Henry Louis Gates, Jr. introduces trail-blazing journalists Gretchen Carlson and Don Lemon to the ancestors who blazed a trail for them, traveling from Louisiana sugar plantations to immigrant towns in rural Minnesota, meeting soldiers and Civil Rights activists, entrepreneurs and day laborers who worked tirelessly to keep their families together so that, one day, their descendants might thrive.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. uncovers the roots of comedians Lewis Black and Roy Wood, Jr.—two funny men whose family trees are filled with stories that tend more towards drama than comedy. Along the way, Gates introduces his guests to the ancestors who gave them their names—as well as to an array of men and women who took great risks and overcame enormous hardships for the sake of their families.