I’m a huge fan of Angela Davis, the great activist and educator. I was honored to sit at her table at a lunch for a documentary about her a few years ago. We discussed how she became a target for the right back in the 60s. She was never part of the Black Panthers. But her image became entwined with theirs. She was a young trailblazer.
Tonight on “Finding Your Roots” with Dr. Henry Louis Gates on PBS, Davis learned something very surprising: she is descended from the families who came to America on the Mayflower. Shut the front door, as they say! The clip is below.
Gates is a hero with this Ancestry show. All kinds of people have learned all kinds of things sitting across from him. But this is the ultimate irony. Angela Davis is an OG American. She was always a patriot who questioned what direction this country was going in. The most American thing is to be an activist. This country owes her an apology for the way she was treated in the 60s and 70s.
Watch this. Irony is so hilarious.
“Do you know what you’re looking at? That is a list of the passengers on the Mayflower.”
Our researchers discovered #AngelaDavis’s ancestors traveled to the US on the Mayflower and here is her reaction. #FindingYourRoots pic.twitter.com/G2HhA9BSrT
— Henry Louis Gates Jr (@HenryLouisGates) February 22, 2023
