GATES: I'm Henry Louis Gates, Jr. welcome to "Finding Your Roots".
In this episode, we'll meet comedian Tracy Morgan and actor Anthony Ramos, two men who grew up in New York City, facing enormous odds.
MORGAN: You got swept up in it.
And what I said was, "I don't want to end up like my dad."
My dad died when he was 39.
GATES: Mm.
MORGAN: I said, "I don't want to go out like that."
RAMOS: It's just like the stuff we had to deal with at such a young age, metal detectors in our school, because kids were getting shot.
GATES: Yeah.
RAMOS: I'm like, "Yo, we're 11 years old."
Kids is bringing guns to school.
Like ready, ready to pop off at any moment.
And you just like, "Yo, like, I'm just trying to go to math."
GATES: Yeah, right?
To uncover their roots, we've used every tool available.
Genealogists combed through paper trails stretching back hundreds of years.
RAMOS: That's crazy.
GATES: While DNA experts utilized the latest advances in genetic analysis to reveal secrets that have lain hidden for generations.
And we've compiled it all into a "Book of Life".
RAMOS: You said this was my dad's great-grandfather, right?
GATES: It's your dad's side.
RAMOS: Yo, this is wild.
GATES: A record of all our discoveries...
Isn't that cool?
MORGAN: It's awesome.
GATES: And a window into the hidden past.
RAMOS: It means a lot.
Gives me a newfound definition of what my identity is, you know, especially what my name means and where it comes from.
MORGAN: I feel fortunate.
I feel found.
I feel different.
This book right here has changed my life.
GATES: My two guests have followed similar, and equally unlikely, paths.
Each escaped a troubled childhood thanks almost entirely to their own talents.
In this episode, they're going to meet ancestors whose paths were even more improbable, hearing stories of sacrifice, courage, and survival, all hidden in the branches of their family trees.
(theme music plays) ♪ ♪ (book closes) ♪ ♪ (honking) PAPARAZZI: Do something wild, get crazy a little bit.
MORGAN: Get crazy?
GATES: Tracy Morgan is a man with very few secrets.
The superstar comedian, beloved for his roles on "Saturday Night Live" and "30 Rock", has built an extraordinary career... QUINN: Tracy Morgan!
GATES: By being utterly open about his struggles.
MORGAN: As a child growing up in the Brooklyn section of New York, Tracy Morgan dreamed of being an astronaut, or the President of the United States.
Unfortunately, as Tracy Morgan soon came to realize, he was Black.
(laughs) So instead he sold T-shirts at Yankee Stadium.
GATES: But if you know Tracy's life story, you know that it's not really an act.
Tracy grew up under the most dire circumstances, in a shattered family... Moving between housing projects in New York City.
By the time he was a teenager, he'd seen many friends and relatives succumb to life on the streets, and he would likely have gone that way himself, were it not for his sense of humor.
MORGAN: I had a pretty rough childhood, growing up.
GATES: Mm-hmm.
MORGAN: And you see, uh, the drug dealers, you wanna be like them.
They got the fancy car and everything.
GATES: Right.
MORGAN: And I had older friends that was hustling and selling drugs.
And I also sold drugs, you know, I was also scalping tickets at Yankee Stadium... GATES: Of course.
MORGAN: Uh, selling souvenirs.
I was a hustler by nature.
GATES: Mm-hmm.
MORGAN: But I knew I didn't want to make it a lifelong career.
I knew there...
I knew, in my heart, there was something else I wanted to do.
GATES: That "something else" was comedy.
After dropping out of high school, Tracy began performing in his neighborhood, doing stand-up routines on the streets and in local stores.
He was living on welfare, with no idea where his talents would lead him.
But he had faith in himself, and that faith paid off.
MORGAN: I was doing comedy in a chicken spot.
It's called The Chicken Spot, where they used to sell fried chicken in the neighborhood.
GATES: Uh-huh.
MORGAN: And a friend of mine's, Do Wop and Mike Red, Mike Red came in there.
And they were laughing at my jokes, and he said, "I'm gonna come get you, Tuesday, and take you to the Uptown Comedy Club."
And I went down there, and I went to go in, and Miss Brown, God bless the dead, stopped me and said, "Uh-uh babe, you can't go in there.
It's $15."
And I didn't have $15.
So I was leaving out, and as I was leaving out, my friend "Rock", who was security there, he stopped me and said, "Are you funny?"
I said, "Yeah, I'm funny."
He said, "You look funny."
"Come back Tuesday, to the workshop."
GATES: Hmm.
MORGAN: And from that day, I took off.
GATES: Tracy is not exaggerating.
That workshop ultimately led to an audition for "Saturday Night Live" where his routine, almost entirely based on his own life story, won him a spot in the cast, and made him a star.
Tracy would spend seven years on the show, and his memories of those years still delight him today.
Do you have a favorite moment?
MORGAN: Every moment.
I can't isolate nothing.
Every moment there, that was some of the best times of my life.
There, I learned how to be fearless from Will Ferrell.
GATES: What do you mean?
How, how?
MORGAN: You have to be fearless.
I learned how to take my shirt off in front of the world.
So that's what I got from him.
I'm looking at all these pictures, and I remember every moment.
GATES: Mm-hmm.
MORGAN: Every moment... GATES: Mm-hmm.
MORGAN: In detail.
I remember all of this.
