All language subtitles for Gabrielle.Union.My.Journey.to.50.S01E01.Trials.and.Transformations.1080p.YTTV.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-FFG_track3_[eng]

I'm Gabrielle Union.

I'm turning 50,

and man, I never thought
I'd get here so quickly.

I was just
a Midwestern girl

from the north side of Omaha.

And given my humble beginnings,

I could have never imagined
what my life has become.

Having an
impactful career

after almost 30 years in
this business.

I have an amazing marriage
with my husband, Dwyane Wade,

and I am so blessed that
our daughter,

Kaavia James, came into
this world

despite some
difficult circumstances.

This
momentous milestone

has forced me to finally face
an emptiness in my life

that I've felt for
a long time now.

It's something that all the fame
and success couldn't erase.

I still have some wounds
that need to be healed.

So, I have decided that for
my fifth decade of life,

I'm going to focus on
decentering my traumas,

finding my peace, and having
loads of fun along the way.

And to do that,

I'm going to take a journey with
my family and closest friends

to Ghana, Namibia,
South Africa, and Tanzania.

On this trip,
I wanna gain wisdom

and become my most
authentic self.

This is My Journey to 50 .

We're gonna welcome our
birthday girl, Gabrielle!

We made it
to Zanzibar.

I am here.

And it's perfect.

We do big parties.

We take, you know,
fabulous trips around the world.

But for my 50th birthday,

what I needed was to be
surrounded by

my friends and family.

Oh, that's new!

And I knew
it was a tall order.

People have lives and kids
and careers

and all the things.

But it had to be in Africa.

Kaavia's saved some stuff
for Africa, y'all!

She's breaking some stuff out!

So, with my family,
we have my mom, Theresa.

Never been to Africa.

My Aunt Katie.

After you dance with Kaavia,
you gotta tag the next person.

My daughter, Kaavia James.

It wasn't me!
Tag, you it!

My niece, Chelsea.

My little sister,
Tracy.

Guys, if you guys
wanna grab food, it's open.

I'm gonna get me
some beef and rice.

Mmmm!

Adair Curtis is
one of my most trusted friends.

If one person is
my crypt keeper,

that is Adair Curtis.

If Gab thinks something
is a great idea,

99.999% of the time...

- It is!
- It's a great idea!

I'm talkin' about places to go.

It could be
a great terrible idea.

Essence Atkins,
fellow actress.

Right. Exactly.

We got cast as
sisters in this pilot for NBC.

And we have been like sisters
ever since.

We have done
the exact same thing.

She's like
my emotional center.

Angie Martinez.

You gotta have a real one
in your crew

that is about that action.

I just wanted to include
as many people as possible

on this Africa trip.

All right, baby.
So, why Zanzibar?

So many
of the places

that, like, I even know
to wanna go

are from social media.

But especially watching
black people travel,

and black people that I know,

and I know how,
like, stressed they are.

I know, like, what
they're going through.

And then you see them
in some location,

and they look like
themselves again...

A lot of the trauma
that I have accumulated

over my life...

I had gotten divorced,
I was raped at gunpoint,

and I was struggling with
my fertility.

And I had been disassociating.

That was all weighing heavily
on my spirit.

I knew I couldn't sustain
living in that way.

So I've always looked to
the continent of Africa

as the source of all things,
including joy.

Including light,
including levity.

And I thought that the closer
I got to self...

I knew my joy and my peace
couldn't be far behind.

This birthday has started off
just like everybody knows you

knows how you want your birthday
to start off.

On the flow, literally.

Welcome to Africa.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You guys traveled very far.

It means a lot to Gab
that you guys are here.

We're lookin' forward to havin'

just a life-changing experience
together.

It's amazing to have our
extended family with us, so...

Kaavi, you wanna say
anything?

Okay.

Thank you guys for coming.

Let's have a good night.

We planned this trip

so each place has its own story.

Our first leg of the trip
started in Ghana.

Let's see how it began.

Out of customs, all of a sudden
you hear joyous shouts.

You hear drums,
you hear cheering.

And I'm like, "Ooh, who's here?"

I'm lookin' around to see who's
causin' all this excitement.

And then I'm like,
"Oh, it's for my husband."

