“African American Lives”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

African American Lives is a PBS television miniseries hosted by historian Henry Louis Gates Jr., focusing on African American genealogical research. The family histories of prominent people of African American descent are explored using traditional genealogic techniques as well as genetic analysis.

African American Lives

The first installment of the series aired in February 2006. The series featured research into the ancestral lineages of eight prominent African American guests. By billing the guests were: music producer Quincy Jones, astronaut and physician Mae Jemison, comedian Chris Tucker, bishop T. D. Jakes, sociologist Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, actress Whoopi Goldberg, physician Ben Carson and talk show host Oprah Winfrey. Writer, host and executive producer of the series, Henry Louis Gates, also features his ancestral heritage on the show. The miniseries featured interviews with the parents and family members of guests including Winfrey's father, Vernon Winfrey. Geneticists Rick Kittles and Mark D. Shriver also make appearances.

The miniseries' four episodes were broadcast over two nights in two parts. On February 1, the first two episodes were broadcast as "Listening to our Past; The Promise of Freedom". The following week, on February 8, the third and fourth episodes aired as, "Searching for Our Names; Beyond the Middle Passage".^[1] Re-runs of the series as individual episodes were broadcast following the joint premier both nights.^[1] The miniseries was sponsored by Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble who both produced commercials honoring African American heritage for use in the series.^[1]

African American Lives 2

African American Lives 2 premiered in February 2008, again hosted by Gates. This second set of episodes traced the ancestry of performers Morgan Freeman, Tina Turner, Tom Joyner, Chris Rock, Don Cheadle, theologian Peter Gomes, athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee, poet Maya Angelou, Bliss Broyard (the daughter of writer Anatole Broyard) and publisher Linda Johnson Rice (the daughter of publisher John H. Johnson). In addition to the more publicly known guests, Kathleen Henderson, a college administrator, was selected from more than 2,000 applicants to have her family history researched and to have DNA testing. The show continued the genealogical research into Gates's ancestry, which was found to be more than half European, including at least one male ancestor who fought in the American Revolution. Gates gave a speech when he was inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution. The four episodes of this miniseries are "The Road Home", "A Way Out of No Way", "We Come From People" and "The Past Is Another Country".

Episodes

Series overview

African American Lives (2006)

Family interviews in the episode include Winfrey's father, Vernon Winfrey, at his barbershop and home near Cleveland Park in Nashville, Tennessee.^[5] Gates' family is interviewed in his father's home town. Seated during the interview are his father, Henry Louis Gates, Sr., aunt Helen Gates Stephens, and brother Paul Gates. Also featured in the series are Chris Tucker's family members. At a large family gathering in DeKalb County, Georgia his two sisters, three brothers, and mother, Mary Louise Bryant, are identified. Tucker's maternal grandfather, Rev. Theodore Arthur Bryant, is formally interviewed by Tucker himself during a quiet moment at the family gathering. The Reverend Bryant also takes the cameras on a visit to his childhood home, now overrun by brush, it was the first piece of land ever owned by his family. In Austin, Texas, bishop Jakes talks with his uncle Hoover Jakes about his grandfather's mysterious premature death surrounded by other unidentified family members. Quincy Jones also talks about his upbringing and family.^[1]

In this episode we find Gates looking for answers about the unknown father of his great-great grandmother's many children and in doing so finds unexpected answers. Gates' father and aunt make appearances, again, as well as Gate's cousin, John Gates, who helps him to find records at the Allegany County court house. During the end credits we see highlights of a Gates' family gathering. Meanwhile Goldberg learns of an attempt of her ancestors' to own land only a few years after gaining freedom. Ben Carson's mother, Sonya Copeland, with her brothers Eddie and John Copeland, sit down to look through old family photos and tell stories for the series. In his sit-down with Gates, Carson discovers a heart warming tale of reunion in his genealogical past. In keeping with the episode's theme of ancestors lives immediately after finding freedom, Oprah Winfrey discovers her family's long ties to education. Also featured in the episode is Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, who learns more information about her grandfather's profession with the historic Utica Normal and Industrial Institute.^[6]

Oprah's Roots: An African American Lives Special (2007)

African American Lives 2 (2008)

Criticism

Due in part to a centuries-old history within the United States, historical experiences pre- and post-slavery, and migrations throughout North America, the majority of contemporary African Americans possess varying degrees of admixture with European ancestry. Many historians and critics believe that a majority of African Americans also have some Native American ancestry, but according to this show, it may be much less frequent.^[7]^[8]

With the help of Mark D. Shriver, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. put African American ancestry in these terms:

However, critics suggest that the program failed to fully acknowledge to the audience, or inform guests, that not all ancestry may show up in the tests.^[10]^[11] Full survey DNA testing cannot accurately determine an individual's full ancestry.^[12] Even though DNA testing isn't perfect more recent genetic testing research of 2015, have found varied ancestries which show different tendencies by region and sex of ancestors. These studies found that on average, African Americans have 73.2-82.1% West African, 16.7%-29% European, and 0.8–2% Native American genetic ancestry, with large variation between individuals.^[13]^[14]^[15]^[16]

The genetic tests done on direct paternal or maternal line evaluate only a few ancestors among many. Ancestral information markers (AIM) must also be done to form a more complete picture of a person's ancestry.^[10] For instance, MtDNA testing is only of direct maternal ancestors. This gives a false impression that the person has little heritage of another ethnic group. AIM markers are not as clearly defined for all populations as suggested, and depend on data still being accumulated. Historic populations migrated, which also influences results.^[10] Particularly, geneticists note that genetic analysis is incomplete related to Native Americans, and new genetic markers for these populations may be identified.^[10]^[11]

In other media

Gates has written an associated book, In Search of Our Roots: How 19 Extraordinary African Americans Reclaimed Their Past, which was published in early 2009.

