MORGAN: That's Carmen, I know.

843
00:36:20,766 --> 00:36:23,233
GATES: Now, if he don't look
like he's half-White,

844
00:36:23,233 --> 00:36:24,766
I ain't from
Piedmont, West Virginia.

845
00:36:24,766 --> 00:36:26,033
MORGAN: He does.

846
00:36:26,033 --> 00:36:27,433
GATES: He is
definitely half-White.

847
00:36:27,433 --> 00:36:28,900
MORGAN: Look at his nose.
It don't look like mine's.

848
00:36:28,900 --> 00:36:32,133
GATES: Look at his color!
MORGAN: Absolutely.

849
00:36:32,133 --> 00:36:34,300
GATES: Look at that hair,
look at those features.

850
00:36:34,300 --> 00:36:36,666
MORGAN: Wow.

851
00:36:36,666 --> 00:36:38,833
I wonder what he would say
now if he saw his family.

852
00:36:38,833 --> 00:36:40,833
GATES: Yeah.
MORGAN: His empire.

853
00:36:40,833 --> 00:36:41,966
GATES: Yeah.

854
00:36:41,966 --> 00:36:44,333
MORGAN: I wonder
what he would say now.

855
00:36:47,266 --> 00:36:50,600
GATES: We had one
more story for Tracy.

856
00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:54,066
Shifting to another line of
his mother's family tree,

857
00:36:54,066 --> 00:36:57,033
we came to a man
named Wiley Wharton.

858
00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:01,400
Wiley is Tracy's
third great-grandfather.

859
00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:05,633
He was an African American,
born around 1817,

860
00:37:05,633 --> 00:37:09,066
likely in
Halifax County, Virginia.

861
00:37:10,266 --> 00:37:13,500
But unlike most
African Americans of his day,

862
00:37:13,500 --> 00:37:19,700
we found Wiley listed by
name in the 1860 census,

863
00:37:19,700 --> 00:37:22,666
which could only
mean one thing.

864
00:37:23,333 --> 00:37:25,800
Anybody listed
by name was free.

865
00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:30,466
Your ancestor was in the tiny
percentage of Black people

866
00:37:30,466 --> 00:37:33,700
who got their freedom
before the Civil War.

867
00:37:34,333 --> 00:37:37,566
MORGAN: Wow.

868
00:37:37,566 --> 00:37:40,666
My great-great-great-
grandfather was free.

869
00:37:40,666 --> 00:37:42,266
GATES: He was free.

870
00:37:42,266 --> 00:37:44,933
Did you ever imagine that
somebody in your family line

871
00:37:44,933 --> 00:37:47,966
was free before the Civil War?

872
00:37:47,966 --> 00:37:50,900
Before the
Emancipation Proclamation.

873
00:37:56,133 --> 00:37:58,800
MORGAN: Good for you, Grandpa.

874
00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:03,733
You know, I could say that I'm
so happy for my grandfather.

875
00:38:04,333 --> 00:38:07,200
I'm so happy that he didn't
have to do all that suffering.

876
00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:08,733
I hope not.

877
00:38:08,733 --> 00:38:12,133
I'm glad he was free

878
00:38:12,133 --> 00:38:14,266
'cause that's how I feel,
now I know where I come from.

879
00:38:14,266 --> 00:38:15,766
GATES: Yeah.

880
00:38:15,766 --> 00:38:18,600
MORGAN: I'm free when
I'm on stage, I feel free.

881
00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:21,933
When I'm on stage,
doing my comedy, I feel free.

882
00:38:21,933 --> 00:38:24,666
Now I know it came from you.

883
00:38:27,233 --> 00:38:30,866
GATES: Though Wiley was free,
his family was not.

884
00:38:31,233 --> 00:38:33,333
We believe that
his wife Judy,

885
00:38:33,333 --> 00:38:35,866
Tracy's third
great-grandmother,

886
00:38:35,866 --> 00:38:39,966
was enslaved by a White man
named James Medley.