I've seen him get this kind of
welcome all over the world.

- And then you hear Kaav's name.
- Kaavia!

And then
you hear Kaav's name,

and Kaav's name,
and Kaav's name.

And you realize, "Oh my gosh."

Like, there's been a lot of
people praying for our family,

and specifically for Kaav.

And, and loving her online even
when she was just a thought.

Ghana is that first bridge
that we cross

as African Americans into
West Africa.

As the beginning of

our spiritual, emotional,
physical, mental awakening.

Day one, Ghana.

Let's go, baby.

Now we're headed to the village
of Nyamebekyere.

As we start gettin'
closer and closer,

it started feeling a little bit
more familiar.

It's funny, because I'm from
the north side of Omaha.

So, even though we're in Ghana,

it still felt kind of exciting,
but, like, also like,

"Wait, we traveled to come home,
and are we home?"

We were invited to participate
in an enstoolment ceremony

by my good friend
Taiye Samuel,

where our good friend Diallo
is being made a chief.

Akan chiefs
have elaborately carved stools

that are incorporated into
ceremonies

as symbols of their authority.

To be a part of an enstoolment
in any way is a big deal.

Taiye is like
the welcoming committee.

Hi, Gab-Gab!

I've known Taiye,
AKA the Wild Afrikan,

for almost 20 years.

He's like a brother to me.

Hi, hi, and all the things.

- Oh my God.
- Brother.

We met in Atlanta
in 2004.

Taiye, Chaka Zulu,
and Ludacris, that was my crew.

Kaavia, hi!

Give me a little something, yeah.

- You ready?
- Yeah.

Yes, we are.

It always
feels like Taiye

knows everyone everywhere.

You've told me about this
for so many years,

never could make it happen.

And he's been tryin'
to get me to West Africa

for so long.

We everywhere, baby!
We everywhere!

When I was struggling with
my fertility,

Taiye was the friend
that prayed me through it.

It's beautiful that
our relationship

has gone from friends that
party together

to friends that pray together.

Welcome home, Wade family.
Welcome, welcome, welcome.

Say hi, Kaavi.

Because I was
wanting to truly understand

our collective history
for my 50th birthday,

Taiye wanted us to witness
the enstoolment

of a person responsible
for the repatriation of so many.

Diallo coordinated
the Year of Return,

where over one million
black Americans

came back to Ghana.

And he's improving
infrastructure

by building a community center
for the village.

Thanks for comin'.

- Thanks for havin' us.
- Thank you for havin' us.

How is Kaavia?
Hi!

It's beautiful.

High five.
There we go.

All the feels.

Very nice, very nice!
Very nice!

Congratulations, bro.
This is big.

They're gonna get some
original songs.

They say the highest thing you
can do in West African culture,

is pour libations, speak,

and paying homage to
your ancestors.

That kinda sounds like
our friendship in a nutshell.

I now call on the Nkosuohene
of Nyamebekyere, Nana Diallo.

If you can't tell by now,
I have an American accent.

Shouts out for Trenton.
Is that Trenton in the house?

D.C. in the house.

All right, and now Nyamebekyere
is my home.

Pretty soon, there's gonna be
some real potato salad in Ghana.

We love kontomire,

but we also love collard greens
and kale mix.

Right, 'cause we're mixin' our
cultures.

And it's important for
African Americans to know

that if you don't know,
you do have a culture.

So, when you travel to
other places

and you assimilate and you mix,

you make sure you bring
some of your culture.

So, for our special guests,

my brother Taiye
has brought some friends.

Miss Gabrielle Union Wade,
and Mr. Dwyane Wade.

So, for our naming ceremony
today,

we have chosen and we want to
give some Akan names

to some of our guests.

Here, hold Daddy's hand.

In traditional
communities and societies,

you don't name adults,
it happens at birth.

But in our process of reclaiming
who we are,

reconnecting to our identity,

we do everything that we can do.

We know that when people see

how you have embraced this
experience,

it will tear down a lot of
walls.

Both of you are Sunday borns.

Where's all of my Sunday borns?

- Hold it down, hold it down.
- Just us?

Oh, we gon' clap it up.
Clap it up.

So, as my first
official act,

Gabrielle, I'll start with you.