I remember doing this, this song, ♪ Rocket!
I'm taking a rocket!
♪ ♪ I'm packing... ♪♪ I remember doing that.
So all these are moments, with Jamie Foxx and Lorne, and these great times for me... GATES: Oh.
MORGAN: And my career, and it made me hone in on my craft.
GATES: What do you think made you so special?
What did you do differently than other comedians?
MORGAN: I just believe I stayed me.
GATES: Mm-hmm.
MORGAN: I stayed who I am.
I stayed in my skin.
I, I always stayed who I am.
I let the world know who I am.
GATES: Mm-hmm.
MORGAN: And what I think I did most in life that make people, that drew people to me, is I showed my vulnerability.
GATES: Mm-hmm.
MORGAN: That comes from everything that I went through as a child.
GATES: Mm-hmm.
MORGAN: I'm not afraid, I know how to make you laugh, but I'm not afraid to cry.
GATES: My second guest is actor and singer Anthony Ramos.
Anthony came to fame as one of the original cast members of "Hamilton", leading to a record contract, and a budding career in Hollywood.
But much like Tracy Morgan, Anthony is first and foremost a survivor.
He grew up in Bushwick, Brooklyn, a neighborhood riven by crime, his father struggled with addiction, and though his mother did the best she could, Anthony was almost overwhelmed by his surroundings.
RAMOS: We just grew up in a hard area.
It was crazy.
It was like...
Walking home from school, you hope you don't get jumped.
GATES: Yeah.
RAMOS: And then you'd still had to try to learn something in the midst of that.
So I have so much respect for kids who are from the hood that can still get good grades and can still excel, and you know what I'm saying?
Because it's just like the stuff we had to deal with at such a young age, metal detectors in our school, you know, and, uh, because kids were getting shot.
GATES: Yeah.
RAMOS: I'm like, "Yo, we're 12..." GATES: Yeah.
RAMOS: "We're 11 years old."
Kids is bringing guns to school.
GATES: Hmm.
RAMOS: Like ready, ready to pop off at any moment.
And you just like, "Yo, like, I'm just trying to go to math."
GATES: Perhaps unsurprisingly, Anthony had little interest in education, and was often in trouble, both in and outside of the classroom.
His salvation was his voice.
Anthony loved to sing and in 11th grade, he went to an audition for a musical at his high school, thinking that it was a talent show.
He was mistaken, but that mistake changed his life.
RAMOS: The teacher Sarah Steinwise, she goes, "Yo, uh, so can you, can you, read these lines?"
And I was like, "Read these lines?"
I was like, "For, like for what?"
She's like, "For the show."
"The musical."
I was like, "This is not a talent show?"
She's like, "No."
I was like, "Nah, man.
I'm, like, you know, I don't do that really."
Like, she's like, "Well, if you wanna be in the show, you have to read these lines."
And I'm like, "All right, cool."
And then they gave me a lead role in this thing.
And I was like, "Yo, that's crazy."
And, I decided to do it.
I, first I didn't wanna do it 'cause I was a little nervous and scared about it.
GATES: Of course.
RAMOS: I also was like it's a lotta work.
Am I gonna memorize all these lines?
'Cause truthfully, like, yo, I didn't even do my homework in high school.
I'll be honest, I, I graduated, I sang to a teacher.
Like, she gave me... And she came to my first show on tour.
When I was doing my, when I made, put out my first album, she came to my show.
And I'm like, yo.
I don't wanna say her name in case she still teaching.
But, um, you know... GATES: You sang your way outta high school.
RAMOS: I sang my way outta high school.
GATES: Anthony's attitudes about work have changed dramatically with success.
He's become a tireless performer, juggling movies, music, and television with the precision of a professional athlete.
But looking back on his accomplishments, Anthony takes the greatest pleasure in something more fundamental: the fact that he has stayed true to himself in the face of so much adversity.
RAMOS: I'm just proud that, you know, I didn't have to change... GATES: Mm-hmm.
RAMOS: To do this.
GATES: Mm-hmm.
RAMOS: It's a blessing because, um, for so many it hasn't been that.
GATES: No.
RAMOS: You know, people have had to shape-shift, and people have had to do things just to, you know, stay in the game.
GATES: Yeah.
RAMOS: Um, there was a part of me that, um, also, you know, wanted to prove people wrong too... GATES: Sure.
RAMOS: Not, not to say that they ever said I couldn't do something, but... GATES: Mm-hmm.
RAMOS: It was almost like, in case you thought I can't do that... GATES: Right.
RAMOS: I'm gonna make sure you know I can do it.
GATES: Anthony and Tracy share a common thread: each spent their childhood in near-total chaos, grappling with the most basic needs, before finding an escape on the stage.
Along the way, neither man had time to piece together the branches of their family trees, much less contemplate their ancestors.
But that was about to change.
I started with Tracy Morgan, and with his father, a man named James Morgan, Jr.
Sadly, Tracy's childhood was dominated by James' personal demons.
MORGAN: Well, he went to Vietnam, so when he came back he was pretty messed up because of all the trauma.
GATES: Yeah.
MORGAN: And then him and my mom, my mom was young.
GATES: Mm-hmm.
MORGAN: I'll give her that, she was very young when she had her children, so it was a lot of fighting going on.
GATES: Mm-hmm.
MORGAN: It was a lot of turmoil, a lot of trauma.
