Product Details

• Actors: Benjamin Carson Sr., Henry Louis Gates, Whoopi Goldberg, T.D. Jakes, Mae C. Jemison
• Producers: Jesse Sweet
• Format: Color, Widescreen, NTSC, Closed-captioned
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: PBS
• DVD Release Date: May 2, 2006
• Run Time: 240 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000E6EHNG
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,714 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "African American Lives" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Renowned scholar Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., W.E.B. DuBois professor of the Humanities and chair of African and African-American Studies at Harvard University, takes Alex Haley’s Roots saga to a whole new level. Using genealogy and DNA science, Dr. Gates tells the personal stories of eight accomplished African Americans, tracing their roots through American history and back to Africa. Participants include Dr. Ben Carson, Whoopi Goldberg, Bishop T.D. Jakes, Dr. Mae Jemison, Quincy Jones, Dr. Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Chris Tucker and Oprah Winfrey.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars African American Lives, February 18, 2006

By 

Donna Cole "coledmarie" (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: African American Lives (DVD)

I was so pleased with this project. This is an excellent source for college professors and instructors who teach courses on race. As someone who has lived in Africa, I was moved by Chris Tucker's reaction to the reception he received by the Angolan people. The idea that we can trace our ancestry to Europe, Africa the Middle East based on our DNA is absolutely fascinating. Finally African Americans, all Americans have a lens in which to view the concept that we are more alike than we are different. Henry Louis Gates is to be commended for his foresight and scholarship.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars African American Lives, February 16, 2006

By 

Arnett Howard "King Creole" (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: African American Lives (DVD)

I saw the program on PBS and was inspired by the quality of production, variety of locations, subject matters and the huge amounts of detailed research that was displayed. What an enormous budget to produced such an epic document.
Dr. Henry Louis Gates seems to have fun mining the gold that is lying out in the fields of our African America history. Thanks for taking me along.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Speechless!!, July 16, 2006

By 

Philly Girl "Tee" (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: African American Lives (DVD)

I watched this on PBS during it's initial airing. Unfortunately, many friends did not. I'm purchasing this now one as a gift for a dear friend and one for myself to watch with other friends. I found it extremely interesting and educational for people of all nationalities. Whether you are African-American or any other nationality this is something to watch. The diversity on the outcome of the research done on Oprah, Q, Whoopi, Chris Tucker, & all the others done during this research was astounding and very interesting. Just to find out Penn State doing the Master File on genetic tracking. Just a swab of your saliva from your mouth and your family genes can be backtracked to the actual birthplace of your family. Just so thought-provoking on so many levels.