Akosua Safoa.

Akosua Safoa.

So, Gabrielle,
we'd like to adorn you with

some traditional fabrics,
as well.

So, Safoa is connected to
the root word saafee,

which is "key".

It's the person that opens up
things for everybody else.

The second he said that,
I just...

became so emotional.

Because in my family,

I have had to be a literal key

to unlock education, housing,
protection, justice...

To unlock the world.

Open doors, darlin'.
Open doors.

- I have the key.
- Open doors, yes.

Here is our queen.

Mr. Wade, although I'm
a Detroit Pistons fan for life,

we love you.

Sorry.

So, also a Sunday born,
which is Kwesi Asafo.

And the Asafo are
the guardians of the town.

They are the ones who stand up
to protect their family.

So, we feel like that is
appropriate for you,

and we hope you embrace
that name.

It look good on me?

Swag.
That's my color?

- Color.
- That's my color.

And then we have
the young one.

She's ready.
She knows what to do.

There had been talk
of, like,

perhaps Kaav won't be
comfortable

with strangers touching her.

You got this, baby!

And Kaav was like,
"I'm not with any strangers.

I, I have yet to see a stranger.
I'm with my people."

A Wednesday born.

And for Wednesdays, we say Akua.

Can you say Akua?

Akua.

Yes.

To bring Kaavia
and Dwyane here,

and to be given names
alongside one another,

feels like a new chapter
for all of us.

She's embracin' it.
Look, y'all think y'all leavin'.

Y'all ain't leavin' no time
soon.

She got a whole different idea.

To receive
my Ghanaian name

as I'm turning 50

is a key to unlocking
something greater.

And my dream for Kaavia James
is coming true.

At her young age, she won't have
the same disconnect and longing

that I felt growing up.

They always say,
"And a child shall lead you."

And a child led us.

We've got new names,

we have been adopted into
this community.

And now we're all going to see

this library that Diallo is
building.

It was like a parade,

a very joyous celebration that
the community took part in.

It's nice!
I was going to walk with music!

But right here,
when I came here,

like, when you see all the youth
with me.

Yeah.

It's because I rock
with them.

Okay, yeah, it ain't
just like

you like, "Yo, bro.
Come with me. You out here--"

Nah, nah, I'm with 'em,
I'm with 'em, I'm with 'em.

So, is this the library?

Well, it's the whole
community center.

Oh, it's the whole
community center.

People here, they don't have
the same experiences

that we have.

You know what I'm sayin'?
So...

If we bring our full experience,

like Taiye, like myself,
we can't help it.

It's just who we are,
kinda how we are, so...

Even for me, like, this is cool,

but I just had my nephews bring
me some New Balance,

some Nike ACG boots.

I like how you said, like, it's
the, the mergence of

cultures, like...

- And it's not a separation.
- Right.

I love how you said that, yeah.

And we gotta teach them
about us.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

And I've been to
Africa many times, all around.

This is the first time anyone
has said that.

Like, "We need you to bring
your African Americanness here

as an exchange."

You know what I mean?

Like, we are here offering
something

as well as receiving something.

But no one has ever
presented it like that.

You know, when we come here,
we just take everything we see.

And we need to start
replacin' what we had

because we not sure what we
have is grounded.

Not sure that it's good enough.

As opposed to bein' like,

"It doesn't have to be a or,
it could be a and."

Should we see what books they
have?

Ooh, dinosaurs!

This library Diallo built will
give children access

to inspiring works by authors
that look like them,

while also teaching them about
the struggle and triumphs

of the African Diaspora.

Bookstores, books, library,
that's my jam.

Immediately I'm thinkin',
"Okay, I'm gonna call Harper's,

I'm gonna make sure
they donate books.

I gotta, you know, I gotta
figure out how to activate

Wade's World Foundation,
so we can help."

So, I'm already thinking of how
we can be better of service.

That one's called
Life Doesn't Frighten Me

by Maya Angelou.

And the work that Diallo has
been doing,

and all of the ways that
this library...

Yes, it will be a library.

But it will be so many things
in this community.

♪ So, lift every voice ♪

Diallo has
even brought a go-go band,

which is so D.C.,

but completely inspired by
African rhythms.