887
00:38:40,333 --> 00:38:41,900
As we scoured through the

888
00:38:41,900 --> 00:38:44,766
documents that
Medley left behind,

889
00:38:44,766 --> 00:38:49,233
we uncovered the birth record
for Judy and Wiley's son John,

890
00:38:49,833 --> 00:38:54,566
a baby born into slavery on
Medley's tobacco plantation.

891
00:38:55,166 --> 00:38:57,800
MORGAN: I used to
smoke cigarettes.

892
00:38:57,800 --> 00:38:59,666
Please forgive me.

893
00:38:59,666 --> 00:39:02,200
GATES: What's it
like to learn that?

894
00:39:03,033 --> 00:39:05,700
MORGAN: He owned my great...

895
00:39:05,700 --> 00:39:09,466
GATES: John is your great-great,
Judy's your great-great-great.

896
00:39:10,066 --> 00:39:13,266
And there's Judy giving birth
to John and the master...

897
00:39:13,266 --> 00:39:14,500
MORGAN: And he
owned both of them.

898
00:39:14,500 --> 00:39:15,866
GATES: And he owned both,
both of them.

899
00:39:15,866 --> 00:39:17,266
MORGAN: But he
didn't own Wiley.

900
00:39:17,266 --> 00:39:18,900
GATES: No, 'cause he was free.

901
00:39:18,900 --> 00:39:23,000
MORGAN: Wow.
It's surreal.

902
00:39:23,500 --> 00:39:25,500
You watch all these movies on TV

903
00:39:25,500 --> 00:39:28,366
and you grow up watching
Alex Haley, "Roots" and all that

904
00:39:28,366 --> 00:39:31,633
and now your face to face
with, with your roots.

905
00:39:31,633 --> 00:39:32,933
GATES: Yup.

906
00:39:32,933 --> 00:39:34,800
MORGAN: And it's,
it's bittersweet.

907
00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:36,800
It's sweet to know where I
come from and know who I am,

908
00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:39,366
but it's bitter to know
that you had a master,

909
00:39:39,366 --> 00:39:40,533
there was a master.

910
00:39:40,533 --> 00:39:41,566
GATES: Oh yeah.

911
00:39:41,566 --> 00:39:43,466
Can you imagine owning
another human being?

912
00:39:43,466 --> 00:39:44,533
MORGAN: No.

913
00:39:44,533 --> 00:39:45,566
GATES: And thinking
that's right?

914
00:39:45,566 --> 00:39:46,566
MORGAN: No.

915
00:39:46,566 --> 00:39:47,866
GATES: I wanna show
you a final thing.

916
00:39:47,866 --> 00:39:51,166
MORGAN: Okay.
GATES: Please turn the page.

917
00:39:51,166 --> 00:39:54,500
We're, we're looking at the
slave schedule in 1860,

918
00:39:54,500 --> 00:39:56,966
and remember, the
name of the White man who

919
00:39:56,966 --> 00:39:59,066
owned your family
was James Medley.

920
00:39:59,066 --> 00:40:00,433
MORGAN: Mm-hmm.

921
00:40:00,433 --> 00:40:03,266
GATES: So these are all of the
enslaved people that he owned

922
00:40:03,266 --> 00:40:05,166
in 1860.

923
00:40:05,166 --> 00:40:08,333
And as you can see, the record
lists all of them by sex,

924
00:40:08,333 --> 00:40:12,000
by age, and by color,
but not by name.

925
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:15,433
Now, this guy owns
71 human beings.

926
00:40:15,433 --> 00:40:17,533
Your great-great-grandfather
John would've been around

927
00:40:17,533 --> 00:40:20,233
four years old when that
census was recorded.

928
00:40:20,233 --> 00:40:22,766
And Judy, your
third great-grandmother,

929
00:40:22,766 --> 00:40:24,600
would've been around 28.

