"African American Lives"

The PBS series starts tonight in honor of Black History Month, and focuses on the genealogy of nine famous black Americans, through family stories, research, and DNA analysis. Check your local listings for times. This article argues that the real intrigue happens in next week's installment. "The fun - and there's a surprising amount of fun in [Henry Louis] Gates' sometimes meandering journey toward his and his subjects' roots - really begins in next week's installments, as science comes up against family traditions, and several people are forced to face some unexpected truths about their histories, whether it be Native American ties they'd taken for granted that don't show up in DNA or Winfrey being told that, no, she is not, as she has publicly declared in the past, part Zulu.....One of the most surprised subjects is Gates himself, who, though aware of at least one white ancestor, still seems astonished to learn that fully half his DNA indicates European ancestry, and some of it from the female line, meaning not all of it can be attributed to a slave owner." Even Mr. Gates' 92-year-old father cusses after hearing the results (which was edited out of the installment).