See also

References

1. ^¹{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phcqu8rNZ9Q|title=Recording of original broadcast of Episode One: "Searching for Our Names"|publisher=YouTube, PBS, JohnHenry1869 (user)|date=January 31, 2013|accessdate=November 24, 2014}}
2. ^¹{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV5TxDki34o|title=oprah's roots (commercial) [day, month, and time slot of special premier]|publisher=YouTube, PBS|accessdate=November 24, 2014}}
3. ^¹{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/about/ |title=Finding Your Roots - About [year of special premier]|publisher=PBS|accessdate=September 16, 2014}}
4. ^¹²³{{cite web|url=http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/african-american-lives/episodes/198973|title=African American Lives Episodes|publisher=TV Guide|accessdate=November 24, 2014}}
5. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.yelp.com/biz/winfreys-barbershop-and-beauty-shop-nashville|title=winfreys barbershop and beauty shop|publisher=Yelp|accessdate=November 24, 2014}}
6. ^{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzM7VgzRmbc|title=Recording of original broadcast of Episode Two: "The Promise of Freedom"|publisher=YouTube, PBS, JohnHenry1869 (user)|date=February 1, 2013|accessdate=November 24, 2014}}
7. ^{{Cite web |url=http://www.familytreedna.com/pdf/ParraAJHG1998.pdf |title=Estimating African American Admixture Proportions by Use of Population-Specific Alleles |access-date=2009-03-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304020232/http://www.familytreedna.com/pdf/ParraAJHG1998.pdf |archive-date=2009-03-04 |dead-url=yes |df= }}
8. ^{{Cite web |url=http://www.familytreedna.com/pdf/HammerFSIinpress.pdf |title=Population structure of Y chromosome SNP haplogroups in the United States and forensic implications for constructing Y chromosome STR databases |access-date=2009-03-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110080953/https://www.familytreedna.com/pdf/HammerFSIinpress.pdf |archive-date=2017-01-10 |dead-url=yes |df= }}
9. ^Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. In Search of Our Roots: How 19 Extraordinary African Americans Reclaimed Their Past, New York: Crown Publishing, 2009, pp.20-21.
10. ^¹²³{{cite web|url=http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=3908 |title=Deep Roots and Tangled Branches |first=Troy |last=Duster |accessdate=2008-10-02 |year=2008 |publisher=Chronicle of Higher Education |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726082531/http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=3908 |archivedate=2011-07-26 }}
11. ^¹{{cite web |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071018145955.htm|title=Genetic Ancestral Testing Cannot Deliver On Its Promise, Study Warns| accessdate=2008-10-02 |date= 20 October 2007 | work=ScienceDaily}}
12. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2138059|title=How African Are You? What genealogical testing can't tell you.|author=John Hawks|accessdate=2010-06-26 |year=2008 |publisher=Washington Post}}
13. ^{{cite journal|author1=Katarzyna Bryc |author2=Adam Auton |author3=Matthew R. Nelson |author4=Jorge R. Oksenberg |author5=Stephen L. Hauser |author6=Scott Williams |author7=Alain Froment |author8=Jean-Marie Bodo |author9=Charles Wambebe |author10=Sarah A. Tishkoff |author11=Carlos D. Bustamante |title=Genome-wide patterns of population structure and admixture in West Africans and African Americans|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|date=January 12, 2010|volume=107|issue=2|pages=786–791|doi=10.1073/pnas.0909559107|url=https://www.pnas.org/content/107/2/786.long|accessdate=November 3, 2014|pmid=20080753|pmc=2818934|bibcode=2010PNAS..107..786B }}
14. ^{{cite journal|author1=Katarzyna Bryc |author2=Eric Y. Durand |author3=J. Michael Macpherson |author4=David Reich |author5=Joanna L. Mountain |title=The Genetic Ancestry of African Americans, Latinos, and European Americans across the United States|journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics|date=January 8, 2015|volume=96|issue=1|pages=37–53|doi=10.1016/j.ajhg.2014.11.010|pmc=4289685 |pmid=25529636}}
15. ^{{cite journal|author1=Soheil Baharian |author2=Maxime Barakatt |author3=Christopher R. Gignoux |author4=Suyash Shringarpure |author5=Jacob Errington |author6=William J. Blot |author7=Carlos D. Bustamante |author8=Eimear E. Kenny |author9=Scott M. Williams |author10=Melinda C. Aldrich |author11=Simon Gravel|title=The Great Migration and African-American Genomic Diversity|journal=PLOS Genetics|date=May 27, 2015|doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1006059|volume=12 |issue=5 |pages=e1006059 |pmid=27232753 |pmc=4883799}}
16. ^Henry Louis Gates, Jr., "[https://www.theroot.com/exactly-how-black-is-black-america-1790895185 Exactly How ‘Black’ Is Black America?]", The Root, February 11, 2013.