Comments on: Alicia Keys Backed Out of ‘Finding Your Roots’ Because of a Family Secret, Have You Ever Discovered One?

By: ross wilson

ross wilson — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 20:09:22 +0000

at least you can research your history. if you were born in louisiana and adopted you cannot by law find your family for 100 years.apparantly the law was made by someone who was not adopted.

By: glover

glover — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 16:35:20 +0000

My great aunt revealed that we – African Americans are related to the General Glover buried at Valley Forge, Pa who fought with George Washington during the revolutionary war. Many of the Boys in the family are named David and Lawrence.

By: Rita

Rita — Tue, 08 May 2012 05:05:55 +0000

I grew up hearing from my mother your father isn’t who you think he is… I don’t look like any of my sibling and I am olive skin, hazel eyes and the shortest of my siblings and I’m the oldest, my siblings are pale white, blue eyed and all taller than myself.. Mother died years ago and father has treated me like crap since… Have a picture of a man with my mother and low and behold how much I look like this man….. Yep, I hate secrets!!!!

By: George Geder

George Geder — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 05:10:34 +0000

Dear People,

Has it dawned on anyone here that Henry Louis Gates, Jr. OUTED TWO AFRICAN ANCESTORED CELEBRITIES BY NAME who opted to not be participants in his program and CHOSEN TO KEEP HIS WHITE CELEBRITY FRIEND ANONYMOUS AND NOT REVEAL THEIR NAME?

That is patently disingenuous and disrespectful of the wishes of Mr. Powell, and Ms. Keys’ grandmother. He went against the wishes of ‘nana’, one of our elders. And it was unnecessary; there was nothing too gain by divulging this tidbit of info. Nothing.

Nothing except putting Black folk in yet another disparaging light. Judging by the comments here, mission accomplished.

By: gwen

gwen — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 02:38:17 +0000

At the funeral of one of my aunts, her brother–my uncle dropped the bomb that my mom did not have the same father as they did. His cousin in the doorway, confirmed it. I was so gobbsmacked, I didn’t think to ask who her father was. It took me years of piecing together stories to figure out that her father HAD to be her mother’s first cousin. Her mother was in a bad marriage. When my mother was orphaned, her mother’s husband wouldn’t give my mother to her bio father’s family. They put her in an orphanage instead. Her older sisters got her out and brought her to CA to raise when she was 8.

By: Bibi

Bibi — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:52:57 +0000

It’s truly sad about Keys and Powell pulling out. We teach our children the importance of history all the time to know who they are and where they can potentially go in life. It truly builds self-esteem and that’s something we really need to build up now a days. We also tell them to tell the TRUTH all the time, no matter the outcome…… I would hate to think of Keys and Powell as hypocrites and hope they know that kids are watching … Let’s build true women and men of character for our future.

By: Karli

Karli — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 18:16:20 +0000

Family secrets are not good at all. My uncle found out my grandfather was not his biological father after he became an adult. After that he left siblings behind for several years and had a terrible relationship with his mother. I’m not sure he ever forgave his mother for that secret.

Another child found out she was adopted in high school thru another a student. SMH..

Why keep secrets? Begin to tell the truth when a child is young to avoid all the pain and heartached.

By: cece

cece — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 00:49:36 +0000

Her momma is white.

By: Mocha

Mocha — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:12:57 +0000

My family…sigh…for the life of me is dysfunctional in itself. Trying to get information about their past is going to take Jesus himself to come down off his heavenly throne, sit with us knuckle heads and tell us the story Himself. Because Granny aint giving up JACK! It’s so very sad. I want to get into our ancestry…and I think eventually I will. It’s just messed up that we’re so distant and it’s so much being unsaid. The only one that could speak on it, won’t. Everyone else has passed on…anybody else dealing with this? Or have dealt with this?

By: Mocha

Mocha — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:03:59 +0000

I agree with your point of view about this. My grandmothers on both sides of my family do not discuss their past. This has made it very difficult to find out about our ancestry. I hate that they do this.