Oprah's Roots, An African American Lives Special

OPRAH WINFREY DISCOVERS UNSUNG HEROES AMONG HER ANCESTORS WHEN HENRY LOUIS GATES JR. GUIDES A REMARKABLE JOURNEY THROUGH HER FAMILY HISTORY IN OPRAH'S ROOTS, AN AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES SPECIAL PREMIERING JANUARY 24 ON PBS

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"I feel empowered to say, 'This is who you are, this is where you've come from. You've come from strength and power and endurance and pain and suffering and triumph. You've come from all of that. And so imagine now how much more you can be.'"

- Oprah Winfrey, in OPRAH'S ROOTS, an African American Lives Special

When African American Lives premiered on PBS in February 2006, the series was hailed by The New York Times as "the most exciting and stirring documentary on any subject to appear on television in a long time." Among the many vivid stories told in that four-part series, audiences and critics nationwide were especially drawn to the powerfully moving discussions between Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., series host and executive producer, and TV pioneer and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey, which revealed the struggles and accomplishments of Winfrey's ancestors.

Now, combining new genealogical and historical research with state-of-the-art DNA analysis, Winfrey and Professor Gates continue their dramatic and illuminating quest to discover a fuller history of Winfrey's ancestry when OPRAH'S ROOTS, an African American Lives Special premieres Wednesday, January 24 at 8 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings). The program features a wealth of previously unseen material, including portions of Professor Gates' original African American Lives interview with Winfrey and new revelations about her family history.

"Our first African American Lives series made for riveting viewing and was a life-changing experience for each of the participants, myself included," says Gates, Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University. "Now, with an in-depth focus exclusively on my friend Oprah Winfrey, we bring to life in even greater detail the remarkably rich and always inspiring stories of her ancestors."

OPRAH'S ROOTS offers many new insights into how one of the world's most famous people emerged from an exceptional family. It includes an account of how Elmore Winfrey, Oprah's paternal grandfather, was courageously involved in the Civil Rights movement. The program tracks down the two Civil Rights workers whom Elmore once housed and worked alongside, returning with them to Mississippi where 40 years earlier they led voter registration and desegregation efforts.

OPRAH'S ROOTS also uncovers Winfrey's maternal great-grandmother Amanda Winters' remarkable achievements in the field of education. The program features an interview with a surprising distant cousin of Winfrey's, Mavis Staples, of the the renowned gospel music family, showing how their family trees intersect four generations back.

The story of Winfrey's great-great-grandfather Constantine Winfrey, a former slave, is one of amazing success amid the difficult and dangerous years after Emancipation and Reconstruction. As African American Lives documented, Constantine acquired 80 acres of land through backbreaking labor. Now, in OPRAH's ROOTS, newly discovered land deeds allow Professor Gates to explore his story even more deeply, explaining how Constantine used the income he made from his farm products to add to his land holdings - an astounding accomplishment for a man who'd recently been property himself, and another of Oprah's ancestor's achievements that show the roots of her own success a century later.

Finally, when the genealogical trail ends, OPRAH'S ROOTS turns to modern science. The program presents the dramatic results of Winfrey's genetic analysis, which locate her matrilineal ancestors among the Kpelle people of Liberia on the western coast of Africa.

"Through our genealogical research into Oprah's roots, viewers will see how census records, land deeds, archival newspapers and maps, tombstone inscriptions, and even the estate records of slave holders can help locate their own ancestors," says Gates. "And just as importantly, they'll see how fascinating and dramatic historical investigation and discovery can be."

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