“Finding Your Roots” is a TV program by Dr. Henry Louis Gates that digs into the genealogy of famous Americans. He does a thorough breakdown of celebrities’ family tree to give them information about where they come from. Chris Rock, Samuel L. Jackson, Barbara Walters, Condoleezza Rice, and Robert Downey Jr. to name a few are just some of the celebrities that have participated in the past.
In a recent interview, Gates was asked if any celebs had ever decided to turn down the chance to discover their ancestry and he replied that indeed two people had rejected the offer. One of which was Colin Powell, the other, Grammy award-winning singer Alicia Keys.
Colin Powell simply stated that he “had too many cousins already” to participate, Alicia Keys reasoning for accepting, then later declining the offer was a little less specific.
According to Dr. Gates:
“Alicia Keys, who I love as a friend of mine, agreed to be in the first series, and as you know, she’s mixed. Her African-American grandmother said ‘Baby…’, we send people a form, we need as much information as you can give us. Like the names of your parents, where they were born, grandparents etc., whatever you can give us. It makes our job a lot simpler right? Her grandmother said ‘Baby, you can’t be in the series. I can’t tell you why, but you can’t be in the series.’
Sounds like Alicia Keys has some secrets in the family that big mama do not want to come out…Interesting. Alicia would have been the first person with a biracial background to be a part of the series.
If you had a chance to trace your genealogy would you? And, if you did what did you find out…comment below.
