GATES: I'M HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.
WELCOME TO "FINDING YOUR ROOTS" IN THIS EPISODE, WE'LL MEET VISIONARY ARTISTS MARINA ABRAMOVIC, ALEJANDRO INÑÁRITU, AND KEHINDE WILEY... THREE PEOPLE WHO'VE RE-SHAPED THE WAY WE SEE OUR WORLD, ALL THE WHILE WONDERING HOW THEIR ANCESTORS MAY HAVE SHAPED THEIR WORLDS.
WILEY: I WALKED INTO THIS ROOM NERVOUS AS HELL, THINKING WHAT AM I GOING TO LEARN ABOUT MYSELF?
IÑÁRRITU: I ALWAYS HAS BEEN CURIOUS, WHAT MAKE ME WHAT I AM?
YOU KNOW?
ABRAMOVIC: I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS BE BEHIND ALL OF THIS.
GATES: TO UNCOVER THEIR ROOTS, WE'VE USED EVERY TOOL AVAILABLE.
GENEALOGISTS COMBED THROUGH THE PAPER TRAIL THEIR ANCESTORS LEFT BEHIND, WHILE DNA EXPERTS UTILIZED THE LATEST ADVANCES IN GENETIC ANALYSIS TO REVEAL SECRETS HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD.
AND WE'VE COMPILED EVERYTHING INTO A BOOK OF LIFE, A RECORD OF ALL OF OUR DISCOVERIES... IÑÁRRITU: WOW!
I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU FOUND THIS!
ABRAMOVIC: GOD THIS EXCITING!
OH MY GOD.
WILEY: THAT'S CRAZY... GATES: ISN'T THAT AMAZING?
WILEY: THIS IS A WHOLE DIFFERENT BALL OF WAX.
GATES: MY THREE GUESTS ARE KNOWN AROUND THE WORLD FOR THEIR DARING CREATIVITY.
IN THIS EPISODE, THEY'RE GOING TO EXPLORE THE EXPERIENCES OF ANCESTORS WHO WERE JUST AS AUDACIOUS AS THEY ARE, HEARING STORIES THAT WILL CHANGE THE WAY THEY SEE THEMSELVES.
(THEME MUSIC PLAYS) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ INÑÁRITU: ACTION!
GATES: FILM-MAKER ALEJANDRO INÑÁRITU SEEMS LIKE A MAN WHO WAS BORN TO DIRECT...
HE'S A COMMANDING FORCE, TOTALLY DEVOTED TO HIS CRAFT.
AND HE'S BEEN AMPLY REWARDED FOR IT.
IN 2015 AND 2016, HE WON BACK-TO-BACK BEST DIRECTOR OSCARS FOR HIS HITS BIRDMAN AND THE REVENANT...
BUT ALEJANDRO HASN'T ALWAYS BEEN IN CONTROL.
GROWING UP IN MEXICO CITY, HE STRUGGLED SIMPLY TO STAY IN HIS CLASSROOM.
IÑÁRRITU: I WAS VERY, UM, HYPERACTIVE.
I DIDN'T LIKE SCHOOL, SO EVERY TIME, WHEN I WAS WATCHING SOMETIMES THAT THERE WERE LET'S SAY CONSTRUCTION WORKERS THEY WERE FIXING THE ROAD AND I SAW THEM SMOKING AND LAUGHING AND WITH TRUCKS AND YOU KNOW THEY WERE HANGING OUT THAT THEY LOOK LIKE FREE, WITH NO TEACHERS, THAT'S WHEN I SAID, "I WANT TO BE THAT."
GATES: ALEJANDRO'S PARENTS DID THEIR BEST TO CONTAIN THEIR REBELLIOUS SON, BUT TO LITTLE AVAIL.
WHEN HE WAS 16 YEARS OLD, HE WAS EXPELLED FROM HIGH SCHOOL, THANKS TO A HIGHLY IMPULSIVE DECISION.
IÑÁRRITU: I RUN AWAY WITH A GIRLFRIEND.
EACH OF US WROTE A LETTER OF, UH, TO OUR PARENTS, SAYING, YOU KNOW, UH, I WOULD LIKE TO FIND MYSELF, UH, AND I WILL LEAVE HOME, DON'T WORRY, AND UH I'M GONNA LOOK FOR, FOR WHO I AM KIND OF THING... AND AFTER A WEEK, I CALL MY FRIEND, AND HE TOLD ME EVERYBODY KNOWS EVERYTHING, YOU ARE IN TROUBLE.
GATES: SO WHAT'D YOU DO THEN?
IÑÁRRITU: WELL, MY FATHER BASICALLY BEHAVE, UH, INCREDIBLE, LIKE A BIG LESSON OF LOVE.
HE SAID, WHAT WE HAVEN'T GIVEN TO YOU?
SO, I MEAN WHAT, WHAT YOU NEED MORE, BECAUSE I WANT TO TELL YOU THAT WE LOVE YOU, THAT THE DOORS OF OUR HOUSE AND OUR ARMS ARE OPEN TO YOU, WHENEVER YOU WANT TO COME BACK.
GATES: WOW.
IÑÁRRITU: AND ANYTHING THAT WE HAVEN'T GIVEN TO YOU, I APOLOGIZE, AND UH, AND I WILL DO MY BEST TO GIVE IT TO YOU, WHATEVER YOU TELL ME YOU NEED.
GATES: YOUR FATHER WAS A PSYCHOLOGIST.
HE WAS A GENIUS!
IÑÁRRITU: AND I WAS CRYING.
STARTED CRYING.
EVEN NOW I FEEL EMOTIONAL, BECAUSE HE...
I WAS... YOU KNOW, TEARS IN MY EYES.
GATES: ALTHOUGH HE RETURNED HOME, ALEJANDRO DIDN'T ABANDON HIS WANDERING WAYS...
HE SPENT YEARS WORKING AN ARRAY OF JOBS BEFORE FINALLY DIRECTING HIS FIRST FEATURE FILM WHEN HE WAS IN HIS LATE THIRTIES.
BUT THROUGH IT ALL, HIS DEEP TIES TO FAMILY KEPT HIM GROUNDED.
AND NOW THAT SUCCESS HAS COME, THOSE SAME TIES HAVE FUELED HIS INTEREST IN LEARNING ABOUT HIS ROOTS.... IÑÁRRITU: I TRULY BELIEVE, PHILOSOPHICALLY, THAT WE ARE JUST LIKE A MANIFESTATION OF A LITTLE, IN A WAY, LIKE A LEAF OF A BIG, YOU KNOW, TRADITION OF PEOPLE THAT HAS BEEN BEFORE US AND THE BRANCHES, WE ARE THE MY FATHER ARE THE BRANCHES, I'M A LEAF, AND THEN I CREATE ANOTHER PERSON, BUT WE, WE CERTAINLY ARE ALL OF WHAT HAS HAPPENED BEFORE, NOT ONLY GENETICALLY, BUT I THINK THE EVENTS, IN A WAY ARE EMBEDDED IN OUR SOULS, AND THE WAY WE ARE THAT WE DON'T UNDERSTAND SOMETIMES AND UM SO, IN A WAY, I ALWAYS HAS BEEN CURIOUS HOW, WHAT MAKE ME WHAT I AM, YOU KNOW?
GATES: LIKE ALEJANDRO, PAINTER KEHINDE WILEY HAS ALSO FOLLOWED AN UNCONVENTIONAL PATH...
HE WAS RAISED BY A SINGLE MOTHER IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOS ANGELES... WHERE HIS CREATIVE AMBITIONS DIDN'T EXACTLY FIT IN.
WILEY: I WAS A CLASSIC LONER, I WAS VERY INTERIOR.
I REMEMBER MY MOTHER SAYING TO ME, "WHY IN THE WORLD ARE YOU LISTENING TO CHARLES MINGUS, WHEN MC HAMMER IS, LIKE, GOING ON?"
GATES: RIGHT.
"WHAT KIND OF CHILD ARE YOU?"
KEHINDE'S MOTHER MAY HAVE WONDERED ABOUT HER SON'S TASTES, BUT SHE SUPPORTED HIS ARTISTIC INTERESTS TO THE UTMOST.
DESPITE LIMITED RESOURCES, AND A LARGE FAMILY TO RAISE, SHE BOUGHT HIM ART SUPPLIES, FOUND HIM SPECIAL CLASSES, AND TOOK HIM TO MUSEUMS, WHERE KEHINDE FELT AT HOME RIGHT AWAY.
WILEY: I REMEMBER SEEING AMAZING 19TH CENTURY BRITISH PORTRAITURE GATES: MHM.
WILEY: AND NOTICING EVEN AS A KID THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING THAT PRESENTED ITSELF THAT WAS RADICALLY DIFFERENT FROM THE ENVIRONMENT THAT I FELT I LIVED IN.
GATES: MM-HMM.
WILEY: AND I WAS JUST DRAWN TO IT.
I WAS DRAWN TO ITS ARTIFICE.
I WAS DRAWN TO THE POWDERED WIGS AND THE PEARLS AND THE LAPDOGS AND THE SWORDS.
AND FOR SOME REASON IT STUCK WITH ME.