♪ 'Til earth and heaven ♪

I can't think of
a better way

to kick off my 50th.

♪ Love, let's march on ♪

♪ Lift every voice ♪

♪ Sing 'til earth and heaven ♪

♪ Yeah, we will march on ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

Diallo took us to
the Assin Manso River.

The site of the last bath
our ancestors were given

before they were shined up
and sold.

At this site,
they realized after

marching a lot of them
to their deaths,

that they had to have them
bathe.

Fatten them up,
give them a couple meals,

you know, lather them in
shea butter at whatnot

to create the appearance
of good health.

To be sold into slavery
for the top dollar,

all along the way,
trying to break their spirit.

And that was just the beginning
of the unspeakable horrors.

It's really important
for people of African descent,

when they visit, to come.

You know, your ancestral memory
and all of that

is on you and with you,

so allow yourself to
take it all in.

The one thing I'll tell you is
it's a journey.

One of the worst things
you can do is

try to process everything
immediately.

Just let it sit with you
and come out naturally.

Okay.

- Kwame?
- Yes, sir.

Kwame's gonna give us
the rundown.

- We leave it to you.
- All right, sir.

Thank you very much.

Can I have a water?
Water, water!

Oh God, this isn't
how it ends, please, Jesus.

As our guide Kwame
was talking,

my mother suddenly collapsed.

And all I could think of was,
"Am I gonna lose her?"

Stay back, stay back.

I can't believe this
is happening.

After my mom
collapsed,

I've just been waiting to hear
if she's okay.

Every second feels like forever,

because I'm just imagining
the worst.

And I'm...

You know...

Calling upon the ancestors...

for the million things that were
running through my mind

at that moment.

And I just hear
what sounds like a chair

like, kinda drug across
some rocks.

And I'm like...

And there was my mom.

Thank God she's fine.
She'll be fine.

Yeah, she was gone.

We haven't even made it
inside the door yet.

She probably needs this
more than anybody.

What's the first thing she said?

"I wanna do it,
I wanna keep goin'."

And first thing she said,
"I don't wanna go back."

Somethin' in her tellin' her,
"I need this."

In knowing my mom has gone
through

a lot of trauma herself,

and grappling with that,

I hope this trip can mean
peace

and understanding and joy
for her.

When he started
talking,

I started to feel angry.

And I wasn't controlling it.

I had a feeling that
I am so helpless,

and then I felt myself drop.

Then I said, "Oh God,
I would've been the weak link."

Because someone would've moved
their selves to come get me

if I was back there.

In addition to
the horrific physical torture,

it's the unraveling of
one's mental state

that kills me.

To be so torn from
your own mind,

so tragically marched away
from anything familiar...

I can't stop thinking of

the mania, the confusion,
and cruelty

of literally being stripped of
one's mind

and forced to walk
the dead-end path

away from your sanity.

Away from your identity.

In West African
cultures,

Oshun is the goddess of love,

beauty, water, fertility,
and femininity.

Hell, I may have been praying to
her the whole time.

I can immediately
feel our ancestors.

Their rage, the physical pain,
the mental pain,

the confusion,
the fierce fight for survival.

And to figure out a way out.

I wanted to feel
the journey.

Can you help me down?

Yeah, we can help you
down.

Okay.

Because there's my imagination,
and this was way worse.

And it affected me like
it was way worse.

Oh God.

- Yeah, yeah.
- Now just relax.

I was, in my mind, going,
"This is history.

This is history."

Not happening today,
this is history.

And I thought, "The ancestors
are saying

'You've got the right idea.

Now, take it home and
figure it out.'"

Yeah.

Yeah.
Yeah.

Yeah.

It made me understand,
the people who did make it,

some of the strengths.

Okay, 'cause the water reminds
me of our family.

They came up the Missouri River
to work in the packing houses.

That's why I wanted to be
in the water.

River is just another stream,
for me, in my consciousness.

Just thinkin' man.

Bring 'em here, clean 'em up.

Just to go sell 'em.

Then they get branded.

I could do nothin' but think
about the way God built me.

And how my physique fits.

Well, you know, it's like
you go to the NBA,

and your physique, it matters.

My arms bein' long,
my, the build of my body,

my athleticism.

That's what got me drafted.