930
00:40:24,600 --> 00:40:25,933
Okay?

931
00:40:25,933 --> 00:40:28,166
And her five other children
would've been the ages of

932
00:40:28,166 --> 00:40:30,833
12, 7, 5, 3, and 2.

933
00:40:30,833 --> 00:40:32,466
So if you see any people...

934
00:40:32,466 --> 00:40:33,500
MORGAN: Yes.

935
00:40:33,500 --> 00:40:35,133
GATES: On that
document in front of you.

936
00:40:35,133 --> 00:40:37,166
MORGAN: "Male, Black, age 6.

937
00:40:37,166 --> 00:40:40,266
Female, Black, age 7.

938
00:40:40,266 --> 00:40:42,533
Female, Black, age 12.

939
00:40:42,766 --> 00:40:45,133
Male, Black, age 3.

940
00:40:45,133 --> 00:40:47,100
Male, Black, age 3.

941
00:40:47,100 --> 00:40:50,600
Female, mulatto, age 5.

942
00:40:50,600 --> 00:40:53,000
Male, Black, age 2."

943
00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:56,333
GATES: And they line up
exactly with your ancestors.

944
00:40:56,966 --> 00:41:00,066
So you are most probably
looking at your enslaved

945
00:41:00,066 --> 00:41:02,733
ancestors owned
by that White man,

946
00:41:02,733 --> 00:41:05,233
listed on the slave
schedule in 1860.

947
00:41:05,233 --> 00:41:08,633
But remember,
their father was free.

948
00:41:11,966 --> 00:41:13,400
MORGAN: It must've
been horrible.

949
00:41:13,400 --> 00:41:14,766
GATES: It must've been awful.

950
00:41:14,766 --> 00:41:16,266
Can you imagine what that must
have been like for him to see

951
00:41:16,266 --> 00:41:17,866
his family still
held in slavery?

952
00:41:17,866 --> 00:41:20,100
MORGAN: Alienated from his kids.
GATES: Yeah.

953
00:41:20,100 --> 00:41:23,033
MORGAN: Alienated from his kids.
GATES: Yep, you got it.

954
00:41:25,266 --> 00:41:28,600
There is a grace
note to this story.

955
00:41:28,600 --> 00:41:31,833
Tracy wondered what
happened to Wiley and Judy

956
00:41:31,833 --> 00:41:33,533
when freedom came,

957
00:41:33,533 --> 00:41:36,333
bringing with it a
host of new challenges.

958
00:41:36,866 --> 00:41:40,366
In the 1880 census,
we found our answer.

959
00:41:42,200 --> 00:41:44,800
MORGAN: "Wharton, Wiley,
age 60, mulatto.

960
00:41:44,800 --> 00:41:48,333
Occupation, farmer.
Can read, can write.

961
00:41:48,333 --> 00:41:51,733
Judy, age 50, mulatto.
Can read, can write."

962
00:41:51,733 --> 00:41:52,733
GATES: They stayed together

963
00:41:52,733 --> 00:41:54,933
and they learned
to read and write.

964
00:41:54,933 --> 00:41:58,333
Those are your third
great-grandparents.

965
00:41:58,333 --> 00:42:00,200
MORGAN: Thank the Lord.
Thank the Lord. Thank the Lord.

966
00:42:00,200 --> 00:42:01,566
GATES: Isn't that cool?

967
00:42:01,566 --> 00:42:04,500
And all, and listed with
all their children, man.

968
00:42:04,500 --> 00:42:06,233
MORGAN: All the
children stayed with them?

969
00:42:06,233 --> 00:42:07,566
GATES: They all
stayed with them.

970
00:42:07,566 --> 00:42:09,100
The Wharton family
stayed together through

971
00:42:09,100 --> 00:42:11,333
slavery and freedom.

972
00:42:11,333 --> 00:42:12,933
What's it like to see that?

973
00:42:12,933 --> 00:42:14,633
MORGAN: This is
heavy stuff for me.