GATES: Mm-hmm.
MORGAN: Then my father was kicked to the curb.
Because he started using heroin.
GATES: Mm-hmm.
MORGAN: He went to Vietnam as a young man, and he came back... he didn't go there hooked on heroin, he came back and got hooked on heroin.
GATES: He had PTSD.
MORGAN: Yes.
GATES: Yeah.
MORGAN: Absolutely.
To the day he died.
GATES: Yeah.
MORGAN: And, um, one day, my mother saw me and my older brother Jim playing with his needles.
GATES: Mm-hmm.
MORGAN: And that was it.
GATES: Wow.
MORGAN: She kicked him out.
And he was out of our lives.
GATES: James died when Tracy was a teenager, and though the two reconnected at the end of his life, Tracy came to me knowing very little about his father's roots.
We set out to recover what had been lost.
In the 1950 census for Manhattan, we found James as a two-year-old child, living in the home of his grandmother, a woman named Nannie, or "Nan", Morgan.
Nannie is Tracy's great-grandmother, and Nannie had a secret: she never married Tracy's great-grandfather, a man named Julius Alexander, meaning that Tracy's surname was not passed down along his direct paternal line... GATES: The source of your surname is your great-grandmother, Nannie.
Her maiden name was Morgan.
MORGAN: Whoa.
GATES: She and Julius never got married.
So James took her surname and that's how you have it.
That's why you are Morgan because of Nan.
MORGAN: Nannie Morgan?
GATES: You got it.
MORGAN: So my great-grandfather is Julius Alexander.
GATES: Yes, that's right.
MORGAN: That's him.
GATES: That's him.
But they just never got married.
Her maiden name... MORGAN: That's okay, I got his blood.
GATES: No question.
You got his DNA and hers.
MORGAN: So I don't need, I... Yeah, I got, I got their blood.
GATES: But you took your surname from Nan's maiden name, Morgan.
MORGAN: Morgan.
GATES: That's where it comes from.
MORGAN: So my name would've been Tracy Alexander?
GATES: That's right.
MORGAN: Wow!
GATES: Tracy's great-grandfather Julius was born in North Carolina in 1894.
And though his name was unfamiliar, he actually had a great deal in common with Tracy's father...
The story begins in the National Archives, where we found a draft card that Julius filled out when he was 23 years old.
MORGAN: "What military service have you had?
None.
Date of registration.
June 5th, 1917."
GATES: Your great-grandfather, Julius, registered for the draft.
And you know what was happening at that time?
World War I. MORGAN: So my great-grandfather fought in World War I?
GATES: Turn the page.
Let's see.
Tracy, would you please read the transcription in that white box?
MORGAN: "Date of sailing, September 29th, 1918.
Port of embarkation, Hoboken, New Jersey.
Name, Alexander Julius, rank, private."
GATES: You got it right.
Your great-grandfather was not only drafted, he got shipped out to France.
How's that make you feel?
MORGAN: It makes me feel proud.
It makes me feel proud.
One word, just proud.
GATES: Mm-hmm.
MORGAN: Just proud.
I wish all the males in my family could hear this.
That he was there doing his duty.
GATES: He was there risking his life.
MORGAN: For us.
GATES: Julius was assigned to a "depot" company, meaning he was likely providing supplies to combat troops.
The job was crucial to the war effort, and when Julius arrived in France, the war had reached its peak.
America and its Allies were attempting to break through the infamous trench network of the western front with a series of attacks now known as the "100 days offensive."
These attacks would prove successful, and end the war, but at a tremendous cost.
The Allies suffered over 700,000 casualties, and Julius was lucky not to be one of them.
He returned safely to the United States in July of 1919, just months after the end of the fighting.
He made it.
He made it through hell.
Your great-grandfather served in France for nine months.
MORGAN: Knowing a lot of this about my father's side it is helping me let a lot of things go.
GATES: Oh yeah.
MORGAN: Because this...
I thought I was doing bad when I met the man with no shoes... GATES: Mm-hmm.
MORGAN: Until I met the man with no feet.
GATES: Yeah, that's right.
And just think this, your great-grandfather must have come back with PTSD.
Two generations PTSD brother.
How do you think he dealt with all that?
I mean, he was a, a kid from North Carolina.
MORGAN: A sense of humor.
GATES: Maybe it's a sense of humor, maybe so.
MORGAN: If you don't laugh about it, you're gonna cry about it.
GATES: Yep.
MORGAN: That's how I dealt with all mine.
GATES: Yep.
MORGAN: Things in my life.
GATES: Yep.
MORGAN: I laugh about it.
GATES: Tracy wondered what happened to Julius after the war.
in the 1920 census for North Carolina, we found our answer, and uncovered yet another generation of Tracy's newfound family.
MORGAN: "Alexander Samuel, head of household."
GATES: Mm-hmm.
MORGAN: "Black.
Age, 54.
Home, owned or rented."
GATES: Mm-hmm.
MORGAN: "Rented.
Occupation, operator farm.
Cheryl, wife, Black, age 48.
Julius, son, Black, age 25.
Occupation, farm laborer."
GATES: So there's your great-grandfather Julius living on a farm with his parents.
You just met your great-great-grandparents, Samuel Alexander and Sarah Frazier.
MORGAN: This is my great-great-grandparents and my father didn't even know all of this?
GATES: He didn't even know that, no.