GATES: KEHINDE'S MUSEUM TRIPS WERE THE START OF SOMETHING MUCH LARGER.
HE WENT ON TO STUDY AT THE SAN FRANCISCO ART INSTITUTE, AND THEN AT YALE.
TODAY, ALMOST EVERY MAJOR MUSEUM IN AMERICA INCLUDES HIS WORK IN THEIR COLLECTIONS, AND HE WAS CHOSEN BY PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA TO PAINT HIS OFFICIAL PORTRAIT FOR THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY IN WASHINGTON, DC.
BUT EVEN AS KEHINDE HAS REACHED THE PINNACLE OF HIS FIELD, HE'S NEVER LOST SIGHT OF THE PERSON WHO MADE IT ALL POSSIBLE: HIS MOM.
WILEY: THERE IS NOTHING WITHOUT HER, RIGHT?
I MEAN, MY TEACHERS ARE GREAT AND FOUNDATIONAL AND UH, ENCOURAGING... GATES: RIGHT.
WILEY: BUT I THINK, YOU KNOW, IT WASN'T POPULAR BEING AN AESTHETIC CHILD, RIGHT?
GATES: NO.
NO.
WILEY: SO MUCH OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE MASCULINE AND BLACK AND PRESENT IN THE WORLD IS TO BE OBSESSED WITH THE PHYSICAL, WITH SPORTS, WITH ALL OF THESE OTHER THINGS.
GATES: RIGHT.
WILEY: AND I WAS INTO DRAWING.
I WAS INTO WHETHER OR NOT I COULD FIND THE BEST WATERCOLORS.
WE DIDN'T HAVE MONEY FOR THAT STUFF AND SO SHE WOULD FIND THE MONEY.
GATES: MHM.
WILEY: YOU KNOW, OUT OF ALL OF THE THINGS THAT SHE COULD HAVE SPENT HER MONEY ON SHE WASTED IT, SEEMINGLY AT THAT TIME, ON OIL PAINT OR ON WATERCOLORS.
GATES: MY THIRD GUEST IS RENOWNED PERFORMANCE ARTIST MARINA ABRAMOVIC.
LIKE KEHINDE AND ALEJANDRO, MARINA'S WORK IS VERY MUCH THE PRODUCT OF HER UPBRINGING.
BUT SHE HAD A RADICALLY DIFFERENT KIND OF UPBRINGING.
SHE WAS BORN IN COMMUNIST YUGOSLAVIA.
HER PARENTS MET ON THE BATTLEFIELD, FIGHTING FASCISM AS PARTISANS IN WORLD WAR II...
THEY BECAME NATIONAL HEROES.
BUT THEY COULDN'T GET ALONG WITH EACH OTHER AT HOME.
AND MARINA SUFFERED TERRIBLY BECAUSE OF IT.
ABRAMOVIC: MY MOTHER WAS VERY MUCH PROVOKING HIM, AND HE WAS VIOLENT.
GATES: MM-HM.
ABRAMOVIC: AND SHE WAS VIOLENT TOO, AND WE SEE ALL THAT AS CHILDREN.
YOU KNOW, MY FATHER WILL COME LATE NIGHT AND MY MOTHER KNEW THAT HE WAS PROBABLY CHEATING ON HER, AND SHE WILL START SCREAMING AND HE WILL START SCREAMING, AND THEY WILL START FIGHTING PHYSICALLY, AND SHE WILL RUN INTO, INTO ROOM OF ME AND NEVER MY BROTHER, BUT ME, I WAS SLEEPING, AND AS A CHILD, YOU KNOW, SHE WILL HOLD ME TO PROTECT HERSELF.
AND SHE REALLY DAMAGED LOT OF MY EMOTIONAL LIFE BECAUSE OF THAT.
GATES: OH YEAH.
MARINA TOOK SOLACE IN ART.
SHE BEGAN PAINTING AS A CHILD, AND HAD HER FIRST GALLERY SHOW RIGHT OUT OF COLLEGE...
SOON AFTER, SHE DEFIED TRADITION TO JOIN A BURGEONING MOVEMENT, IN WHICH HER OWN BODY BECAME HER MEDIUM.
SHE'S STABBED HERSELF, BURNED HERSELF, AND APPEARED NAKED, IN A SERIES OF PROVOCATIVE AND OFTEN DANGEROUS WORKS, SOME FRIGHTENING EVEN TO CONTEMPLATE.
ABRAMOVIC: SOUNDS TERRIBLE.
GATES: YOU'VE ALLOWED PEOPLE TO HURT YOU... ABRAMOVIC: SOUNDS SO BAD!
GATES: FOR PEOPLE WHO AREN'T FAMILIAR WITH YOUR WORK, WHAT WERE YOU TRYING TO EXPLORE OR COMMUNICATE?
ABRAMOVIC: I ALWAYS THINK WHEN YOU'RE REALLY TRUE AN ARTIST, WHY YOU HAVE TO GO SOMEWHERE WHICH YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT, AND SOMETHING THAT EMOTIONALLY DOESN'T MOVE YOU?
MY WORK IS PURELY EMOTIONAL, AND YOU KNOW, I EMOTIONAL TO MY CHILDHOOD, TO MY FAMILY, TO EVERYTHING, SOMETHING THAT REALLY I EXPERIENCED.
UH, IT'S THE BEST THING I CAN TRANSFER THIS EMOTION, I CAN FIND THE UNIVERSAL KEY TO OTHER PEOPLE, TO, TO UNDERSTAND THINGS WITH THEIR OWN LIFE IS TO ACTUALLY THE DEEPER YOU GO INTO YOURSELF, THE MORE UNIVERSALLY YOU COME TO UNDERSTAND, SO THAT'S WHY THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT I HAD TO EXPLORE ALL THE WAY.
GATES: EACH OF MY THREE GUESTS HAS MADE BOLD CHOICES IN THEIR LIVES, CHOICES THAT HAVE SET THEM APART...
THEY'RE ABOUT TO SEE THAT THEY'RE NOT THE FIRST IN THEIR FAMILIES TO DO SO.
I STARTED WITH MARINA...
THOUGH HER PARENTS' MARRIAGE WAS DEEPLY TROUBLED, THEIR HEROISM IN WORLD WAR II INFORMED ALMOST EVERY ASPECT OF HER CHILDHOOD.
THEY WERE GIVEN GOOD JOBS AS A REWARD, AND THE FAMILY ENJOYED COMFORTS THAT WERE RARE IN COMMUNIST COUNTRIES.
MOREOVER, ON A DEEPER LEVEL, HER PARENTS' WAR STORIES SHAPED HOW MARINA THINKS OF HER OWN CHARACTER.
ABRAMOVIC: I LIKE WARRIORS.
I FEEL LIKE AMAZON.
I LIKE...YOU KNOW, I LIKE THIS IDEA OF, OF YOU KNOW, GOING TO UNKNOWN TERRITORIES.
AND I WAS, YOU KNOW, VERY DIFFICULT, A REBELLIOUS KID.
IF YOU TELL IT TO ME IT'S BLACK, I WILL SAY IT'S WHITE.
IF YOU SAY TO ME GO RIGHT, I WILL GO LEFT.
I HAD TO FIND MY OWN WAY.
GATES: AS WE TURNED TO MARINA'S ROOTS, WE FOUND THAT HER PARENTS WEREN'T THE ONLY WARRIORS IN HER FAMILY TREE.
NOT BY A LONG SHOT.
ON HER FATHER'S LINE, WE QUICKLY DISCOVERED ANOTHER: HER GRANDFATHER DJORDJE, A MAN ABOUT WHOM SHE KNEW ALMOST NOTHING... ABRAMOVIC: I MET HIM ONLY ONCE IN MY LIFE.
GATES: OH, YOU DID?
WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT MEETING HIM?
ABRAMOVIC: I MEET HIM COMING WITH A, WITH A STICK, YOU KNOW?
AND REALLY BIG WOODEN STICK, COMING AND WALKING VERY SLOWLY, AND I SIT ON HIS LAP.
THAT'S ALL I REMEMBER, AND HE, HE WAS VERY, UH, KIND OF IMPOSING, YOU KNOW?
HE HAD THIS STRONG PRESENCE.
GATES: DJORDJE'S STRONG PRESENCE REFLECTED A VERY STRONG CHARACTER.
HE WAS BORN IN 1881, IN MONTENEGRO, WHICH WAS THEN A SMALL KINGDOM ON THE BALKAN PENINSULA.
HE LIKELY SPENT HIS YOUTH FARMING.
BUT WHEN HE WAS THIRTY-THREE YEARS OLD, WORLD WAR I CAME TO HIS HOMELAND... AND DJORDJE FOUND HIMSELF IN UNIFORM.
ABRAMOVIC: "ABRAMOVIC DJUKANA DJORDJIJE."
GATES: THAT IS YOUR GRANDFATHER'S OWN HANDWRITING RIGHT THERE.
ABRAMOVIC: OH MY GOD.
AND WAS SO BEAUTIFUL.
I MEAN, THIS IS OLD SCHOOL.
GATES: OLD SCHOOL, BIG TIME.
ABRAMOVIC: INCREDIBLE.
GATES: AND HE SERVED IN THE MONTENEGRIN ARMY.