974
00:42:14,633 --> 00:42:17,433
I feel fortunate.
I feel found.

975
00:42:17,433 --> 00:42:20,333
I feel different.
It's a sense of pride.

976
00:42:20,333 --> 00:42:23,133
It's me knowing,
it's changed my life.

977
00:42:23,133 --> 00:42:25,700
This book right here
has changed my life.

978
00:42:25,700 --> 00:42:27,133
(kiss)

979
00:42:29,466 --> 00:42:32,866
GATES: We'd already traced
Anthony Ramos' paternal roots

980
00:42:32,866 --> 00:42:37,566
from Puerto Rico to Tenerife,
one of the Canary Islands,

981
00:42:37,566 --> 00:42:41,100
where some of Anthony's
ancestors settled

982
00:42:41,100 --> 00:42:45,333
after Spanish conquistadors
arrived in the 1400s.

983
00:42:46,366 --> 00:42:49,533
But we soon discovered that
Anthony has ancestors

984
00:42:49,533 --> 00:42:53,400
who were in Tenerife
long before that.

985
00:42:54,366 --> 00:42:58,300
The story begins with his
15th-great-grandfather,

986
00:42:58,300 --> 00:43:01,366
a man named "Andrés de Llerena."

987
00:43:02,166 --> 00:43:06,000
In records, Andrés is
described as a "Guanche",

988
00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:09,233
the Spanish word for
a native islander,

989
00:43:09,233 --> 00:43:11,633
and it seems that
he suffered a great deal

990
00:43:11,633 --> 00:43:14,366
for that very reason.

991
00:43:14,366 --> 00:43:16,033
RAMOS: Whoa.

992
00:43:16,033 --> 00:43:20,100
"He Andrés specifically states
that because they're Guanches,

993
00:43:20,100 --> 00:43:24,633
Fernandez de Lugo
hates them and drives them

994
00:43:24,633 --> 00:43:28,033
from their land and from
said island of Tenerife

995
00:43:28,033 --> 00:43:29,833
wherever he wants."

996
00:43:29,833 --> 00:43:31,833
GATES: Your 15th
great-grandfather, Andrés,

997
00:43:31,833 --> 00:43:35,600
wasn't Spanish, he was a member
of the indigenous people

998
00:43:35,600 --> 00:43:40,366
whom Spain conquered when
they colonized that island.

999
00:43:41,233 --> 00:43:42,733
RAMOS: It's unbelievable.

1000
00:43:42,733 --> 00:43:46,366
GATES: How about that?
What's it like to learn that?

1001
00:43:47,200 --> 00:43:50,566
RAMOS: It's deep.

1002
00:43:52,233 --> 00:43:53,800
I can imagine, you know?

1003
00:43:53,800 --> 00:43:56,600
It's like you...

1004
00:43:56,600 --> 00:43:58,800
it's people just
driving you out.

1005
00:44:00,133 --> 00:44:03,666
GATES: The Spanish conquest
of Tenerife was brutal.

1006
00:44:04,533 --> 00:44:07,433
Significant numbers of
indigenous people died

1007
00:44:07,433 --> 00:44:10,600
in battle or from disease.

1008
00:44:11,266 --> 00:44:14,566
But Anthony's ancestor
faced a different ordeal.

1009
00:44:14,566 --> 00:44:19,733
A record from the year 1506
places Andrés on the estate of

1010
00:44:19,733 --> 00:44:21,366
a conquistador,

1011
00:44:21,366 --> 00:44:25,500
and makes clear that he
was not there by choice.

1012
00:44:26,866 --> 00:44:29,933
RAMOS: "You
Fernando de Guenera,

1013
00:44:29,933 --> 00:44:33,666
have a Guanches slave
named Andrés."

1014
00:44:34,133 --> 00:44:36,200
GATES: Did it ever occur to
you that you descend from

1015
00:44:36,200 --> 00:44:39,633
someone who had been enslaved?