MORGAN: It's just incredible, it's surreal.
GATES: We know very little about Samuel and Sarah, but we believe they were sharecroppers, because the 1920 census indicates that they were renting their home.
Which means it was likely owned by a White farmer, and that they were working for him.
So when he returned from the war in 1919, your great-grandfather, Julius, went back to live with his mom and dad to help his family sharecropping.
What's it like to see that?
He was a good son.
He went home and helped because that was a hard life being a sharecropper.
You know that.
MORGAN: 25 years old.
GATES: Yeah.
MORGAN: I think about me and all my achievements.
GATES: Mm-hmm.
MORGAN: It pales in comparison to this.
GATES: Definitely.
Without a doubt.
MORGAN: All of this I, I've done in my life pales in comparison to this.
GATES: What would your father have felt?
What would he have made of all this?
MORGAN: The same thing, my, probably more, me to the 10th power.
GATES: Yep.
MORGAN: Me to the 10th power.
I know my dad.
I, I've seen my dad cry.
And it wasn't over nothing.
It was over things that were important.
My dad would've felt the same way I feel, like glorious, happy to know these things, but he would've been emotional, more than me.
GATES: Much like Tracy, Anthony Ramos has a deep affection for his troubled father.
Indeed, with the passage of time, Anthony has come to see how his father's character informed the man he is today.
RAMOS: I think I get my acting from my dad.
GATES: Uh-huh.
RAMOS: For sure.
You know, he's, uh, he's like, you know, my dad would come to, to the apartment with a bunch of papers, about something, you know, what case he was about to win against what government institution he was going to... GATES: Right.
RAMOS: He's always just like, "Yeah.
I'm gonna get 'em.
I'm telling you."
This, you know, this happened, and that.
He's like, "They owe me."
They, and he'd a, you know, he'd give you an elaborate, you know, explanation as to what's going on.
The dude could sell, he could sell Raid to a bug, bro.
I promise.
Like, he'd be like, "I'm telling you, this is actually good for you.
This is a different kind of Raid.
This one has nutrients."
GATES: Give me two cans.
RAMOS: Right.
Give me, give me two cans.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, uh, he's... GATES: So, charismatic, storyteller.
RAMOS: Smart.
GATES: Smart.
RAMOS: Super smart.
GATES: Quick.
RAMOS: Quick.
GATES: Quick-witted.
RAMOS: Quick-witted.
GATES: So you can see how your mom fell in love with him.
RAMOS: Yeah.
100%, you know.
GATES: Despite his charms, Anthony's father was absent for much of his childhood, and although Anthony knew that his roots lay in Puerto Rico, his father's family stories had not been passed down.
Indeed, Anthony knew almost nothing about his paternal grandfather, Mario Martinez Cedeño, the man who brought the family to New York City.
RAMOS: "Date of birth, 8th of October, 1929.
Place of birth, Bayamón."
GATES: Mm-hmm.
RAMOS: Wow.
"Name, Mario Martinez Cedeño."
GATES: Yeah.
What's it like to see that?
RAMOS: It's wild, you know.
I didn't know he was from Bayamón.
GATES: Have you been to Bayamón?
RAMOS: Yeah.
I've been to Bayamón a few times.
Um, yeah.
It's just, it's just crazy, like, seeing, I just, I, I, Cedeño, I didn't know his last, I didn't even know his last, I mean, I knew it was Martinez, but obviously, you know, we Latinos, we got 18 last names.
GATES: Yeah.
I know.
I like that system, though.
RAMOS: Yeah.
Yeah.
We like to hold onto everything.
We can't let that go.
GATES: Though Mario was born in Bayamón, he didn't stay there long.
In 1952, he joined the United States Army, and sent to fight in the Korean War, as part of the 65th Infantry Regiment, an almost entirely Puerto Rican regiment known famously as "The Borinqueneers".
GATES: Those are photos... RAMOS: Wow.
GATES: Of the Puerto Rican soldiers in the 65th in Korea.
RAMOS: Wow.
They got that flag, yo.
Puerto Ricans are proud, Borinqua is proud, yo always, be like, "He ain't leaving home without this flag."
Wow.
GATES: Now, how do you think your grandfather felt?
He was 20 years old, joined the Army in the middle of a war, biggest war since World War II.
RAMOS: I mean, I would imagine he was nervous.
GATES: Yeah.
Big time.
The Borinqueneers were front-line combat troops, and they found themselves in a brutal war.
They fought under the harshest of conditions, and sustained heavy casualties.
But as Hispanics, they also faced prejudice from their fellow soldiers.
They were openly mocked for the way they spoke, what they ate, and the color of their skin.
Even so, they distinguished themselves repeatedly in battle, and in 2014 the regiment finally received the Congressional Gold Medal.
RAMOS: 2014?
GATES: Yeah.
2014, Obama did this.
RAMOS: Wow.
GATES: A little late.
RAMOS: Just a little bit.
GATES: What's it like to learn this?
RAMOS: It's crazy.
It's like you got shipped, you know, against, you know, you get shipped over and, um, you know, didn't have a choice.
Still went out there and I mean, whatever he, I mean, you know, he still, he still went out there and, and fought, and contributed to this war that none of these guys asked for, you know?
GATES: Right.
RAMOS: But they still protected, you know, protected people who, um, going out there and fighting for people who, again, didn't look at them as equals.