Same process that changed
my family's life and fortune,

the same process that had us
enslaved.

It's the same thing.

Clean up and let them draft me.

It's built off
the same principle.

I was saying
to our ancestors that,

"You did nothing wrong."

Nothing that happened to us
was our fault.

And that is a sentiment that
we carry as a people.

We don't need to apologize
for situations

that are not of our making,
not of our doing,

and we certainly are not
benefitting from.

But...

I had to then remind myself
of the same thing.

I didn't ask for shit.

None of this shit that's
happened to me in this life,

I've never asked for any of
that negative shit.

But I took it on as my own,
like I deserved it.

Like that was what I was
worthy of.

And I'm having to figure out how
to, to release it...

without blaming myself
in any way.

You know, so it was easy to tell
a spirit to...

release that need.

'Cause you did nothing wrong.

It's harder to live it
and walk it.

We're kind of off on this rock,

and saying our prayers
for our peace.

Taiye joins us.

All I know is that
my whole body felt

like something was leaving me.

And I realized that whatever is
happening is powerful.

Having a prayer sent up to
Oshun...

I mean, if I was
a film director,

I'd be like,

"And as soon as the prayer to
Oshun was finished,

cue the rain!"

Out of a clear blue sky...

a downpour.

It was confirmation to me
Oshun is a very powerful god.

When the rains came down,
I was like, "I hear you.

Okay, no more hedging my bets.

No more half-assing it,
even in prayer."

And I just got the biggest...

smile...

and the most peace
I've ever had in my life.

Dwyane's experience in
the river, what I saw,

was a man taking in
the enormity of

our collective history
as African peoples.

And how closely it related to
his experience.

This man is very proud of
who he is

and where he came from,

and he has changed

in the most beautiful way.

When we rise from
the Bath of Return,

we are adorned with
spiritual leaves.

And I'm overwhelmed with
the sense that I'm back home,

having completed this journey.

Just before we leave,

we are invited to write
a personal message

on the memorial wall.

I will always feel a lasting
physical connection

to this place and time,

no matter where my future
takes me.

So, as I celebrate my 50th,

I feel committed to a more
meaningful

and deeper experience
in my life.

But you know, today I think
we found our people.

We did.
I think we found ourselves.

After taking
their last bath

in the Assin Manso River,

the enslaved were taken to
Cape Coast Castle,

before being shipped off
to the New World.

Dwyane and I wanted to see
this place for ourselves

in our journey to come to terms
with our inherited past.

This is the last part of
our journey for this time.

This is one of
our community elders,

who's gonna take us through
this journey

here at Cape Coast Dungeon.

- Rabbi.
- Akwaaba . You're welcome.

It is a pleasure to take you
on this journey.

I understand that your journey
today

was to Assin Manso.

Having gone through that
process chronologically,

and coming down here
this evening

has set the pace for you
spiritually

to go through this pilgrimage,
this experience.

And we invite the ancestors
to take us on this journey.

We'll begin.

Once upon a time,

castles invoked that royalty may
have been present here.

Kings or queens
or princes and princesses.

But this was not such.

This fort was built

when the slave trade was at
its height.

And over 350 million Africans

live outside of
the African continent.

And a majority of them are
outside

because of what happened
in these institutes.

This was the largest exit point
of most of our ancestors.

Millions of them came out of
the corridor

of what we used to know as
the Gold Coast,

and now Ghana.

And that's why millions of us
are makin' our return

back through the same gate,
by comin' back to Ghana.

Our experience today will
take place and begin

with the condemned cell,

the sea, the cannonball,
the female dungeons.

And then after, we'll go
through the Door of No Return.

And we'll defy all of the odds
and come back through that door.

I say defy all the odds,

because we cannot count
the number of conspiracies

and the amount of investment
and the billions of dollars

that was put into separating
Africa out of our mind.

We're comin' away from here
with a sense of pride.

And we wear that.

We don't apologize for
any emotions.

Because it is what made us
who we are.

And it's why we survived,

it's why we still rise,
and it's why we still go on.

Ashe.

Here we have
our female dungeon.

We have to step in here
and pay tribute to

our mothers and our daughters
and our aunties.

In honor of them, all of them.