1016
00:44:40,533 --> 00:44:42,333
RAMOS: Explains why I
got that fight in me, yo.

1017
00:44:42,333 --> 00:44:44,500
GATES: Yeah.

1018
00:44:46,200 --> 00:44:51,166
RAMOS: But...

1019
00:44:51,166 --> 00:44:52,966
you know, I always
had thoughts like, what if,

1020
00:44:52,966 --> 00:44:56,266
you know, you never know when
you Puerto Rican or come from

1021
00:44:56,266 --> 00:44:58,000
one of these island, you come
from one of the islands,

1022
00:44:58,000 --> 00:44:59,666
your family comes from one of
the islands, you just don't,

1023
00:44:59,666 --> 00:45:00,833
you just don't know.

1024
00:45:00,833 --> 00:45:02,200
GATES: Right.
No, you don't know.

1025
00:45:02,200 --> 00:45:03,400
RAMOS: There's a mixed bag.

1026
00:45:03,400 --> 00:45:06,066
You don't know who's from
where, from what happened.

1027
00:45:06,066 --> 00:45:10,200
So, you know, I've
definitely wondered like...

1028
00:45:10,200 --> 00:45:12,800
I mean...

1029
00:45:13,066 --> 00:45:14,800
GATES: Well, Anthony,
we do not know exactly the

1030
00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:17,633
circumstances under which
Andrés became enslaved or

1031
00:45:17,633 --> 00:45:19,166
how long he lived in bondage,

1032
00:45:19,166 --> 00:45:21,500
but we believe it was
for at least ten years,

1033
00:45:21,500 --> 00:45:25,766
considering the conquest
of Tenerife ended in 1496.

1034
00:45:28,733 --> 00:45:31,466
RAMOS: That's a long
time to be a slave, man.

1035
00:45:32,333 --> 00:45:35,900
GATES: This story was about
to take an incredible turn.

1036
00:45:36,200 --> 00:45:39,133
Records show that in 1506

1037
00:45:39,133 --> 00:45:43,500
Andrés persuaded his enslaver
to allow him to find another

1038
00:45:43,500 --> 00:45:47,233
human being to serve as
his permanent replacement,

1039
00:45:47,233 --> 00:45:50,666
thereby allowing
him to go free.

1040
00:45:51,933 --> 00:45:55,900
He had to find a substitute
slave to take his place.

1041
00:45:56,500 --> 00:45:58,333
RAMOS: How do you
convince somebody to do that?

1042
00:45:58,333 --> 00:46:01,500
Yo, my man, can you just like,
take my place with this family?

1043
00:46:01,500 --> 00:46:03,533
I'm just trying to get
this freedom real quick.

1044
00:46:03,533 --> 00:46:06,266
I promise, like when I get
my freedom, I'm gonna try and

1045
00:46:06,266 --> 00:46:07,800
come back and get
you or something.

1046
00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:09,833
What, like what kind of,
how he made that deal?

1047
00:46:09,833 --> 00:46:11,100
GATES: Well, you said your
father was a fast talker.

1048
00:46:11,100 --> 00:46:12,833
RAMOS: I swear. I was
literally thinking about Dad.

1049
00:46:12,833 --> 00:46:15,833
My dad would've talked
his way into freedom. 100%.

1050
00:46:15,833 --> 00:46:17,266
GATES: I remember
those cans of Raid.

1051
00:46:17,266 --> 00:46:19,666
RAMOS: My dad would've
been the only slave, like,

1052
00:46:19,666 --> 00:46:20,800
yo, trying to set...

1053
00:46:20,800 --> 00:46:22,266
Yo, I, I probably, I'm
gonna get this freedom.

1054
00:46:22,266 --> 00:46:23,766
You want this freedom too?
Come on, you can tell me.

1055
00:46:23,766 --> 00:46:26,500
(laughter).