GATES: Yeah.
RAMOS: And he, he, you know, he still, he did it.
GATES: What's your father gonna say when you tell him about this?
RAMOS: Yo, I mean, I don't know.
GATES: Do you think he knows that his father served in Korea?
RAMOS: He's never said anything about it, but, um, but he might.
I mean, I...
He might have an idea, but I wouldn't be surprised if he said he had no idea.
GATES: Mm-hmm.
RAMOS: And, um, I'm looking forward to telling him about this.
You know, he might be like, "Yo kid, so, uh, about that medal, you think I could, uh..." "Sure, Dad, you can have the medal."
GATES: This story was about to darken significantly.
Following his service, Mario returned to Puerto Rico and, in 1954, he married Anthony's grandmother, a woman named Ada Otero Rey.
Mario and Ada moved to New York City soon after, and Anthony's father was born in Brooklyn in March of 1958.
But then tragedy struck.
RAMOS: "Martinez Ada, wife of Mario, the date of death, January 28th, 1959.
Place of death, Brooklyn, New York."
GATES: Sadly, less than five years after they were married, your grandmother, Ada, passed away.
and your father was not even one year old when he lost his mother.
Did you know that?
RAMOS: I knew he lost his mom really young.
Um, I didn't know it was at one years old though.
One year old.
I ain't know it was like that.
GATES: How do you think that affected your father?
RAMOS: I can't imagine that doesn't leave a hole in you, for your whole life.
GATES: Yeah.
RAMOS: A lot of questions you'll never get answered.
GATES: Your father never talked about any of this?
RAMOS: My dad never spoke to me about any of this.
GATES: Wow.
RAMOS: Ever.
GATES: Hmm.
RAMOS: And I think maybe it's just 'cause he tried to bury it.
GATES: Mm-hmm.
Too painful.
RAMOS: It's too painful.
GATES: This terrible loss effectively severed Anthony's connection to his roots in Puerto Rico...
But those roots had not disappeared.
When we focused on his grandmother Ada we were able to trace her ancestry back more than three centuries to a ship that arrived in Puerto Rico in the year 1695!
On board, were Anthony's ninth great-grandparents, and they were coming from a place that he'd never associated with his heritage.
RAMOS: "List of 20 families that will, board the Brigantine named Jesus Maria y Joseph," wow.
"In the port of Santa Cruz, of this island of Tenerife..." GATES: Mm-hmm.
RAMOS: "To make the voyage to the port of San Juan, Puerto Rico."
GATES: You have any idea what you're looking at?
RAMOS: I mean, was this when all my family members traveled to PR?
GATES: This is the moment your ancestors left the old world for the new world.
And you now know the moment and the name of the boat... RAMOS: That's wild.
GATES: Which they sailed to the new world.
RAMOS: Jesus Maria y Joseph.
GATES: From Tenerife.
RAMOS: From Tenerife.
That's like, that's the Canary Islands.
GATES: Mm-hmm.
RAMOS: Wow.
GATES: That's where your family's from.
What's it like to learn that?
RAMOS: Yo, that is bananas.
GATES: The Canary Islands are an archipelago off the coast of North Africa, they were conquered by the Spanish in the 1400s, and some of Anthony's ancestors arrived not long after, but they only stayed in their new home for a few generations.
In the late 1600s, the Spanish crown began offering incentives to shipping agents in the Canary Islands who could entice people to resettle in the Americas, the goal was to populate Spain's New World colonies, and Anthony's ancestors were soon recruited to sail for Puerto Rico, which tells us something significant about their lives.
So what would motivate a person to come to the wilderness?
RAMOS: Uh, they must have been broke.
GATES: You got it.
RAMOS: 100%.
GATES: Broke.
Most of the immigrants were poor and landless.
And once they arrived in Puerto Rico, they got free land.
They got a stipend from the crown.
They got seeds to plant and supplies to plant the seeds.
Pretty good deal.
RAMOS: Yeah.
GATES: It was a risk, you know, you had to have a pioneer mentality.
You had to roll the dice, but you go, what the hell?
I'm living here in poverty.
RAMOS: What have I got to lose if it's already hard?
GATES: Yeah, you got it.
After arriving in Puerto Rico, Anthony's ancestors settled around the city of San Juan, they would remain there until the early 1950s, when Anthony's grandmother Ada set off for New York.
Meaning that there is a continuous paper trail mapping Anthony's roots from the Canary Islands in the 1500s to his own birth in Brooklyn in 1991.
What does it mean to you to have this incredible history restored to you?
It'll never be lost again.
RAMOS: It means a lot.
It gives me a newfound, uh, definition of what my identity is, where it comes from and... Because I didn't know any of this.
I mean, I, I never had a relationship with...
I mean, I had a short relationship with my mom's mom and that was it.
The rest of, all three of my other grandparents, I didn't know 'em.
GATES: Wow.
RAMOS: You know, so I didn't grow up with grandparents, you know, and I think that was a, you know, that was a hard thing for me.
You know, I hear stories, you know, from my friends about how they can't wait to see their grandmother or their grandfather and they, you know, uh, you know, I love my nan, or I love my, my ito, you know, I, I loved, you know, and, and I just, I didn't have that.
GATES: Right.
RAMOS: You know, ever, so...
It makes me feel closer to them.
GATES: Yep.
Now you got 500 years of grandfathers.