It is still the endurance and
the strength

of the black women
that holds us together today.

Your right hand on the wall,
we pay tribute to our women.

Our women are resilience,
our women of endurance.

Our women...

who said, "I will live
and not die...

And I choose to build and renew
our nation."

Hearing how women
were held in this dungeon,

thinking about how women were
separated from their children,

the constant threat of rape,
starvation, disease...

How could this collective traua
turn into something that

could free people today?

This is sacred ground.

This is the blood, sweat,
and tears of our ancestors.

The suffering of our ancestors,
their narrative.

And that's the story we take
away from here.

Here's where they sort to
separate us forever

from the African continent.

When our ancestors started bein'
taken out of here,

there was no United States
of America.

There was no Canada.

There was none of the places
that we call today,

the places that we call them.

They simply called it
"The New World".

And we were been taken to
a new world,

a world that hadn't been
created yet.

Now, everybody wants to travel
there!

But we went there to actually
build new worlds!

When we say that we want to
build a New Africa,

that we want to build
a New Africa

out of our own image,
our own likeness as

African people,
nothing is impossible.

But look at the worlds,

the worlds that we built out
there,

and there's nothing outside
of our hands.

They wanna make it look like
we're just brute... brawns.

That we just carried burdens.

We just dug ditches.

But it was our intelligence!

It was our spirit!

What does it take to give
a spirit to a land?

Who could put the value on
putting a spirit to the land?

Who could put the value of
giving the land a soul?

The way that we have done?

When people come to any part
of that world,

they come to see
the African spirit

that we brought there from here.

We didn't create it out of
a vacuum.

We took it from somewhere and we
brought it to somewhere.

And that's why I say even
the African gods travel with us.

So, I understand you have
a journey.

- It's my pleasure.
- Thank you.

So, may you have
a safe journey.

Thank you.

Many blessings...

and welcome home.

As we were leaving
the castle,

a young kid with a basketball
runs up to Dwyane.

Let him go, let him go.
Please let him go.

Look at him.
Look up.

You can let him go.

Come here, let's talk for
a minute.

Let's talk about this ball
right here.

He's okay.

It's okay.

How much do you
practice with this ball?

How much do you practice?

You practice
all the time?

Every day and night?

Yeah.

Why, why you wanna play in
the NBA?

He gave you that, that talent,
that ability?

You take care of...
You build your own family.

So, you play to respect
her and honor her.

Through, through what you do
in life.

Through not givin' up.

Know what I mean?

You gotta play, you gotta pay
respect and honor to

the people you love,
your mom and dad,

not givin' up.

You know?
And you build your own family.

Give me a hug, bro.

Give me a hug.

I had a dream
just like you, man.

I wanted to do it, as well,
for my family.

And you gotta do it for you.

You gotta be for you.

It was so moving

seeing Dwyane embrace
this young kid

who, in many ways,
reminded him of himself.

Okay, sir.

God bless your
talent.

All right?

Your mom and dad was the best
for you, just to get you here.

You got a purpose.
Find your purpose.

You have purpose.

You wouldn't be here if
you didn't have purpose.

Strengthen your mind.

Strengthen your whole body.

Strengthen that muscle,
and you can accomplish anything.

It's moments like
these that I am so grateful

that I'm married to someone
whose soul is so beautiful.

Wade, Wade, Wade, Wade!

Thank you.
Love.

Wade, Wade, Wade, Wade!
Wade, Wade!

Know what I said?
Know what I said?

Wade, Wade, Wade!
Wade, Wade, Wade!

Wade, Wade, Wade!

Wade, Wade, Wade, Wade!
Wade, Wade!

We're only on
the first leg of our trip,

and so much has been poured
into us

that we'll be able to pour
into others.

Wade, Wade, Wade, Wade!

Wade, Wade, Wade, Wade!

♪ Listen to me closer ♪

♪ You can be my latest ♪

♪ Hearing what I say, so ♪

♪ You'll just be my latest ♪

This is the moment
when they keep saying

"What does 50 feel like?"

50 feels like gratitude,
and I am so grateful.

- Right here!
- Oh no!

Take this party to
another level now.

For your birthday,
as a surprise,

everybody make some noise
for the legend...

Look, Daddy.