1056
00:46:27,500 --> 00:46:31,533
GATES: Andrés' deal was unusual,
but it wasn't unprecedented.

1057
00:46:32,900 --> 00:46:36,666
By this time, a trade system
was already in place

1058
00:46:36,666 --> 00:46:40,966
bringing enslaved Africans
to the Canary Islands.

1059
00:46:40,966 --> 00:46:44,866
And that's likely how Andrés
obtained his replacement,

1060
00:46:45,500 --> 00:46:47,933
possibly with
financial assistance

1061
00:46:47,933 --> 00:46:50,533
from his extended family.

1062
00:46:50,533 --> 00:46:55,666
Even so: it's hard to believe
that anyone could have predicted

1063
00:46:55,666 --> 00:46:59,933
what Andrés would do
with his freedom.

1064
00:46:59,933 --> 00:47:02,100
After marrying and
starting a family,

1065
00:47:02,100 --> 00:47:05,100
he joined a Spanish
military expedition

1066
00:47:05,100 --> 00:47:07,566
against North Africa,

1067
00:47:07,566 --> 00:47:10,933
and was never seen again.

1068
00:47:11,566 --> 00:47:15,666
We believe he died
fighting for Spain.

1069
00:47:15,666 --> 00:47:17,500
What do you make of this?

1070
00:47:17,500 --> 00:47:19,566
RAMOS: I don't know.

1071
00:47:19,566 --> 00:47:21,033
I can only imagine that
he was probably like,

1072
00:47:21,033 --> 00:47:23,066
"Yo, this is probably
the easiest way for me

1073
00:47:23,066 --> 00:47:24,300
to have a better life."

1074
00:47:24,300 --> 00:47:25,433
GATES: Yeah.

1075
00:47:25,433 --> 00:47:28,866
RAMOS: So, you know,
eff it, I'm out.

1076
00:47:28,866 --> 00:47:30,166
GATES: Yeah.

1077
00:47:30,166 --> 00:47:32,533
RAMOS: I'm go side with these
guys 'cause they got it better.

1078
00:47:32,533 --> 00:47:36,133
And if I gotta, if I see a
window, then, you know...

1079
00:47:36,133 --> 00:47:37,666
GATES: The only way up,

1080
00:47:37,666 --> 00:47:38,900
the Spanish weren't
going anywhere.

1081
00:47:38,900 --> 00:47:40,066
RAMOS: Right.

1082
00:47:40,066 --> 00:47:41,700
GATES: I mean, they're
still there, in effect.

1083
00:47:41,700 --> 00:47:45,700
So the only way was to
become part of the system

1084
00:47:45,700 --> 00:47:47,000
and that's what he did.

1085
00:47:47,000 --> 00:47:49,000
RAMOS: Right. I'm just...

1086
00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:50,466
it's that every man for
himself kind of thing,

1087
00:47:50,466 --> 00:47:51,866
you know what I'm saying?

1088
00:47:51,866 --> 00:47:54,300
Like I can't imagine that he was
really thinking about morals...

1089
00:47:54,300 --> 00:47:56,600
GATES: No.
RAMOS: In that moment.

1090
00:47:56,600 --> 00:47:59,066
GATES: No, no.
But, what a story.

1091
00:48:00,900 --> 00:48:03,600
RAMOS: It's unbelievable, man.

1092
00:48:04,500 --> 00:48:07,900
GATES: We had one more
detail share with Anthony.

1093
00:48:07,900 --> 00:48:09,966
According to his will,

1094
00:48:09,966 --> 00:48:13,333
Andrés married a woman
named Maria de Lugo

1095
00:48:13,900 --> 00:48:18,766
and she came from
a very illustrious family.

1096
00:48:18,766 --> 00:48:22,700
Her father, Anthony's
16th-great-grandfather

1097
00:48:22,700 --> 00:48:27,333
was a king of the indigenous
people of Tenerife.