RAMOS: 500 years.
500.
GATES: By name!
RAMOS: Right.
Yo, yo, that's crazy.
GATES: Turning back to Tracy Morgan, we uncovered the story of another family that been lost to time.
It begins with Tracy's grandmother, Alice Ponder.
Alice was a powerful figure in Tracy's upbringing, providing him with love, support, and a sense of family continuity.
Tracy even knew Alice's mother Viola.
But Alice's father, a man named Carmen Ponder, was another matter.
It seemed that Carmen had abandoned his family when Alice was a child and disappeared.
At least that was what Tracy believed.
The truth, however, was more complicated.
In the archives of Savannah, Georgia, we found Viola and Carmen's divorce file, and saw that Tracy didn't know everything about his grandmother's parents.
MORGAN: My grandmother was my girl.
GATES: Would you please read the transcribed section?
MORGAN: "Carmen Ponder versus Viola Ponder.
Dear Viola, please be advised that on July 29th, 1955, the plaintiff and the above-styled case filed suit for a total divorce against you alleging desertion."
GATES: Yes.
Your great-grandfather Carmen, filed for divorce, did you know that?
MORGAN: He filed for divorce?
GATES: He filed for a divorce.
Yeah.
MORGAN: He said his wife deserted him?
GATES: Yes.
He said that she deserted him.
MORGAN: Viola?
GATES: Yes.
It's a surprise, huh?
MORGAN: Wow.
GATES: When Carmen filed for divorce, he and Viola had been separated for almost 20 years.
They'd married when they both were very young, but if Carmen's words are to be believed, it seems the breakup still pained him.
MORGAN: "My name is Carmen Ponder.
My wife and I lived together until on or about the first of May, 1937.
My wife left me at said time, and we have not been living together since.
I did not give her any cause to leave me, but on the contrary, she was living with another man, and finally left Savannah with him.
I have not condoned her acts of desertion and not forgiven her for leaving me."
GATES: Your great-grandmother took up with another man and split.
What's it like to read that?
MORGAN: It's horrible.
GATES: Well, she was 15 when they got married, and he was 22, so what do you think happened?
Nobody is ready to get married at 15.
MORGAN: You're a child.
GATES: Yeah, you know.
MORGAN: I think she might have just outgrew the marriage.
GATES: Yeah, or fell in love with another guy, or fell out of love, you know how that goes.
MORGAN: Wow.
Explains a lot.
GATES: We now began to look at Carmen's roots, and soon uncovered another shocking surprise.
Carmen's mother, Daisy Wright, was married to a man named "Julius Ponder".
But when we compared Tracy's DNA to that of Julius' known descendants, we didn't find any matches, meaning that Julius was not Carmen's biological father.
And though we could not determine who was, we know something about him... based on Tracy's genetic profile, Carmen's father was a Jewish man, and Tracy himself is 5% Ashkenazi... How does it make you feel?
MORGAN: I'm a brother on the street man, you know?
I'm all about jive, man.
And, um, to find out that my great-great-grandfather was Jewish... GATES: 100% Jewish.
MORGAN: It's like getting knocked out.
Not in a bad way, but I just, I don't mind that.
I just wanna know how my great-great-grandmother got pregnant.
GATES: Right.
MORGAN: Was it love, was it rape, I mean, what was it?
GATES: Right.
Well, we don't know.
MORGAN: I'm gonna think about it in a good way.
GATES: Yeah.
MORGAN: I'm gonna, in my mind, gonna say he loved her.
GATES: Well, let's hope that was true.
Now I wanna show you something else.
Please turn the page.
That is your great-grandfather, Carmen.
MORGAN: That's Carmen, I know.
GATES: Now, if he don't look like he's half-White, I ain't from Piedmont, West Virginia.
MORGAN: He does.
GATES: He is definitely half-White.
MORGAN: Look at his nose.
It don't look like mine's.
GATES: Look at his color!
MORGAN: Absolutely.
GATES: Look at that hair, look at those features.
MORGAN: Wow.
I wonder what he would say now if he saw his family.
GATES: Yeah.
MORGAN: His empire.
GATES: Yeah.
MORGAN: I wonder what he would say now.
GATES: We had one more story for Tracy.
Shifting to another line of his mother's family tree, we came to a man named Wiley Wharton.
Wiley is Tracy's third great-grandfather.
He was an African American, born around 1817, likely in Halifax County, Virginia.
But unlike most African Americans of his day, we found Wiley listed by name in the 1860 census, which could only mean one thing.
Anybody listed by name was free.
Your ancestor was in the tiny percentage of Black people who got their freedom before the Civil War.
MORGAN: Wow.
My great-great-great- grandfather was free.
GATES: He was free.
Did you ever imagine that somebody in your family line was free before the Civil War?
Before the Emancipation Proclamation.
MORGAN: Good for you, Grandpa.
You know, I could say that I'm so happy for my grandfather.
I'm so happy that he didn't have to do all that suffering.
I hope not.
I'm glad he was free 'cause that's how I feel, now I know where I come from.
GATES: Yeah.
MORGAN: I'm free when I'm on stage, I feel free.
When I'm on stage, doing my comedy, I feel free.
Now I know it came from you.
GATES: Though Wiley was free, his family was not.
We believe that his wife Judy, Tracy's third great-grandmother, was enslaved by a White man named James Medley.
