On screen
Cast
205 credited performers
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Self - Host
CeCe Moore
Self - Genetic Genealogy Expert
Derek Jeter
Self
Anderson Cooper
Self
Tom Colicchio
Self
Angela Bassett
Self
Valerie Jarrett
Self
Alan Dershowitz
Self
Tony Kushner
Self
Sally Field
Self
Tina Fey
Self
Nas
Self
Aarón Sánchez
Self
Sting
Self
George Stephanopoulos
Self
Maya Rudolph
Self
Ty Burrell
Self
Mia Farrow
Self
Soledad O'Brien
Self
Jimmy Kimmel
Self
Ava DuVernay
Self
John Turturro
Self
Questlove
Self
Lisa Ling
Self
Marisa Tomei
Self
S. Epatha Merkerson
Self
Laura Linney
Self
Bill Hader
Self
Julianne Moore
Self
Lidia Bastianich
Self
Scarlett Johansson
Self
Lupita Nyong'o
Self
Téa Leoni
Self
Ann Curry
Self
Kehinde Wiley
Self
Joe Madison
Self
Donna Brazile
Self
Kara Walker
Self
Bill Maher
Self
Bill O'Reilly
Self
Dustin Hoffman
Self
Sterling K. Brown
Self
Sasheer Zamata
Self
Jon Batiste
Self
Harry Connick Jr.
Self
Branford Marsalis
Self
Cory Booker
Self
John Lewis
Self
Geoffrey Canada
Self
Barbara Walters
Self
Kevin Bacon
Self
Kyra Sedgwick
Self
Angela Warnick Buchdahl
Self
Yasir Qadhi
Self
Rick Warren
Self
Robert Downey Jr.
Self
Robert Downey Sr.
Self
Naomi Foner
Self
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Self
Samuel L. Jackson
Self
Condoleezza Rice
Self
Ruth Simmons
Self
Margaret Cho
Self
Sanjay Gupta
Self
Martha Stewart
Self
Margarett Cooper
Self
John Legend
Self
Barack Obama
Self (archive footage)
Wanda Sykes
Self
Linda Chavez
Self
Adrian Grenier
Self
Michelle Rodriguez
Self
Stephen King
Self
Gloria Reuben
Self
Courtney B. Vance
Self
Billie Jean King
Self
Rebecca Lobo
Self
Ken Burns
Self
Anna Deavere Smith
Self
Ben Affleck
Self
Khandi Alexander
Self
Ben Jealous
Self
Ming Tsai
Self
Carole King
Self
Deepak Chopra
Self
David Sedaris
Self
Jessica Alba
Self
Deval Patrick
Self
Shonda Rhimes
Self
Keenen Ivory Wayans
Self
Norman Lear
Self
Richard Branson
Self
Frank Gehry
Self
Maya Lin
Self
Patricia Arquette
Self
John McCain
Self
Sean Combs
Self
LL Cool J
Self
Sandra Cisneros
Self
Neil Patrick Harris
Self
Gloria Steinem
Self
Julianna Margulies
Self
Azar Nafisi
Self
Larry David
Self
Bernie Sanders
Self
Fred Armisen
Self
Carly Simon
Self
Christopher Walken
Self
Ted Danson
Self
William H. Macy
Self
Mary Steenburgen
Self
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Self
Janet Mock
Self
Oswald Mosley
Self (archive footage)
Paul Rudd
Self
Bryant Gumbel
Self
Tonya Lewis Lee
Self
Suzanne Malveaux
Self
Carmelo Anthony
Self
Ana Navarro
Self
Gaby Hoffmann
Self
Charlayne Hunter-Gault
Self
Phil McGraw
Self
Aziz Ansari
Self
Amy Schumer
Self
George R.R. Martin
Self
Andy Samberg
Self
Felicity Huffman
Self
Michael Kenneth Williams
Self
Christiane Amanpour
Self
Kal Penn
Self
Sheryl Sandberg
Self
Michael Strahan
Self
Paul Ryan
Self
Marco Rubio
Self
Tulsi Gabbard
Self
Josh Meyers
Self (archive footage)
Seth Meyers
Self
Tig Notaro
Self
Sarah Silverman
Self
Michael Moore
Self
Chloë Sevigny
Self
Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Self
Marina Abramović
Self
Anjelica Huston
Self
Isabella Rossellini
Self
Melissa McCarthy
Self
Eric Stonestreet
Self
Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Mitchell Pritchett (archive footage)
Queen Latifah
Self
Jeffrey Wright
Self
Jeff Goldblum
Self
Terry Gross
Self
Marc Maron
Self
Steve Carell
Self / Michael Scott
Amy Ryan
Self
Sigourney Weaver
Self
Justina Machado
Self
Harold E. Varmus
Self
Shirley Ann Jackson
Self
Francis Collins
Self
Diane von Fürstenberg
Self
Narciso Rodríguez
Self
RuPaul
Self
Gayle King
Self
Jordan Peele
Self
Issa Rae
Self
Nancy Pelosi
Self
Norah O'Donnell
Self
Zac Posen
Self
Glenn Close
Self
John Waters
Self
Andy Cohen
Self
Nina Totenberg
Self
Jane Lynch
Self
Jim Gaffigan
Self
John F. Kennedy
Self (archive footage)
Christopher Meloni
Self
Tony Shalhoub
Self
Pharrell Williams
Self
Kasi Lemmons
Self
Clint Black
Self
Rosanne Cash
Self
Johnny Cash
Self (archive footage)
Vivian Liberto
Self (archive footage)
John Lithgow
Self
Maria Hinojosa
Self
Wes Studi
Character not listed
LeVar Burton
Character not listed
Brendan Fraser
Character not listed
Valerie Bertinelli
Character not listed
Ciara
Character not listed
Alanis Morissette
Character not listed
Sammy Hagar
Character not listed
Ed O'Neill
Character not listed
Bob Odenkirk
Character not listed
Iliza Shlesinger
Character not listed
Sunny Hostin
Character not listed
Jesse Williams
Character not listed
Danielle Brooks
Character not listed
Dionne Warwick
Character not listed
Tracy Morgan
Character not listed
Anthony Ramos
Character not listed
Michael Douglas
Character not listed
Lena Dunham
Character not listed