1098
00:48:27,900 --> 00:48:33,033
There is even a statue of him
standing on the island today,

1099
00:48:33,033 --> 00:48:37,066
a tangible sign of
Anthony's royal roots.

1100
00:48:38,033 --> 00:48:41,133
There he is.

1101
00:48:41,133 --> 00:48:44,333
That is the statue of
your 16th-great-grandfather.

1102
00:48:44,333 --> 00:48:46,000
RAMOS: It's unbelievable.

1103
00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:47,433
GATES: You ever
feel like a prince?

1104
00:48:47,433 --> 00:48:51,166
(laughing)

1105
00:48:51,366 --> 00:48:53,100
RAMOS: Yo ma, you hear that?

1106
00:48:53,100 --> 00:48:55,733
I'm a prince.

1107
00:48:55,733 --> 00:48:57,333
My dog's name is Prince.

1108
00:48:57,333 --> 00:48:58,400
GATES: Oh, really?

1109
00:48:58,400 --> 00:48:59,433
RAMOS: Yeah.

1110
00:48:59,433 --> 00:49:00,600
GATES: Well, aptly named.

1111
00:49:00,600 --> 00:49:02,666
RAMOS: Yo.

1112
00:49:02,666 --> 00:49:04,433
GATES: What is it like
to discover this and

1113
00:49:04,433 --> 00:49:05,933
to see your ancestor?

1114
00:49:05,933 --> 00:49:07,700
You know, you couldn't
make this story up.

1115
00:49:07,700 --> 00:49:09,766
RAMOS: Yo, my man was ripped
though, I'm not gonna lie.

1116
00:49:09,766 --> 00:49:10,933
He was in good shape.

1117
00:49:10,933 --> 00:49:12,300
So I got some good
genes, hopefully,

1118
00:49:12,300 --> 00:49:13,900
you know what I'm saying?

1119
00:49:13,900 --> 00:49:17,233
He could've put some
pants on, but you know.

1120
00:49:17,233 --> 00:49:19,666
He's, uh, everybody's wild.

1121
00:49:19,666 --> 00:49:20,933
GATES: Yeah.

1122
00:49:20,933 --> 00:49:23,533
And he was an indigenous
person before the Spanish.

1123
00:49:23,533 --> 00:49:25,500
He was a king conquered
by the Spanish,

1124
00:49:25,500 --> 00:49:29,333
but he was there long before the
Spanish conquered the island.

1125
00:49:29,333 --> 00:49:30,600
RAMOS: That's
unbelievable, man.

1126
00:49:30,600 --> 00:49:31,800
GATES: Isn't that unbelievable?

1127
00:49:31,800 --> 00:49:33,266
You come from royalty, brother.

1128
00:49:33,266 --> 00:49:36,566
RAMOS: That's unbelievable.

1129
00:49:37,600 --> 00:49:41,333
I can't even, that's so crazy.

1130
00:49:42,300 --> 00:49:44,466
Definitely didn't feel
that way in Bushwick.

1131
00:49:44,466 --> 00:49:46,000
(laughter)

1132
00:49:47,400 --> 00:49:51,233
GATES: The paper trail had run
out for both of my guests.

1133
00:49:51,233 --> 00:49:55,300
It was time to show them
their full family trees.

1134
00:49:55,300 --> 00:49:58,300
Anthony, these are all
the ancestors we found.

1135
00:49:58,300 --> 00:50:02,133
Now filled with names they'd
never heard before.

1136
00:50:02,133 --> 00:50:05,066
MORGAN: It's moving.
It's incredible.

1137
00:50:05,066 --> 00:50:08,766
It's moving to me.
My heart is singing.

1138
00:50:09,566 --> 00:50:12,333
My heart is singing.

1139
00:50:12,333 --> 00:50:14,800
RAMOS: It's, it's beautiful.

1140
00:50:14,800 --> 00:50:17,433
I mean I am still who I am
but I understand, you know,

1141
00:50:17,433 --> 00:50:20,900
I think I have a little more
of an understanding as to why.