As we scoured through the documents that Medley left behind, we uncovered the birth record for Judy and Wiley's son John, a baby born into slavery on Medley's tobacco plantation.
MORGAN: I used to smoke cigarettes.
Please forgive me.
GATES: What's it like to learn that?
MORGAN: He owned my great... GATES: John is your great-great, Judy's your great-great-great.
And there's Judy giving birth to John and the master... MORGAN: And he owned both of them.
GATES: And he owned both, both of them.
MORGAN: But he didn't own Wiley.
GATES: No, 'cause he was free.
MORGAN: Wow.
It's surreal.
You watch all these movies on TV and you grow up watching Alex Haley, "Roots" and all that and now your face to face with, with your roots.
GATES: Yup.
MORGAN: And it's, it's bittersweet.
It's sweet to know where I come from and know who I am, but it's bitter to know that you had a master, there was a master.
GATES: Oh yeah.
Can you imagine owning another human being?
MORGAN: No.
GATES: And thinking that's right?
MORGAN: No.
GATES: I wanna show you a final thing.
MORGAN: Okay.
GATES: Please turn the page.
We're, we're looking at the slave schedule in 1860, and remember, the name of the White man who owned your family was James Medley.
MORGAN: Mm-hmm.
GATES: So these are all of the enslaved people that he owned in 1860.
And as you can see, the record lists all of them by sex, by age, and by color, but not by name.
Now, this guy owns 71 human beings.
Your great-great-grandfather John would've been around four years old when that census was recorded.
And Judy, your third great-grandmother, would've been around 28.
Okay?
And her five other children would've been the ages of 12, 7, 5, 3, and 2.
So if you see any people... MORGAN: Yes.
GATES: On that document in front of you.
MORGAN: "Male, Black, age 6.
Female, Black, age 7.
Female, Black, age 12.
Male, Black, age 3.
Male, Black, age 3.
Female, mulatto, age 5.
Male, Black, age 2."
GATES: And they line up exactly with your ancestors.
So you are most probably looking at your enslaved ancestors owned by that White man, listed on the slave schedule in 1860.
But remember, their father was free.
MORGAN: It must've been horrible.
GATES: It must've been awful.
Can you imagine what that must have been like for him to see his family still held in slavery?
MORGAN: Alienated from his kids.
GATES: Yeah.
MORGAN: Alienated from his kids.
GATES: Yep, you got it.
There is a grace note to this story.
Tracy wondered what happened to Wiley and Judy when freedom came, bringing with it a host of new challenges.
In the 1880 census, we found our answer.
MORGAN: "Wharton, Wiley, age 60, mulatto.
Occupation, farmer.
Can read, can write.
Judy, age 50, mulatto.
Can read, can write."
GATES: They stayed together and they learned to read and write.
Those are your third great-grandparents.
MORGAN: Thank the Lord.
Thank the Lord.
Thank the Lord.
GATES: Isn't that cool?
And all, and listed with all their children, man.
MORGAN: All the children stayed with them?
GATES: They all stayed with them.
The Wharton family stayed together through slavery and freedom.
What's it like to see that?
MORGAN: This is heavy stuff for me.
I feel fortunate.
I feel found.
I feel different.
It's a sense of pride.
It's me knowing, it's changed my life.
This book right here has changed my life.
(kiss) GATES: We'd already traced Anthony Ramos' paternal roots from Puerto Rico to Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands, where some of Anthony's ancestors settled after Spanish conquistadors arrived in the 1400s.
But we soon discovered that Anthony has ancestors who were in Tenerife long before that.
The story begins with his 15th-great-grandfather, a man named "Andrés de Llerena."
In records, Andrés is described as a "Guanche", the Spanish word for a native islander, and it seems that he suffered a great deal for that very reason.
RAMOS: Whoa.
"He Andrés specifically states that because they're Guanches, Fernandez de Lugo hates them and drives them from their land and from said island of Tenerife wherever he wants."
GATES: Your 15th great-grandfather, Andrés, wasn't Spanish, he was a member of the indigenous people whom Spain conquered when they colonized that island.
RAMOS: It's unbelievable.
GATES: How about that?
What's it like to learn that?
RAMOS: It's deep.
I can imagine, you know?
It's like you... it's people just driving you out.
GATES: The Spanish conquest of Tenerife was brutal.
Significant numbers of indigenous people died in battle or from disease.
But Anthony's ancestor faced a different ordeal.
A record from the year 1506 places Andrés on the estate of a conquistador, and makes clear that he was not there by choice.
RAMOS: "You Fernando de Guenera, have a Guanches slave named Andrés."
GATES: Did it ever occur to you that you descend from someone who had been enslaved?
RAMOS: Explains why I got that fight in me, yo.
GATES: Yeah.
RAMOS: But... you know, I always had thoughts like, what if, you know, you never know when you Puerto Rican or come from one of these island, you come from one of the islands, your family comes from one of the islands, you just don't, you just don't know.
GATES: Right.
No, you don't know.
RAMOS: There's a mixed bag.
You don't know who's from where, from what happened.
So, you know, I've definitely wondered like...
I mean... GATES: Well, Anthony, we do not know exactly the circumstances under which Andrés became enslaved or how long he lived in bondage, but we believe it was for at least ten years, considering the conquest of Tenerife ended in 1496.
RAMOS: That's a long time to be a slave, man.
