Communist activist and longtime University of California Santa Cruz professor Angela Davis recently learned to her disbelief that her ancestry traces back to America’s founding.
For a woman known for her lifelong advocacy of Black liberation, her reaction on Henry Louis Gates’ “Finding Your Roots” has become a viral moment seen by millions.
“Do you know what you’re looking at?” Gates asked.
“That is the list of passengers on the Mayflower,” he continued.
Davis initially laughs off Gates’ comments in a surprised tone.
“No, I can’t believe this. No, my ancestors did not come here on the Mayflower,” Davis said.
The revelation produced a surreal moment for Davis as she took a deep breath and sighed before processing what she was learning.
“That’s a little bit too much to deal with right now,” Davis replied.
“Did you ever in your wildest dreams think that you’re a descendant of people who laid the foundation of this country?” Gates asked.
“Never! Never. Never. Never,” Davis replied still stunned.
Gates told Davis her 10th great-grandfather on her father’s white side was William Brewster, who was born in England in 1570.
Gates also revealed to Davis her mother’s family lineage traces back to owners of enslaved people in Georgia in the 1770s.
“I always imagined my ancestors as the people who were enslaved,” Davis said. She went on to say knowing her family lineage owned enslaved people makes her more committed to making the world better.
Davis said she took a DNA test to learn more about her mother, Sallye Bell’s, side of the family because she grew up in a foster home. Gates revealed to the stunned Davis, her mother’s white father, John Austin Darden was an Alabama legislator.
Davis learned her father, Benjamin Frank Davis, was also half white, but he never revealed that to her.
The shocking family history is more profound for Davis, 79, due to her decades-long…
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