Former Black Panther Angela Davis shocked to study she is descendant of the Mayflower

Racial activist and former fugitive Angela Davis was shocked to study she is a Mayflower descendent on Tuesday’s episode of “Discovering Your Roots” on PBS.

Davis is infamous for working with the Communist Social gathering USA and the Black Panther Social gathering within the Nineteen Sixties and 70s. Her involvement within the armed takeover of a California courtroom resulted in 4 deaths and her placement on the FBI’s Most Needed Listing.

Now 79, Davis was the most recent to seem on the PBS present the place celebrities and public figures find out about their ancestry. 

Close to the top of the episode, after discussing a number of members of her household, the previous Black Panther discovered she descended from William Brewster, one of many 101 individuals who got here to the colonies in 1620 aboard the Mayflower.

Henry Louis Gates Jr., the present’s host and director of the Hutchins Heart for African & African American Analysis at Harvard College, shared a clip from the episode on Twitter. 

“Our researchers found #AngelaDavis’s ancestors traveled to the US on the Mayflower and right here is her response. #FindingYourRoots,” he tweeted.

“Are you aware what you’re ? That could be a listing of the passengers on the Mayflower,” Gates requested Davis within the video.

“No, I can’t consider this,” Davis replied, laughing. “No, my ancestors didn’t come right here on the Mayflower.” 

She continued to protest whereas Gates confirmed the findings then responded, “Oof. That’s a bit of bit an excessive amount of to take care of proper now.”

“Would you ever in your wildest desires assume that you will have been descended from the individuals who laid the inspiration of this nation?” he requested.

“By no means, by no means, by no means, by no means, by no means,” she stated.

Twitter customers throughout the political spectrum expressed shock or fascination on the revelation as nicely.

“I discover moments like this fascinating. I can hint all of my ancestors—two of whom are nonetheless residing—to 4 ocean crossings between 1949 and 1952,” NPR producer Julian Hayda wrote. “To assume that one’s roots can return 400 years—with tens of 1000’s of individuals between slave ships and the Mayflower is astonishing.”

NBC Information anchor Andrea Mitchell wrote, “Love this historic discover Professor Gates! And love your present on PBS.”

“It’s truly a lovely response,” Nationwide Evaluate On-line senior author Michael Brendan Dougherty tweeted. 

“Give it some thought from each views. Virtually actually exploitation performed its function. However somebody who got here on the Mayflower has a radical like Angela Davis as a descendant,” he noticed. “America is big. Discuss of divorce is not sensible In mild of this actuality.”

Fox Information’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.