As the United States prepares to mark its 250th anniversary on July 4th, anchors from ABC News' "Good Morning America" have shared reflections on their own family histories and experiences in America. George Stephanopoulos, Robin Roberts, and Michael Strahan each delved into their ancestral journeys, highlighting themes of resilience, heritage, and the pursuit of opportunity.
Robin Roberts traced her family's legacy back to her great-great-grandparents. Her father, Lawrence Roberts, was a Tuskegee Airman who met his wife, Lucimarian, at Howard University. Lucimarian Roberts was a trailblazer in education, becoming the first in her family to pursue higher education and later serving on Mississippi's State Board of Education. Her grandfather, J.M. Tolliver, was a farmer and a preacher who founded a church in Akron, Ohio. Roberts emphasized the importance of preserving family history, stating, "It is vital to know where we came from. We all stand on someone's shoulders."
George Stephanopoulos explored his Greek heritage, noting that some of his mother's relatives were imprisoned for protesting the Nazi occupation of Greece during World War II. His paternal grandfather, a missionary priest, emigrated from Greece in 1938 to minister to Greek communities in the western United States. His maternal grandfather arrived in America in 1912 and worked various jobs before opening a shoe repair business in Rochester, Minnesota. Stephanopoulos, who was raised in Cleveland, Ohio, by his priest father and his mother, expressed pride in his dual identity, stating, "I've always felt so lucky because I feel like I get the best of both worlds. I'm fully American, and fully Greek."
Michael Strahan's American story began with his paternal third great-grandmother, Winnie Shankle, who was brought to Texas as a result of slave trading in the early 19th century. His paternal third great-grandfather, James Shankle, a runaway slave, reportedly traveled 400 miles on foot from Mississippi to reunite with Winnie in Texas. After being freed, the Shankles acquired more than 4,400 acres of land and established Shankleville, one of many "Freedom Colonies" founded by formerly enslaved people after the Civil War. On his mother's side, Strahan's maternal great-great-great grandmother, Harriet Meade, was a widow with nine children who had a consensual relationship with William Bishop, a white man, resulting in a son named after him. Strahan's parents, Louise Traylor Strahan and Gene Strahan, raised six children, with Michael spending part of his childhood in Germany due to his father's U.S. Army career. Strahan, a former NFL player and Super Bowl champion, believes the American dream is attainable, stating, "The American dream is real, and I'm living proof of it."