GATES: This story was about to take an incredible turn.
Records show that in 1506 Andrés persuaded his enslaver to allow him to find another human being to serve as his permanent replacement, thereby allowing him to go free.
He had to find a substitute slave to take his place.
RAMOS: How do you convince somebody to do that?
Yo, my man, can you just like, take my place with this family?
I'm just trying to get this freedom real quick.
I promise, like when I get my freedom, I'm gonna try and come back and get you or something.
What, like what kind of, how he made that deal?
GATES: Well, you said your father was a fast talker.
RAMOS: I swear.
I was literally thinking about Dad.
My dad would've talked his way into freedom.
100%.
GATES: I remember those cans of Raid.
RAMOS: My dad would've been the only slave, like, yo, trying to set... Yo, I, I probably, I'm gonna get this freedom.
You want this freedom too?
Come on, you can tell me.
(laughter).
GATES: Andrés' deal was unusual, but it wasn't unprecedented.
By this time, a trade system was already in place bringing enslaved Africans to the Canary Islands.
And that's likely how Andrés obtained his replacement, possibly with financial assistance from his extended family.
Even so: it's hard to believe that anyone could have predicted what Andrés would do with his freedom.
After marrying and starting a family, he joined a Spanish military expedition against North Africa, and was never seen again.
We believe he died fighting for Spain.
What do you make of this?
RAMOS: I don't know.
I can only imagine that he was probably like, "Yo, this is probably the easiest way for me to have a better life."
GATES: Yeah.
RAMOS: So, you know, eff it, I'm out.
GATES: Yeah.
RAMOS: I'm go side with these guys 'cause they got it better.
And if I gotta, if I see a window, then, you know... GATES: The only way up, the Spanish weren't going anywhere.
RAMOS: Right.
GATES: I mean, they're still there, in effect.
So the only way was to become part of the system and that's what he did.
RAMOS: Right.
I'm just... it's that every man for himself kind of thing, you know what I'm saying?
Like I can't imagine that he was really thinking about morals... GATES: No.
RAMOS: In that moment.
GATES: No, no.
But, what a story.
RAMOS: It's unbelievable, man.
GATES: We had one more detail share with Anthony.
According to his will, Andrés married a woman named Maria de Lugo and she came from a very illustrious family.
Her father, Anthony's 16th-great-grandfather was a king of the indigenous people of Tenerife.
There is even a statue of him standing on the island today, a tangible sign of Anthony's royal roots.
There he is.
That is the statue of your 16th-great-grandfather.
RAMOS: It's unbelievable.
GATES: You ever feel like a prince?
(laughing) RAMOS: Yo ma, you hear that?
I'm a prince.
My dog's name is Prince.
GATES: Oh, really?
RAMOS: Yeah.
GATES: Well, aptly named.
RAMOS: Yo.
GATES: What is it like to discover this and to see your ancestor?
You know, you couldn't make this story up.
RAMOS: Yo, my man was ripped though, I'm not gonna lie.
He was in good shape.
So I got some good genes, hopefully, you know what I'm saying?
He could've put some pants on, but you know.
He's, uh, everybody's wild.
GATES: Yeah.
And he was an indigenous person before the Spanish.
He was a king conquered by the Spanish, but he was there long before the Spanish conquered the island.
RAMOS: That's unbelievable, man.
GATES: Isn't that unbelievable?
You come from royalty, brother.
RAMOS: That's unbelievable.
I can't even, that's so crazy.
Definitely didn't feel that way in Bushwick.
(laughter) GATES: The paper trail had run out for both of my guests.
It was time to show them their full family trees.
Anthony, these are all the ancestors we found.
Now filled with names they'd never heard before.
MORGAN: It's moving.
It's incredible.
It's moving to me.
My heart is singing.
My heart is singing.
RAMOS: It's, it's beautiful.
I mean I am still who I am but I understand, you know, I think I have a little more of an understanding as to why.
GATES: Stepping back, I had a final question for each man.
I wanted to know how our journey had changed them.
For Tracy, the answer was simple: the stories of his ancestors had helped him make sense of his own story.
MORGAN: I'm happy to know who they are.
GATES: Mm-hmm.
MORGAN: These are people who I'll never meet and I've never met, but I feel like I've always known them.
GATES: Oh, that's beautiful.
MORGAN: I feel like I've always, they've always been in my life and they've guided me, they've guided me.
My ancestors have guided me to this point in my life.
I realize how many times being in the neighborhood that I grew up in, coming probably knowing, or not be knowing how close I came to death.
GATES: Yeah.
MORGAN: Now I know who was on my shoulder.
GATES: Yeah, you had an angel on your shoulder.
MORGAN: Now I know I had a lot of them on my shoulder.
GATES: For Anthony, seeing his family tree filled with such diverse characters, from impoverished immigrants to native kings, led him to reflect on how much lies beneath the surface of every human life.
RAMOS: Like, we never know where someone's from.
You know, we, we judge ourselves by what we look like.
We judge other people by what we look like.
But you, you don't know.
GATES: You don't know.
RAMOS: You don't know.
GATES: You don't know what's under his skin.
You don't, mm-hmm.
RAMOS: Because somebody is so much more than what they look like.
GATES: That's the end of our journey with Anthony Ramos and Tracy Morgan... join me next time when we unlock the secrets of the past for new guests on another episode of "Finding Your Roots".