ABRAMOVIC: AND HE WAS ARTILLERY MAJOR.
GATES: MARINA, WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SEE THAT?
ABRAMOVIC: IT'S INCREDIBLY EMOTIONAL, AND IT'S INCREDIBLE HOW YOU HAVE THE FAMILY, AND YOU KNOW SO LITTLE ABOUT IT, AND THEN COMES ALL THIS DATA.
AND ALSO, YOU SEE FROM THE FATHER'S SIDE, THIS IS REALLY LINE OF, OF MILITARY.
GATES: OH, YEAH.
ABSOLUTELY.
ABRAMOVIC: THIS IS FANTASTIC.
GATES: DJORDJE ENTERED THE ARMY IN 1914... AND SERVED THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE WAR, SEEING ACTION IN SOME OF THE MOST BRUTAL FIGHTING IN THE BALKAN THEATER.
BUT HIS MILITARY CAREER DIDN'T END THERE.
IN 1941, WHEN NAZI GERMANY AND ITS ALLIES INVADED, MARINA'S GRANDFATHER ONCE AGAIN TOOK UP ARMS...
JOINING THE PARTISANS, AS A SIXTY-YEAR-OLD MAN!
NOW MARINA, THIS IS A DOCUMENT... ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?
WE GOT THIS FROM THE CIA.
ABRAMOVIC: NO!
GATES: IT'S DATED 1953, AND THAT WAS A TIME WHEN THE CIA WAS MONITORING COMMUNIST ACTIVITY IN YUGOSLAVIA.
ABRAMOVIC: OH MY GOD.
"CIA FILE 1953.
COLONEL ABRAMOVIC, WHO HAD BEEN RETIRED FROM THE YUGOSLAV ARMY IN 1922 WAS AMONG THE FIRST PARTISANS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 13 JULY 1941 UPRISING IN MONTENEGRO."
I...
I HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT THIS.
GATES: REALLY?
ABRAMOVIC: NO.
SO HE WENT WITH THE FOUR SONS, SO HE WAS LIKE, OLD ALREADY FATHER WITH THE FOUR SONS.
GATES: YEAH, HE WAS SIXTY YEARS OLD.
ABRAMOVIC: I'M SO PROUD.
OKAY.
THIS MADE ME VERY PROUD.
GATES: DJORDJE NOT ONLY FOUGHT IN NUMEROUS BATTLES, ACCORDING TO HIS OBITUARY, HE EVEN ENDURED CAPTURE AND TORTURE AT THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY...SPENDING MONTHS IN AN ITALIAN PRISON, BEFORE RETURNING TO THE PARTISANS AT THE END OF THE WAR.
ABRAMOVIC: OH MY GOD.
"ALL THE TORTURE COULD NOT BREAK THE SPIRIT OF THIS FAITHFUL SON OF THE MONTENEGRIN PEOPLE."
GATES: ISN'T THAT AMAZING?
ABRAMOVIC: MY GRANDFATHER IS WONDERFUL.
GATES: YEAH!
ABRAMOVIC: BUT YOU KNOW, MY FATHER NEVER TALK ABOUT HIM.
GATES: REALLY?
ABRAMOVIC: NO.
GATES: BUT YOUR GRANDFATHER WAS A WAR HERO.
ABRAMOVIC: WE DIDN'T HAVE MUCH CONVERSATIONS AT HOME.
YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW THERE WERE ANY TIMES THERE WHEN MY FATHER AND MOTHER WOULD FIGHT, THEY WOULD HARDLY TALK TO EACH OTHER, AND WE WAS ALWAYS SOMEHOW IN, IN A SEPARATE ROOM, SO NEVER BEEN REALLY MUCH TALKS ABOUT THIS.
GATES: THIS IS YOUR GRANDFATHER.
ABRAMOVIC: THIS IS WONDERFUL.
WOW.
GATES: WE HAD ONE MORE WARRIOR FOR MARINA TO MEET... AS WE FOLLOWED HER FATHER'S ANCESTRY BACK FURTHER, WE FOUND THAT IN 1910, A SERBIAN ETHNOLOGIST, HAD TRACED HIS FAMILY TO A MYTHIC FIGURE IN BALKAN HISTORY, A KNIGHT NAMED PAVLE ORLOVIC... WHO DIED FIGHTING FOR SERBIA IN THE YEAR 1389.
FOR GENERATIONS, ORLOVIC HAS BEEN MEMORIALIZED IN PAINTINGS, SONGS, AND POETRY, AND ACCORDING TO ORAL HISTORY, MARINA DESCENDS FROM HIM!
ABRAMOVIC: YOU KNOW, THIS IS KIND OF HERO THAT IS A LEGEND?
GATES: TOTAL.
ABRAMOVIC: COMPLETELY FROM ANCIENT TIME.
GATES: YES.
ABRAMOVIC: THAT ALL CHILDREN'S KNOW IN EVERY BOOK.
GATES: MMM-HMM.
IT'S LIKE BEING DESCENDED FROM ROYALTY.
ABRAMOVIC: WOW.
GATES: AND NO ONE EVER TOLD YOU THIS BEFORE?
ABRAMOVIC: ARE YOU CRAZY?
I DON'T KNOW ANY OF THIS.
THIS IS LIKE NEW FOR ME TOTALLY.
GATES: HMM.
ABRAMOVIC: WOW!
GATES: LIKE MARINA, FILMMAKER ALEJANDRO IÑÁRRITU HAS A REBELLIOUS SOUL.
HE TOLD ME THAT GROWING UP, HE WAS FREQUENTLY AT ODDS WITH HIS PARENTS, PARTICULARLY WITH HIS MOTHER.
BUT TIME HAS SOFTENED HIM.
AND LOOKING BACK, HE NOW CREDITS HIS MOTHER WITH GIVING HIM DIRECTION, AND STRENGTH... IÑÁRRITU: I THINK WITHOUT MY MOM, MY DAD WILL HAVE SPOILED US BADLY.
AND WE WILL HAVE NOT DO NOTHING.
MY MOM WAS THE ONE WHO REALLY STAND BY HUGE VALUES AND INTEGRITY AND HONORABILITY.
SHE WAS THE ONE WHO REALLY, WHEN THE BRANCHES WERE GOING THERE, SHE WAS THE ONE WHO (SOUND) AND REALLY STRONG.
GATES: THAT'S GREAT.
IÑÁRRITU: SO, I THINK WITHOUT HER, WE WILL NOT HAVE, HAVE CHARACTER.
GATES: I WONDERED WHERE ALEJANDRO'S MOTHER'S OWN CHARACTER CAME FROM.
TURNING TO HER ROOTS, I SOON FOUND A LIKELY CANDIDATE, HER FATHER, ALFREDO IÑÁRRITU RAMIREZ DE AGUILAR.
ALFREDO WAS A PROMINENT LAWYER AND JUDGE.
BUT HE DIED WHEN ALEJANDRO WAS A CHILD...
SO ALEJANDRO KNOWS VERY LITTLE ABOUT HIM.
HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THAT?
IÑÁRRITU: NO.
WOW.
BUT HE'S A VERY IÑÁRRITU GUY, THE EYE...
THE EYEBROWS THIS IS IÑÁRRITU, 100%.
GATES: THAT IS 100% YOUR GRANDFATHER, ALFREDO.
THAT IS HIS OFFICIAL PORTRAIT, ALEJANDRO.
IÑÁRRITU: OH WOW.
GATES: AND GUESS WHAT?
IT HANGS IN THE HALLS OF MEXICO'S SUPREME COURT TO THIS DAY, AND YOU'VE NEVER SEEN IT?
IÑÁRRITU: I NEVER SEEN IT.
WOW.
HE LOOKS VERY YOUNG.
GATES: ALFREDO WAS, IN FACT, A YOUNG JUDGE, JUST 39 YEARS OLD, WHEN HE WAS APPOINTED IN 1935 TO THE LABOR CHAMBER OF THE MEXICAN SUPREME COURT.
IT WAS A TURBULENT TIME IN MEXICO... A TIME OF INTENSE POLITICAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC UPHEAVAL.
BUT ACCORDING TO ALEJANDRO, HIS GRANDFATHER IS REMEMBERED MORE FOR HIS PERSONALITY THAN FOR HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO HISTORY... IÑÁRRITU: I KNEW THAT HE WAS VERY NERVOUS.
MY FATHER ALWAYS SAID THAT HE WAS A VERY NICE MAN BUT ALWAYS WORRY ABOUT MOSTLY EVERYTHING.
GATES: HM.
IÑÁRRITU: I REMEMBER THIS STORY THAT MY FATHER USED TO TEASE MY MOM, SAYING THAT WHEN MY GRANDFATHER... THAT DIDN'T RECEIVE, LET'S SAY, THE BILL FOR THE LIGHT, PAYMENT OF THE HOUSE, HE COULDN'T SLEEP BECAUSE HE SAID THEY WILL CUT OUR LIGHT.
HE SAID DON'T WORRY, IF HE DOES IT TOMORROW...
SO, YOU KNOW, LITTLE THINGS MAKE HIM EXTREMELY NERVOUS, AND I THINK HE WAS VERY, UH, TOO, THAT I KNOW HE'S VERY CONSERVATIVE, YOU KNOW, I MEAN VERY, VERY SQUARE MIND.
