African American Lives: The Past Is Another Country

African American Lives: The Past is Another Country is a film about black history and heritage. Most African Americans know that their ancestors were slaves, and it used to be that they could not trace their ancestors after that. However, using the technology of DNA analysis and genetics, the film shows a very fascinating research and experiment in tracing one’s heritage. The film makes a clear point of why they’re doing this research, why trace back to one’s ancestors, and why does it matter if we know our past? A very good point that some of the guests make is that they want closure, and in order to get that closure, they need to know their history. Additionally, another good point that they mention is that in knowing their ancestors from Africa, their history is not just the one that started in America …show more content…
This is a very understandable reason, because being able to trace back their roots to Africa, knowing the actual place and/or tribe that their ancestors came from affirm the idea that it’s not just all about slavery; their ancestors lived another life in Africa too. Everyone is interested about their own heritage, and I just can’t imagine how discouraging it would be not knowing about your past besides the horror that is slavery. Additionally, our ancestors also has a huge impact on what makes us who we are today, and the film specifically talks about this by what it means to be African-American.

Moreover, the film conducts the research through revealing several people’s ancestry including Henry Louis Gates himself, Morgan Freeman, and Maya Angelou’s. This was done through DNA analysis by the Y-chromosome DNA of men and the mitochondrial DNA that we inherit from our mothers. Along the way, they