Michael Strahan Gets Emotional After ‘GMA’ Return

Michael Strahan on GMA | YouTube

Michael Strahan returned to Good Morning America this week. Neither Strahan nor his fellow hosts mentioned where he had been or why he missed multiple weeks. The thought process is that he took time off to spend with his daughter, Isabella. She just finished her cancer treatment and will head back to school at USC this month.

It appeared that Strahan and his daughters were in the Bahamas for a vacation. Now, he is back and his first week has seen him get emotional.

Michael Strahan Gets Emotional During GMA Segment

Michael Strahan got emotional during Tuesday’s episode of Good Morning America when his co-star, Pierre Thomas, talked about something very personal. The segment was about the 10 Million Names Project.

Pierre Thomas on GMA | YouTube
Pierre Thomas on GMA | YouTube

The 10 Million Names Project is something that Pierre (a senior justice correspondent at ABC News) explored when it comes to his own family history. The project promises to recover the names of African descendants whose ancestors were enslaved before the end of the Civil War.

“It took me two months to make the decision to do this project,” Pierre said. “I’d always wanted my family history to begin with my grandmother, who lived to be 100 years old.” However, that all changed, and when he set out to learn more, he found some shocking things.

Pierre visited areas on the outskirts of Huntington, West Virginia, where his ancestors lived as enslaved people at the Green Bottom Plantation. The plantation was run by Confederate General Albert G. Jenkins, and Pierre’s great-grandmother, Adeline Jenkins, was born into slavery at the plantation in 1858.

It appears that she was the biological daughter of her enslaver, Albert Jenkins. “It’s hard for me to be here, it’s a challenge,” Pierre said. “The owner of the plantation had the power of life and death. I wish they didn’t have to go through what they went through.”

Michael Strahan Responds To 10 Million Names Project On GMA

After the report aired, Pierre Thomas joined Michael Strahan, Robin Roberts, and George Stephanopoulos in the Good Morning America studio to talk about the 10 Million Names Project.

Michael Strahan admitted to Pierre how emotional the video they showed made him. “Pierre, watching that, I know how emotional it made me feel,” Strahan said. “You said, ‘I’m happy to be here, I think.’ This is initially a journey you didn’t want to go on?”

Pierre admitted that was true, but he said that he now has a “combination of rage, sadness, and immense pride that my ancestors could survive that.”

What are your thoughts on Pierre’s video about the 10 Million Names Project on Good Morning America? Did it make you as emotional as it did Michael Strahan? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Shawn Lealos
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