GATES: ALFREDO MAY HAVE BEEN CONSERVATIVE AT HOME, BUT IN HIS COURTROOM, HE SHOWED A VERY DIFFERENT FACE.
IN 1937, A UNION OF MEXICAN OIL WORKERS TOOK TO THE STREETS, SEEKING HIGHER PAY AND BETTER WORKPLACE CONDITIONS.
WHEN FEDERAL ARBITRATORS SIDED WITH THE UNION, THE OIL COMPANIES TOOK THEIR CASE TO THE SUPREME COURT, THREATENING TO PULL OUT OF THE COUNTRY...
BUT ALFREDO WOULD NOT BE INTIMIDATED... IÑÁRRITU: "JUSTICE IÑÁRRITU, WHO WROTE THE OPINION, OVERRULE ALL THE COMPANIES' OBJECTIONS."
WOW.
GATES: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT?
IÑÁRRITU: SO HE MADE JUSTICE TO THE WORKERS?
GATES: YOUR GRANDFATHER SIDED... IÑÁRRITU: WOW... GATES: WITH THE WORKERS.
IÑÁRRITU: THAT'S AMAZING TO KNOW.
HOW I DIDN'T KNOW THAT?
GATES: HOW DID YOU NOT KNOW THAT?
IÑÁRRITU: HOW MY MOM DIDN'T KNOW THAT?
GATES: HE'S A HERO.
YEAH, HE STOOD UP FOR THE PEOPLE.
IÑÁRRITU: THAT'S A BIG THING.
WOW, THAT'S BEAUTIFUL.
AND IT'S VERY EXCITING, AND I THINK MY FAMILY WILL BE SO APPRECIATIVE OF THIS.
GATES: AS IT TURNS OUT, WE HAD ANOTHER SURPRISE FOR ALEJANDRO... A SECOND ANCESTOR WHO ALSO FOUND HIMSELF IN THE CROSS HAIRS OF HISTORY.
HIS FOURTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER, JOSÉ INES SANDOVAL, SERVED IN THE OAXACAN STATE SENATE IN THE 1840S, DURING A PERIOD DOMINATED BY ONE OF MEXICO'S MOST NOTORIOUS FIGURES: GENERAL ANTONIO LOPEZ SANTA ANNA.
SANTA ANNA HELD POWER IN MEXICO ELEVEN DIFFERENT TIMES, OFTEN PUTTING HIS OWN INTERESTS ABOVE THOSE OF HIS PEOPLE, LEAVING A LEGACY OF CORRUPTION... AND BITTER FEELINGS THAT RENDERED ALEJANDRO HESITANT EVEN TO HEAR THIS STORY.
IÑÁRRITU: YOU KNOW, READING ABOUT SANTA ANNA IS VERY CONFLICTING, BECAUSE IN A WAY, UH, I DESPISE HIM SO MUCH BY HIS COWARDICE AND ABOUT HIS, UH, MANIPULATION AND ABOUT HIS ARROGANCE AND ABOUT HIS IGNORANCE AND ALL THE, ALL THE THINGS THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S AN INCREDIBLE STORY... GATES: MHM.
IÑÁRRITU: AND KIND OF THE GHOST OF HIM STILL ARE AROUND, UH, OUR NATION IN SOME WAYS, IN DIFFERENT MANIFESTATIONS.
GATES: ANY IDEA HOW HE CONNECTS TO YOUR ANCESTORS?
IÑÁRRITU: NO.
GATES: ALL RIGHT.
IÑÁRRITU: I HOPE NOT VERY CLOSE.
GATES: OH, OKAY.
THE CONNECTION BETWEEN SANTA ANNA AND JOSE WOULD PROVE TO BE BOTH CLOSE, AND DRAMATIC.
IN 1848, MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES WENT TO WAR, CULMINATING IN A DECISIVE AMERICAN VICTORY IN THE BATTLE OF MEXICO CITY.
BEATEN IN THE FIELD, SANTA ANNA SOUGHT REFUGE IN OAXACA, HOPING TO RESUME THE CONFLICT.
AS A MEMBER OF OAXACA'S SENATE, JOSE SUDDENLY FACED A DECISION: SIDE WITH THE GENERAL, OR TRY TO MAKE PEACE.
WANT TO GUESS?
WHAT DID HE SAY?
IÑÁRRITU: I THINK HE WANTED TO GO TO WAR AGAIN.
GATES: OKAY, LET'S TURN THE PAGE.
IÑÁRRITU: "CONGRESS OF THE STATE OF OAXACA, SECRET SESSION OF JANUARY 25, 1848.
DON JOSÉ INES SANDOVAL PRESENTED THE PROPOSITION THAT FOLLOWS, "I ASK THE HONORABLE CHAMBER TO CONSERVE AT ALL COSTS PUBLIC TRANQUILITY, IMPEDE THE ENTRANCE OF GENERAL SANTA ANNA FROM THIS CAPITAL."
HE... GATES: HE SAID FORGET IT.
JOSÉ PUT FORTH A PROPOSAL TO KEEP SANTA ANNA OUT OF OAXACA.
IÑÁRRITU: I, I LIKE THAT.
I LIKE HIM ALREADY.
GATES: JOSE'S PROPOSAL WAS ACCEPTED BY THE GOVERNOR OF OAXACA, AND SANTA ANNA WAS THWARTED.
BUT NOT FOR LONG.
HE WOULD SOON BE BACK IN POWER, AND ALEJANDRO'S ANCESTOR WOULD PAY A HEAVY PRICE FOR HIS RESISTANCE.
JOSE WAS REMOVED FROM OFFICE IN 1853 AND DEPORTED TO THE UNITED STATES, WITHOUT A TRIAL!
HE WOULD SPEND ALMOST A YEAR IN EXILE... ONLY RETURNING TO HIS HOMELAND WHEN SANTA ANNA'S AUTHORITY BEGAN TO WANE FOR GOOD.
IÑÁRRITU: I HAVE SHED TEARS OF JOY BECAUSE I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO REST DURING THIS TIME OF TRIBULATIONS, KNOWING I WAS INNOCENT."
WOW.
GATES: PRETTY COOL, HUH?
IÑÁRRITU: SO IT'S A HAPPY ENDING KIND OF THING?
GATES: YEAH.
IÑÁRRITU: WOW.
SO THEY FORGIVE HIM AND THEY RECOGNIZE HE WAS INNOCENT.
GATES: JOSÉ WAS VINDICATED.
THIS IS AMAZING.
THIS IS YOUR BLOODLINE, MAN.
YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GREAT- GREAT GRANDFATHER.
IÑÁRRITU: WOW, AMAZING.
THAT'S AMAZING THAT I HAVE A... AN ANCESTOR WHICH WAS, UH, CONFRONT, CONFRONT THIS GUY.
GATES: YEAH.
IÑÁRRITU: I'M VERY PROUD OF IT, VERY PROUD OF IT.
GATES: ALEJANDRO, WE'VE GONE BACK SIX GENERATIONS ON YOUR MOTHER'S SIDE OF YOUR FAMILY TREE.
AND IT SEEMS LIKE YOUR ANCESTORS WERE VERY POWERFUL PEOPLE WITH A LOT OF STRONG CONVICTIONS.
IÑÁRRITU: MY MOTHER IS A, IS A TEMPERAMENTAL LADY.
GATES: UH-HUH.
IÑÁRRITU: AND SHE HAS A POINT OF VIEW, THAT'S IT.
AND SOMETIMES THAT'S GOOD OR BAD, BUT I THINK IT'S SOMETHING THAT I ADMIRE.
GATES: HARDHEAD.
YEAH.
IÑÁRRITU: A LOT OF... YEAH, EXACTLY.
SO, I SEE... GATES: YEAH!
IÑÁRRITU: THESE, UH, RELATIVES AND I CAN SEE HER, AND I GUESS, UH, ME AND MY BROTHER AND MY SISTERS INHERIT SOME OF THIS, UH, STUBBORNNESS OR VISION OR WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT.
GATES: MY THIRD GUEST, KEHINDE WILEY, HAD ALREADY TOLD ME ABOUT THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE THAT HIS MOTHER HAD HAD ON HIS LIFE AND HIS ART.
TURNING TO HIS MOTHER'S ROOTS, WE FOCUSED ON SOMETHING THAT HAD POWERFULLY INFLUENCED HER...
THE UNITED STATES MILITARY.
SHE SERVED IN THE MARINE CORPS FOR THREE YEARS, GAINING SKILLS THAT, ACCORDING TO KEHINDE, HELPED HER BUILD A CAREER AND RAISE HER CHILDREN.
BUT KEHINDE DIDN'T KNOW THAT HIS MOTHER WASN'T THE FIRST SOLDIER IN HER FAMILY... MOVING BACK TWO GENERATIONS, WE FOUND ANOTHER... KEHINDE'S GREAT-GRANDFATHER, A MAN NAMED LEWIS STANDIFER, WHO SERVED IN THE ARMY DURING WORLD WAR I, AND HAD A VERY DIFFERENT KIND OF EXPERIENCE.
