Ben Carson

"External physical characteristics that are genetically encoded are things over which no individual has control. But rather than appreciating the gift of diversity, some have chosen to use it to drive wedges between groups of people. Some of these external characteristics are associated with the past moral failing of slavery. Though slavery in America formally ended in the 1860s, the vestiges of that evil institution are still with us today, and those...

Ben Carson, M.D., works medical miracles. Today, he's one of the most celebrated neurosurgeons in the world. In Gifted Hands, he tells of his inspiring odyssey from his childhood in inner-city Detroit to his position as director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital at age 33.

"Growing up in the inner cities of Boston and Detroit. Deserted by his father. Living in crippling poverty with his mother and brother. How did this once violent-tempered youth who had a brush with attempted murder become a world-renowned physician and national spokesman? My Life is the story of a man who could have remained trapped in poverty and anger and the lure of the streets were not for his mother's tough and sacrificial love, his own perseverance,...

A compelling combination of storytelling and science, this series uses genealogy, oral histories, family stories and DNA to trace roots of several accomplished African Americans down through American history and back to Africa.