Celebrities always discover unknown relatives on PBS’s “Finding Your Roots.”
Tonight, Oscar nominee Danielle Brooks got a shock when she was told Oscar nominee Sterling K. Brown is her cousin — 12th cousin, something like that. But the talent and kindness of these two people isn’t all that connects them.
Henry Louis Gates’s pieces on roots and ancestry are mostly comprehensive. But with Dionne Warwick, her piece was really weird. The show completely omitted Dionne’s relationship to Cissy Houston and Whitney Houston. I was a little shocked. Dionne’s mother and Cissy Houston were sisters. Also omitted was Dionne’s famous singing sister, Dee Dee Warwick. Was it intentional?
Dionne’s story was otherwise fascinating, and so was her reaction. The great singer, as she says, is a strong survivor. Her ancestors were slaves, but as Dionne says, they were afraid of nothing. It’s carried on into her own immediate family. Dionne is a remarkable lady. But leaving out Whitney, Cissy, and Dee Dee — bizarre.
So Danielle — nominated for “The Color Purple” — and Sterling — nominated for “American Fiction” — are cousins. She says on the show that they met once and what she liked about him was he reacted to a surprise by exclaiming “Jiminy Christmas!” and not by “cussing.” That registered with Danielle. Sterling has a lot of soul.
Good episode, but strange exceptions!