WILEY: "DATE OF ARRIVAL, JULY 20, 1918.
NAME, STANDIFER, LEWIS."
GATES: THIS IS A LIST OF TROOPS WHO ARRIVED AT NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA ON JULY 20, 1918.
WILEY: WOW.
GATES: AND YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER'S NAME YOU JUST READ WAS ON THAT LIST.
WILEY: GREAT-GRANDFATHER.
THAT'S EXTRAORDINARY.
GATES: LEWIS WAS ONE OF APPROXIMATELY 370,000 BLACK MEN WHO SERVED IN WORLD WAR I AND YOU... WILEY: WOW.
GATES: YOU HAD NO IDEA.
WILEY: I HAD NO IDEA.
THAT'S AMAZING.
GATES: YOUR MOM DOESN'T KNOW THIS, SHE THINKS SHE IS THE FIRST PERSON IN YOUR FAMILY TO HAVE SERVED IN THE MILITARY.
WILEY: INTERESTING.
GATES: THAT'S ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS YOU CAN TELL HER.
WHEN KEHINDE'S GREAT- GRANDFATHER WENT TO WAR, THE U.S. ARMY, LIKE ALMOST ALL OF AMERICA, WAS SEGREGATED... AND THAT DEFINED VIRTUALLY EVERY ASPECT OF HIS SERVICE.
LIKE MOST BLACK SOLDIERS, LEWIS WAS ASSIGNED TO THE QUARTERMASTER CORPS, A NON-COMBAT UNIT, RELEGATED TO SUPPLY TASKS.
HE SPENT HIS FIRST MONTH OF DUTY AT A TRAINING CAMP IN TEXAS, WHERE SOME BLACK SOLDIERS REPORTED BEING BEATEN.
FROM THERE, HE WAS SHIPPED TO NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA AND THEN ON TO FRANCE... WHERE HE WAS ASSIGNED AN UNENVIABLE JOB... NOW KEHINDE, THESE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN IN FRANCE ABOUT THREE MONTHS AFTER THE END OF THE WAR.
THEY SHOW TROOPS FROM YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER'S UNIT... WILEY: OH, WOW.
GATES: THESE ARE PICTURES... WILEY: THIS IS THE VERY SAME UNIT THAT HE SERVED IN.
GATES: THE SAME UNIT AT THE SAME TIME.
WILEY: OH, WOW.
GATES: THESE SOLDIERS ASSISTED IN REMOVING DEAD BODIES FROM TEMPORARY GRAVES FOR REBURIAL IN ARMY CEMETERIES.
WILEY: HOW MACABRE.
GATES: CAN YOU IMAGINE?
WILEY: NO, NO.
JESUS.
IT MAKES THE SMALL PROBLEMS OF EVERYDAY LIFE NOW JUST SEEM SO MINUSCULE IN COMPARISON.
I MEAN, TO DEAL WITH NOT ONLY THE STUFF THAT HE HAD TO DEAL WITH IN TERMS OF RACISM FROM WHERE HE CAME FROM BUT JUST THE PHYSICAL FACT AND THE PHYSICAL LABOR OF DEALING WITH THAT AND THEN THE HAZARDS OF IT ALL.
IT JUST...IT ALMOST FEELS AS THOUGH NO ONE WAS PAYING ATTENTION TO THE FACT THAT HE WAS A HUMAN BODY TOO.
GATES: MHM.
WILEY: LIKE, WE'RE DIGGING OUT THESE DEAD BODIES BUT WHAT ABOUT THIS BODY WHO'S DIGGING?
WHAT ABOUT HIS VULNERABILITY?
GATES: ALL TOLD, LEWIS SPENT ROUGHLY NINE MONTHS IN FRANCE...
BUT IF HISTORY IS ANY INDICATION, HIS EXPERIENCE THERE WASN'T ENTIRELY NEGATIVE...
MANY AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIERS REPORTED FEELING THAT THEY WERE TREATED BETTER BY THE WHITE FRENCH POPULATION THAN THEY WERE TREATED BACK HOME.
AND MANY APPRECIATED MEETING BLACK PEOPLE FROM AFRICA AND THE CARIBBEAN FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME.
HOWEVER, WHEN LEWIS RETURNED TO THE UNITED STATES, IN JULY OF 1919, THOSE POSITIVE FEELINGS LIKELY VANISHED QUICKLY.
THAT SUMMER WOULD BECOME INFAMOUS FOR ITS INTENSE RACIAL VIOLENCE.
THERE WERE ANTI-BLACK RIOTS AND LYNCHINGS ACROSS AMERICA.
MANY DIRECTED AT BLACK SOLDIERS, SOME STILL IN UNIFORM... WILEY: SO THEY WERE MAD BECAUSE BLACK AMERICAN MEN WERE FEELING A SENSE OF INDEPENDENCE AND DIGNITY.
GATES: MM-HMM.
WILEY: SOMETHING THAT THEY HAD NEVER FELT IN AMERICA BUT LIKE, NOW ON THEIR WAY HOME YOU'RE ACTING UPPITY AND...YEAH.
GATES: THEY COULD SEE THAT THESE MEN WERE DIFFERENT.
WILEY: YEAH.
GATES: AND THEY KILLED THEM.
WILEY: HOW INTERESTING IS THAT.
THAT THAT STATE OF GRACE THAT THEY OCCUPY IS SOMETHING THAT IS THEIR DEATH WARRANT.
GATES: MM-HMM.
YEAH.
WILEY: WOW.
GATES: KEHINDE'S ANCESTOR WAS SPARED THE WORST OF THE VIOLENCE, BUT HE WAS UNDOUBTEDLY AWARE OF IT.
AND HE WOULD SPEND THE REST OF HIS LIFE WORKING AS A FARM LABORER...
SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE WHOSE COUNTRY HE'D SERVED, BUT WHO CHOSE NEVERTHELESS TO DENY HIM BASIC RIGHTS....
LISTENING TO THE DETAILS OF HIS STORY LEFT KEHINDE STRUGGLING TO UNDERSTAND HOW LEWIS MIGHT HAVE FELT.
WILEY: WELL, THIS WHOLE THING SEEMS SO...WELL, LET ME JUST USE MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.
THERE'S SOMETHING REALLY WRONG WITH THE FACT THAT WHEN I DRIVE TO THE COUNTRYSIDE I FEEL REALLY ANXIOUS BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A DIFFERENT DEMOGRAPHIC... GATES: YEAH!
WILEY: AND I'M GOING TO LOOK A LITTLE BIT LIKE A STANDOUT.
GATES: RIGHT.
WILEY: AND IF THE POLICE HAPPEN TO SEE ME WILL THERE BE A SENSE OF LIKE, ANXIETY OR WHAT HAVE YOU?
CAN YOU IMAGINE DURING THAT TIME?
GATES: MM.
WILEY: NOT JUST LIKE, POLICE VIOLENCE, BUT LIKE, YOUR CASUAL CITIZEN FEELS AS THOUGH IT'S THEIR RIGHT AS, AS, AS AN AMERICAN CITIZEN TO PUT YOU IN YOUR PLACE, TO... TO POLICE YOU.
GATES: MHM.
WILEY: IT MAKES ME FEEL INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL AND INCREDIBLY SAD ABOUT THIS PART OF HISTORY.
GATES: WE HAD ALREADY INTRODUCED ALEJANDRO TO HIS GRANDFATHER, ALFREDO, THE HARD-HEADED JUDGE WHO STOOD UP FOR OIL WORKERS IN 1930S MEXICO.
NOW WE WANTED TO TAKE THIS LINE OF HIS FAMILY BACK FURTHER IN TIME... WE SOON ENCOUNTERED ANOTHER HARD-HEADED MAN: ALEJANDRO'S GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER, SILVERIO IÑÁRRITU GARDIAZABAL.
IN THE LATE 1880S, SILVERIO MOVED HIS FAMILY IN ORDER TO BUY AN ESTATE OUTSIDE THE TOWN OF SAN LORENZO ALBARRADAS.
IT WAS A RISKY DECISION.
THE ESTATE'S PREVIOUS OWNER HAD PRIVATIZED PUBLIC FARMLAND, WHICH OUTRAGED LOCAL RESIDENTS.
SILVERIO THOUGHT HE COULD HANDLE THEIR ANGER.
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT IS PRESERVED IN AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE TOWN.
IÑÁRRITU: "SHORTLY AFTER BUYING THE HACIENDA, SILVERIO'S SON FRANCISCO MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEAR.
NATURALLY, NEITHER THE HACIENDA NOR THE RESIDENTS OF THE TOWN DOUBT THAT THIS MAN HAD BEEN MURDER."
WOW.
GATES: HMM.
IÑÁRRITU: SO, THEY KILL HIS SON?
GATES: THEY KILLED HIS SON.
IÑÁRRITU: WOW.
GATES: YOU EVER HEAR ANYTHING ABOUT THIS STORY?
IÑÁRRITU: NOT AT ALL.
THIS IS LIKE A NOVEL THAT IS PART OF MY LIFE, BUT I HAVE NEVER HEARD.
GATES: AND THIS FRANCISCO IS YOUR GREAT-GRAND UNCLE.
