Henry Louis Gates, Jr. helps musician Pharrell Williams and filmmaker Kasi Lemmons understand the experiences of their enslaved ancestors, uncovering extraordinarily rare first-person accounts of their relatives who endured bondage. Through testimonies, we meet individuals who emerged from slavery resilient and refusing to be erased—yearning, like our guests, to trace their stories back to Africa.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the family trees of actor John Lithgow and journalist Maria Hinojosa, introducing them to ancestors who arrived in North America long before the birth of the United States. Using a mix of documents and DNA, Gates guides his guests on journeys from Spain to Mexico, England to Plymouth Rock, compelling them to re-imagine their families as well as their nation.