1142
00:50:21,366 --> 00:50:25,666
GATES: Stepping back, I had
a final question for each man.

1143
00:50:26,466 --> 00:50:29,866
I wanted to know how our
journey had changed them.

1144
00:50:29,866 --> 00:50:32,800
For Tracy, the
answer was simple:

1145
00:50:32,800 --> 00:50:34,966
the stories of his ancestors

1146
00:50:34,966 --> 00:50:38,333
had helped him make sense
of his own story.

1147
00:50:39,300 --> 00:50:41,000
MORGAN: I'm happy to
know who they are.

1148
00:50:41,000 --> 00:50:42,133
GATES: Mm-hmm.

1149
00:50:42,133 --> 00:50:43,933
MORGAN: These are people
who I'll never meet and

1150
00:50:43,933 --> 00:50:46,833
I've never met, but I feel
like I've always known them.

1151
00:50:46,833 --> 00:50:48,300
GATES: Oh, that's beautiful.

1152
00:50:48,300 --> 00:50:51,500
MORGAN: I feel like I've
always, they've always been

1153
00:50:51,500 --> 00:50:56,133
in my life and they've
guided me, they've guided me.

1154
00:50:56,633 --> 00:51:01,633
My ancestors have guided me
to this point in my life.

1155
00:51:01,866 --> 00:51:04,633
I realize how many times being
in the neighborhood

1156
00:51:04,633 --> 00:51:06,233
that I grew up in,

1157
00:51:06,233 --> 00:51:08,433
coming probably knowing,
or not be knowing

1158
00:51:08,433 --> 00:51:10,300
how close I came to death.

1159
00:51:10,300 --> 00:51:11,466
GATES: Yeah.

1160
00:51:11,466 --> 00:51:12,766
MORGAN: Now I know
who was on my shoulder.

1161
00:51:12,766 --> 00:51:14,266
GATES: Yeah, you had an
angel on your shoulder.

1162
00:51:14,266 --> 00:51:17,033
MORGAN: Now I know I had a lot
of them on my shoulder.

1163
00:51:17,533 --> 00:51:21,066
GATES: For Anthony, seeing his
family tree filled with such

1164
00:51:21,066 --> 00:51:23,133
diverse characters,

1165
00:51:23,133 --> 00:51:26,366
from impoverished immigrants
to native kings,

1166
00:51:26,366 --> 00:51:30,366
led him to reflect on how
much lies beneath the surface

1167
00:51:30,366 --> 00:51:33,500
of every human life.

1168
00:51:33,800 --> 00:51:36,100
RAMOS: Like, we never
know where someone's from.

1169
00:51:36,100 --> 00:51:39,600
You know, we, we judge ourselves
by what we look like.

1170
00:51:39,600 --> 00:51:41,366
We judge other people
by what we look like.

1171
00:51:41,366 --> 00:51:42,400
But you, you don't know.

1172
00:51:42,400 --> 00:51:43,800
GATES: You don't know.

1173
00:51:43,800 --> 00:51:44,866
RAMOS: You don't know.

1174
00:51:44,866 --> 00:51:46,400
GATES: You don't know
what's under his skin.

1175
00:51:46,400 --> 00:51:49,133
You don't, mm-hmm.

1176
00:51:49,133 --> 00:51:51,066
RAMOS: Because somebody
is so much more than

1177
00:51:51,066 --> 00:51:53,500
what they look like.

1178
00:51:53,500 --> 00:51:56,466
GATES: That's the end of our
journey with Anthony Ramos

1179
00:51:56,466 --> 00:51:59,100
and Tracy Morgan...

1180
00:51:59,100 --> 00:52:02,833
join me next time when we
unlock the secrets of the past

1181
00:52:02,833 --> 00:52:04,466
for new guests

1182
00:52:04,466 --> 00:52:09,200
on another episode of
"Finding Your Roots".