HIS BODY WAS NEVER FOUND.
IÑÁRRITU: WOW.
GATES: NEVER FOUND.
IÑÁRRITU: WOW, THAT'S SAD.
GATES: FRANCISCO'S MURDER WAS LIKELY INTENDED TO DRIVE THE FAMILY OFF THEIR NEW PROPERTY.
BUT IT HAD THE OPPOSITE EFFECT.
ACCORDING TO THE ORAL HISTORY, FRANCISCO'S BROTHER LUIS SOON SOUGHT REVENGE.
IÑÁRRITU: "LUIS IÑÁRRITU AVENGED THE DEATH VERY QUICKLY, ORCHESTRATING THE ASSASSINATION OF MACARLO AND CECILIO GARCIA, AND ONOFRE MARTINEZ, RESIDENTS OF SAN LORENZO ALBARRADAS."
GATES: THESE THREE MEN NAMED HERE, LIKELY TENANT FARMERS, HAD BEEN WORKING IN THE AREA WHERE YOUR GREAT-GRAND UNCLE FRANCISCO WAS LAST SEEN, AND OF COURSE THERE'S NO WAY TO KNOW IF ANY OF THEM ACTUALLY MURDERED FRANCISCO, BUT THEY WERE PRESUMED GUILTY AND TAKEN OUT.
IÑÁRRITU: WOW.
THEY, THEY SAY HOW THEY KILL HIM OR A GUN OR...?
GATES: WE DIDN'T FIND OUT HOW THEY KILLED THEM.
IÑÁRRITU: DETAILS.
GATES: WE JUST KNOW THEY KILLED THEM.
THIS SOUNDS A LITTLE BIT LIKE ONE OF YOUR MOVIES, MAN.
IÑÁRRITU: INTENSE.
THIS IS, THIS, THIS IS REALLY TROPICAL BLOOD.
GATES: YEAH.
IÑÁRRITU: YOU UNDERSTAND WHY THE OTHER GUY LEFT AND SOLD, SOLD THE PROPERTY.
GATES: VIOLENCE AT THE ESTATE CONTINUED FOR DECADES, BUT AS WE COMBED THROUGH THE RECORDS OF SAN LORENZO ALBARRADAS, WE UNCOVERED A DETAIL THAT WOULD HELP MITIGATE THIS GRIM STORY.
SILVARIO'S DEATH CERTIFICATE, FROM THE YEAR 1895, LISTS THE TOWN, IN SPAIN, WHERE SILVARIO WAS BORN.
ANSWERING A QUESTION THAT HAS LONG INTRIGUED ALEJANDRO.
IÑÁRRITU: WOW!
"SEÑOR SILVERIO YÑÁRRITU, NATIVE OF GORDIJUELA, SPAIN."
GATES: GORDIJUELA, SPAIN.
IÑÁRRITU: WHERE THE HELL IS THAT?
GORDIJUELA, I HAVE NEVER HEARD ABOUT IT.
GATES: GORDIJUELA IS THE SPANISH SPELLING.
GORDEXOLA IS THE BASQUE SPELLING, WITH AN X. IÑÁRRITU: HM, OKAY, OKAY.
GATES: AND YOU NEVER HEARD OF THIS PLACE?
IÑÁRRITU: NEVER.
GATES: TURN THE PAGE.
IÑÁRRITU: HM, HERE IT IS.
GATES: THAT'S A MAP OF GORDEXOLA, FROM THE TIME OF SILVERIO'S BIRTH.
THAT IS FROM THE YEAR 1842.
IÑÁRRITU: WOW.
GATES: THE TOWN IS LOCATED IN THE BASQUE REGION.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO THE BASQUE REGION?
IÑÁRRITU: I HAVE JUST BEEN LAST WEEK THERE.
GATES: OH REALLY?
IÑÁRRITU: IN SAN SEBASTIÁN.
GATES: OH, NO KIDDING.
IÑÁRRITU: EATING, LIKE, YOU KNOW, THE BEST FOOD EVER IN A BEAUTIFUL CITY, AND, UH, SO THIS IS WHERE, WHERE MY... GATES: SO, YOU KNEW IÑÁRRITU IS A BASQUE LAST NAME, SO YOU KNEW... IÑÁRRITU: YEAH, BUT I NEVER KNEW WHERE IT WAS, AND I ALWAYS WAS LIKE SAYING, "WELL, I HOPE THAT IT'S FROM SAN SEBASTIÁN, BECAUSE I LOVE SAN SEBASTIÁN AS A CITY.
GATES: SO, WHAT'S IT LIKE TO KNOW THE EXACT TOWN, NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME, THAT YOUR FAMILY CAME FROM?
IÑÁRRITU: I'M SO GLAD BECAUSE I, I WAS VERY FRUSTRATED THAT I DIDN'T KNOW, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN, BECAUSE, UH, IT'S A VERY PARTICULARS NAME, AND THE FACT THAT NOBODY COULD REALLY TELL ME THIS, IT WAS FRUSTRATING, BUT I THINK THAT, AGAIN, AS THE STORY, THE STORIES WERE LOST.
GATES: YES.
IÑÁRRITU: AND I'M VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY, HAPPY TO KNOW WHERE THE IÑÁRRITU COME FROM, WHERE THE SPANISH PART OF MY FAMILY AND MY BLOOD, GEOGRAPHICALLY, COME, FINALLY, YOU KNOW?
IT'S FANTASTIC.
GATES: WE'D ALREADY INTRODUCED KEHINDE WILEY TO HIS GREAT-GRANDFATHER WHO SERVED IN WORLD WAR I AND ENDURED THE INJUSTICE OF JIM CROW.
NOW WE HAD ANOTHER SOLDIER'S STORY TO TELL, ABOUT A MAN WHO ENDURED EVEN MORE... MOVING BACK ON HIS MOTHER'S LINE, WE CAME TO KEHINDE'S SECOND GREAT-GRANDFATHER, NOAH DEGRATE.
NOAH'S PENSION RECORD CONTAINED AN IMMEDIATE SURPRISE.
YOU READY FOR THIS?
YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER WAS A VETERAN OF THE CIVIL WAR.
WILEY: THAT'S CRAZY, THERE'S LIKE THIS NARRATIVE THAT'S LIKE FOLLOWING THROUGH EVERY SINGLE GENERATION.
GATES: MHM.
WILEY: WARRIORS.
GATES: HE WAS A UNION SOLIDER.
DID YOU EVER IN YOUR WILDEST DREAMS THINK YOU HAD AN ANCESTOR WHO FOUGHT WITH THE U.S.
COLORED TROOPS, AS THEY WERE CALLED?
WILEY: NO, I MEAN LIKE, THIS IS...THIS IS INTENSE!
GATES: NOAH ENLISTED IN JANUARY OF 1865, AND SERVED IN A HOSPITAL DURING THE FINAL MONTHS OF THE CIVIL WAR...
WHILE HIS SERVICE WAS BRIEF, IT PROVED INVALUABLE TO OUR RESEARCH BECAUSE IN HIS PENSION APPLICATION, NOAH DESCRIBED HIS LIFE, ALLOWING KEHINDE TO LEARN DETAILS ABOUT HIS FAMILY THAT MOST AFRICAN AMERICANS CAN NEVER LEARN.
WILEY: "I ENLISTED IN COMPANY F OF 63RD REGISTRY, US COLORED INFANTRY, A SHORT DISTANCE ABOVE NATCHEZ, MISSISSIPPI...
I WAS 18 YEARS OF AGE, AT THE TIME OF ENLISTMENT I WAS A SLAVE, THE PROPERTY OF WILLIAM LANG, A PLANTER".
HOW INSANE.
SO BASICALLY HE'S SAYING, "I WAS A SLAVE AND THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO HAPPENED TO HAVE OWNED ME."
GATES: YEAH.
SLAVERY JUST ASSUMED A NEW FORM IN YOUR IMAGINATION, YOUR COMPREHENSION.
WILEY: YEAH.
GATES: IT'S NOT ABSTRACT ANYMORE.
WILEY: NO.
NO.
IT'S VERY REAL NOW.
IT'S LIKE, BAM.
THAT'S MY PEOPLE.
YEAH.
AMAZING.
GATES: THIS PENSION APPLICATION NOT ONLY TELLS US ABOUT NOAH'S LIFE IN SLAVERY, IT ALSO CONTAINS A REMARKABLE STORY ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM AFTER EMANCIPATION.
AFTER THE WAR, KEHINDE'S ANCESTOR SETTLED IN TEXAS, AND LIKE MANY NEWLY-FREED AFRICAN AMERICANS, HE TOOK A NEW NAME: "NOAH DEGRATE."
BUT IN THE ARMY, HE'D BEEN ENROLLED UNDER THE NAME "NOAH LAND", AND LATE IN HIS LIFE, WHEN HE TRIED TO GET HIS PENSION, HE WAS TOLD THAT HE NEEDED WITNESSES TO ATTEST THAT "NOAH LAND" AND "NOAH DEGRATE" WERE ONE AND THE SAME PERSON.
THIS WOULD CAUSE NOAH A WORLD OF TROUBLE.
