In a recent episode of the PBS series Finding Your Roots, rapper Wiz Khalifa made a poignant discovery about his family's past that left him deeply emotional. Speaking with renowned historian Henry Louis Gates Jr., he learned that his fifth great-grandfather, Howard Williamson, was enslaved in Alabama during the 1870s and lived next door to the family that owned him.
“I think I’m programmed to feel a little bit pissed,” Wiz reflected upon discovering the identity of the man who owned his ancestor. “But just him owning my family just sounds crazy. That sounds wild. I feel some type of way about that.”
He further expressed his disbelief, saying, “It’s crazy to see him as a nameless person on a grid. And to know how valuable that property is because it’s a life and it’s not actually property, it’s a person. No name, just a color and an age and what sex you are.”
For Wiz, this revelation served as a sobering
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