WILEY: "AFFIANT SAYS THAT HE IS A POOR MAN, UNABLE TO SECURE THE AMOUNT REQUIRED TO MAKE A TRIP TO SEE THE ABOVE NAMED PERSONS.
AFFIANT REQUESTS THAT HIS SAID CLAIM BE REFERRED TO THE SPECIAL EXAMINATION DIVISION OF THE PENSION BUREAU.
UNLESS THIS IS DONE THE AFFIANT WILL FAIL IN SECURING HIS PENSION SOLELY BECAUSE HE IS TOO POOR AND FINANCIALLY UNABLE TO OBTAIN THE ADVANCE."
GATES: KEHINDE, YOUR GREAT-GREAT GRANDFATHER HAD TO PROVE HIS IDENTITY TO GET HIS PENSION.
WILEY: HOW INTERESTING.
GATES: AND THIS IS LIKE, NO INTERNET, YOU KNOW.
WILEY: YEAH.
GATES: THIS IS LIKE, PEOPLE CAN'T EVEN READ AND WRITE.
WILEY: RIGHT.
VOUCH FOR ME BASICALLY BECOMES THE... GATES: AND HE'S GOT TO FIND THEM, GET THEM TO WRITE LETTERS, RIGHT?
WILEY: YEAH.
GATES: AND THEN LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENS.
WILEY: INTERESTING.
GATES: ACCORDING TO HIS APPLICATION, NOAH SPENT YEARS TRYING TO GATHER THE WITNESSES NECESSARY TO MAKE HIS CASE...
HE FACED A DAUNTING CHALLENGE.
HE WAS LIVING IN WACO, TEXAS, WHILE ONE OF HIS BEST POTENTIAL WITNESSES, A MAN WITH WHOM HE'D SERVED, WAS LIVING IN PINE BLUFF, ARKANSAS... RECORDS INDICATE THAT NOAH HAD LITTLE MONEY TO MAKE THE TRIP, AND HE WAS ALSO IN POOR HEALTH.
BUT NOAH WAS A DETERMINED MAN.
WILEY: "APPEARED THIS DAY, DAVID DAVIS WHO DECLARES, QUOTE, I BELONG TO COMPANY F, 63 REGIMENT USCT DURING THE WAR, AND WAS PERSONALLY ACQUAINTED WITH NOAH LAND AND HE BELONGED TO THE SAME COMPANY I DID.
HE IS NOW SITTING WITH ME IN THE OFFICE WHILE I'M GIVING THIS TESTIMONY AT PINE BLUFF, STATE OF ARKANSAS."
THAT'S HILARIOUS.
GATES: HE FOUND A WAY TO MAKE THE TRIP TO ARKANSAS... WILEY: THAT'S INSANE.
GATES: AND HE FOUND ONE OF HIS OLD COMRADES.
AND KEHINDE, I'VE GOT TO TELL YOU, PINE BLUFF, ARKANSAS IS 400 MILES FROM WACO, TEXAS.
WILEY: WOW.
GATES: AND WE DON'T KNOW HOW HE COULD HAVE AFFORDED SUCH A JOURNEY BECAUSE THE RECORDS DON'T TELL.
WE KNOW HE'S VERY POOR.
WILEY: THAT MEANS YOU'RE WALKING.
THAT MEANS THAT HE SPENT MONTHS TRYING TO FIND THIS PERSON AND MONTHS EVEN GETTING BACK TO WHERE HE HAD TO GET TO.
GATES: YEAH!
WILEY: HOW AMAZING IS THAT?
GATES: THEN HE GOES BACK AND FILES THE CASE ONE MORE TIME.
LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENED.
WILEY: OKAY.
GATES: WOULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE.
WILEY: "PENSION FILE, 1897.
NAME, NOAH DEGRATE.
ALIAS, NOAH LAND.
ISSUED DECEMBER 14, 1897.
RATE AND PERIOD, $10."
GATES: NEARLY A YEAR AFTER NOAH FOUND DAVID DAVIS, ALMOST FIVE YEARS AFTER HE FIRST FILED HIS APPLICATION, YOUR ANCESTOR GOT HIS PENSION, AND THEY BACKDATED IT TO WHEN HE FIRST APPLIED.
WILEY: FANTASTIC.
SO HE WAS A FIGHTER.
GATES: ABSOLUTELY.
ISN'T THAT COOL?
WILEY: THAT'S BEYOND COOL.
THAT'S EPIC.
GATES: IT IS.
WILEY: THAT IS EPIC.
GATES: WE HAD ALREADY TOLD MARINA ABRAMOVIC STORIES ABOUT THE HEROIC ANCESTORS ON THE PATERNAL SIDE OF HER FAMILY TREE.
NOW, TURNING TO HER MATERNAL ROOTS, WE HAD TO FACE A STORY OF TRAGEDY.
IT BEGAN WITH MARINA'S MOTHER, DANICA ROSIC, WHO FOUGHT THE NAZIS IN WORLD WAR II, BUT STRUGGLED TO CONTROL HER OWN DEMONS WHEN THE FIGHTING WAS OVER.
ABRAMOVIC: MY MOTHER, SHE WAS OBSESSED BY CLEANNESS.
EVERYTHING HAVE TO BE CLEAN.
SHE WOULD TAKE BANANAS AND CLEAN WITH DETERGENT BECAUSE THEY COME FROM THE FOREIGN COUNTRY, THEY'RE FULL OF BACTERIAS.
I...WE HAVE TO WASH HUNDREDS OF TIMES OUR HANDS.
AND THEN THE WORST PART WAS...
IT WAS THE... HOW I HAVE TO SLEEP.
I HAVE TO SLEEP STRAIGHT WITHOUT MOVING, SO SHE WILL WAKE ME THE MIDDLE...I WAS A KID...
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT IF MY BLANKET WAS TOO MESSY TO MAKE IT STRAIGHT.
NOW, WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?
I GO TO THE HOTEL, I'M SLEEPING LIKE THIS, AND WHEN THE...NEXT...AND I JUST OPEN THE BED, CLOSE THE BED, THE PEOPLE THINK THAT I'M NOT USING ROOM AT ALL, YOU KNOW?
GATES: WHERE DID THAT COME FROM, DO YOU THINK?
ABRAMOVIC: HER CLEANNESS?
GATES: YEAH.
THE WAR?
WHAT MADE HER CRAZY?
ABRAMOVIC: SHE WAS INCREDIBLY WOUNDED, EMOTIONAL, AND SAD WOMAN, BUT ALL...BUT OUTSIDE, SHE WAS A COLD, CONTROLLING, AND I THINK THAT SHE WAS THINKING TO ACTUALLY FOR ME AND MY BROTHER TO MAKE ME STRONG, IS TO HAVE THIS KIND OF UPBRINGING, THAT YOU KNOW, THAT NOT GIVE ME ANYTHING EMOTIONAL THAT I HAVE TO SURVIVE.
I HAVE TO BE SURVIVOR.
GATES: NEEDLESS TO SAY, MARINA AND HER MOTHER HAD A TROUBLED RELATIONSHIP.
AND IT WAS DIFFICULT INITIALLY TO SYMPATHIZE WITH DANICA.
BUT AS WE DUG INTO HER ROOTS, HER BEHAVIOR BECAME EASIER TO UNDERSTAND... AS IT TURNS OUT, DANICA WAS A SURVIVOR, TOO.
IN 1937, HER FATHER, MARINA'S GRANDFATHER, WAS MURDERED, ALONG WITH HIS BROTHER PETER.
VICTIMS OF A CRIME THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SOLVED.
THE CASE MADE INTERNATIONAL NEWS BECAUSE PETER WAS THE HEAD OF THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH, A MAN KNOWN THROUGHOUT EUROPE AS "PATRIARCH VARNAVA".
YOU RECOGNIZE THE MAN IN THAT PHOTO?
ABRAMOVIC: YEAH.
THIS IS PATRIARCH.
GATES: THAT'S RIGHT.
ABRAMOVIC: I NEVER SAW THIS PHOTO.
GATES: NOW, TELL ME WHAT YOU'VE HEARD ABOUT HIM?
ABRAMOVIC: SO MANY DIFFERENT STORIES FROM MANY DIFFERENT SOURCES, YOU KNOW?
SO I KNOW THAT PATRIARCH, YOU KNOW, HE WAS NEXT TO THE KING.
GATES: YEAH.
ABRAMOVIC: I ALSO KNOW THAT HE ACTUALLY DIDN'T ACCEPT KING ORDERS, AND THEN HE WAS INVITED FOR THIS LUNCH WITH HIS TWO BROTHERS AND HIM, AND ON THIS LUNCH, THE PERSONAL DOCTOR OF THE KING PUT CRUSHED DIAMONDS INTO THE FOOD, AND UH, AND HE EAT THIS FOOD, AND ALL THREE BROTHERS DIE TERRIBLE, BLEEDING STOMACH DEATHS IN DIFFERENT TIMES.
GATES: WE FOUND NO EVIDENCE THAT VARNAVA WAS KILLED WITH CRUSHED DIAMONDS.
IT'S FAR MORE LIKELY THAT HE WAS POISONED... AS TO WHY HE WAS MURDERED?
THE ANSWER SEEMS SOMEWHAT CLEARER... VARNAVA WAS AMONG THE MOST POWERFUL MEN IN HIS DEEPLY RELIGIOUS NATION.
YET HE WASN'T AT ALL WHAT HE SEEMED TO HIS FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS... ABRAMOVIC: "VARNAVA WAS ELECTED, BUT SOON HE STARTED TO COMPROMISE HIMSELF WITH SCANDALS IN THE COURT, WITH RUSSIAN GIRLS."
WOW.
"THIS IS WHY THE KING STOPPED SENDING HIM BEST WISHES ON THE MOST IMPORTANT HOLIDAYS."
SO HE WAS WITH THE GIRLS?
GATES: HE HAD A PARTNER, AND IT WAS A RUSSIAN WOMAN.
ABRAMOVIC: NO.
GATES: YES!
VARNAVA HAD A RELATIONSHIP WITH A RUSSIAN WOMAN, A FACT THAT WAS WELL-KNOWN IN GOVERNMENT CIRCLES, A STABLE RELATIONSHIP.
ABRAMOVIC: WOW.
GATES: AND THAT WASN'T THE ONLY CONTROVERSY CONNECTED TO YOUR GREAT-UNCLE.
WOULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?
HE'S MORE INTERESTING THAN YOU THOUGHT.
ABRAMOVIC: WOW.
I WAS THINK HE WAS REALLY JUST BORING PATRIARCH.
GATES: NOW LOOK AT THIS.
THIS IS AN INTERVIEW, AN ACTUAL INTERVIEW WITH YOUR GREAT-UNCLE PUBLISHED IN THE GERMAN PUBLICATION IN JANUARY 1937, WHICH WAS JUST A FEW MONTHS BEFORE HE DIED.
WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE HIGHLIGHTED SECTION?
ABRAMOVIC: OKAY.
LET'S SEE THIS.
"THE PATRIARCH STRESSED THAT IT IS HIS SOUND CONVICTION THAT COMMUNISM IS THE MOST TERRIBLE POISON.
PATRIARCH VARNAVA EXPRESSED HIS SYMPATHY FOR THE FIGHT OF THE FÜHRER AND REICH CHANCELLOR AGAINST THE GLOBAL BOLSHEVIK DANGER.
THE FÜHRER OF THE GREAT GERMAN PEOPLE..." HE MEAN HITLER?
GATES: YES.
ABRAMOVIC: NO!
GATES: YES.
ABRAMOVIC: "THE FÜHRER OF THE GREAT GERMAN PEOPLE IS LEADING A BATTLE THAT SERVES THE WELL-BEING OF THE ENTIRE HUMANITY."
GATES: VARNAVA WAS A NAZI SYMPATHIZER.
ABRAMOVIC: IN 19... GATES: IN 1937.
ABRAMOVIC: OKAY, BUT... WOW.
BUT IN THE SAME TIME, CAN YOU IMAGINE WHEN MY MOTHER WENT TO PARTISANS SOON AFTER?
WOW!
GATES: YEAH.
FOUR YEARS LATER.
ABRAMOVIC: I NEVER SAW THIS BEFORE.
GATES: VARNAVA'S AFFINITY FOR HITLER WASN'T UNUSUAL: IN THE YEARS BEFORE WORLD WAR II, MANY SAW NAZISM AS PREFERABLE TO COMMUNISM.
BUT IT WAS A STRONG INDICATION THAT THE PATRIARCH WAS DEEPLY ENMESHED IN POLITICAL AS WELL AS RELIGIOUS MATTERS.
AND IT SEEMS THAT THAT PROVED HIS UNDOING.
SCHOLARS BELIEVE VARNAVA WAS KILLED IN A POWER STRUGGLE WITH THE YUGOSLAVIAN GOVERNMENT, THOUGH HIS DEATH HAS NEVER BEEN FULLY EXPLAINED.
ITS CONSEQUENCES, HOWEVER, WERE CLEARLY DEVASTATING TO MARINA'S FAMILY.
YOUR MOTHER WAS ONLY 15.
THAT HELP YOU EXPLAIN YOUR MOTHER?
ABRAMOVIC: YEAH, MUCH MORE.
THIS IS REALLY A LOT FOR SOMEBODY WHO IS 15.
GATES: OH, IT'S A LOT.
IT WOULD HELP TO EXPLAIN WHY SHE WAS CRAZY IN CERTAIN WAYS.
ABRAMOVIC: BUT IN THE SAME TIME, I WAS AS REBELLIOUS AS SHE WAS, BUT SHE NEVER WANT ME TO BE THAT, YOU KNOW?
AND SHE WAS CONSTANTLY TRYING TO CRUSH THAT REBELLION IN ME.
GATES: BUT I THINK SHE DIDN'T WANT YOU TO BE HURT LIKE SHE WAS HURT.
ABRAMOVIC: YEAH.
THAT'S WHY IT WAS THIS COLDNESS THERE.
GATES: SURE.
ABRAMOVIC: AND THIS IS REALLY OVERWHELMING CONVERSATION WITH YOU BECAUSE IT'S LIKE, WOW, IT'S, IT... YOU KNOW, THIS IS INVOLVED THE COUNTRIES, THE PEOPLE, THE LIVES, THE, THE HISTORY, THE MYTHOLOGY.
GATES: YEAH.
ABRAMOVIC: IT'S NOT JUST THE SIMPLE LIFE.
GATES: AND THESE ARE YOUR PEOPLE.
ABRAMOVIC: AND THIS IS MY PEOPLE.
GATES: WE WERE NEARING THE END OF THE JOURNEY FOR MY THREE GUESTS...
THE PAPER TRAIL HAD RUN OUT...
IT WAS TIME TO SHOW THEM THEIR FAMILY TREES, NOW POPULATED WITH ANCESTORS WHOSE NAMES WERE COMPLETELY UNFAMILIAR.
WILEY: THAT'S FANTASTIC.
GATES: REFLECTING HISTORIES AND TRADITIONS THAT THEY HAVE BEEN LIVING AND CARRYING FORWARD UNWITTINGLY.
IÑÁRRITU: THAT'S INCREDIBLE.
GATES: FOR EACH, THE EXPERIENCE HAD BEEN DEEPLY MOVING.
ABRAMOVIC: THIS IS CRAZY.
IÑÁRRITU: THOSE THINGS COME IN YOUR BLOOD AND YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS AND YOUR...
SO, TO HAVE THIS INFORMATION, IN A WAY, IT WILL HELP ME TO, TO BE GROUNDED, I WILL SAY, AT LEAST IN THE...
IN MY OWN NARRATIVE OF, OF BEING, WILEY: LIKE, THERE'S SO MUCH THAT I THOUGHT I KNEW AND IT'S LIKE, "NO, NO, BROTHER."
IT'S DEEPER THAN THAT... GATES: HMM.
WILEY: AND THIS IS EXTRAORDINARY.
IT MAKES ME FEEL, UM, ENGAGED IN SOMETHING LARGER.
IT MAKES ME FEEL LIKE I'M STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE DONE THE HARD WORK.
ABRAMOVIC: THIS EXPLAINS SO MANY THINGS THAT I COULD NEVER EXPLAIN ABOUT MY CHARACTER AND WHY I'M SO DIFFERENT.
AND WHY I NEVER TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER, WHY I AM REBELLIOUS, WHY I TAKE RISK, WHY I HAVE THIS, THIS KIND OF FEELING OF HEROISM THAT I NEED, YOU KNOW, AND COURAGE, THAT I NEED TO KNOW SOME THINGS BECAUSE LOOKS LIKE 700 YEARS IS BEHIND ME TO SUPPORT THIS.
GATES: OH YES, YES, AND YOU DESCEND FROM THAT 700-YEAR TRADITION.
ABRAMOVIC: AND THAT'S A LOT TO CARRY... GATES: THAT'S A LOT.
THAT IS A LOT.
ABRAMOVIC: A LOT TO CARRY.
YEAH.
GATES: THAT'S THE END OF OUR JOURNEY INTO THE FAMILY TREES OF MARINA ABRAMOVIC, KEHINDE WILEY, AND ALEJANDRO INÑÁRITU.
JOIN ME NEXT TIME, WHEN WE UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF THE PAST FOR NEW GUESTS ON ANOTHER EPISODE OF "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".
MADISON: I WOULD ALWAYS WONDER, "WHO'S WHO?"
NARRATOR: NEXT TIME ON "FINDING YOUR ROOTS" ACTOR, TY BURRELL.
BURRELL: THAT IS AMAZING.
NARRATOR: AND RADIO HOST, JOE MADISON.
MADISON: NEVER HAVE DREAMED THAT THIS COULD EXIST.
NARRATOR: FAMILY LEGENDS.
GATES: DO YOU BELIEVE THIS STORY?
BURRELL: I THINK THERE WAS PROBABLY SOME SHAME THERE OR SOMETHING.
NARRATOR: AND SHOCKING STORIES.
MADISON: WHO IS THAT?
GATES: JOE, THAT IS YOUR BIOLOGICAL FATHER.
MADISON: I HAVE SEEN THAT FACE, I COULD NOT TELL YOU WHERE.
NARRATOR: ON THE NEXT "FINDING YOUR ROOTS."