Today I’m going to show you the family tree
of the Gordy dynasty – one of the most influential
families in U.S. history. If you don’t immediately
recognize the name Gordy, you will certainly
recognize the names of many people connected
to their tree, such as Michael Jackson, Beyonce,
the guys from LMFAO, and President Jimmy Carter.
But the central figure on this family tree
is a man named Berry Gordy III. He founded
Motown Records in 1959 and from there, built
a music empire that continues to have a major
impact on pop music and culture around the
world today.
Intro
Like most Black American families, the Gordy
family’s story has its roots in the story
of American slavery. This tree begins with
Esther Johnson, an enslaved teenager of African
descent in Georgia. When she was around 14
years old, a white man named James T. Gordy
impregnated her. Even without knowing any
further details, we can certainly say that
what Gordy did to Esther Johnson was wrong.
Esther’s child, who was named Berry, grew
up, became a free man, and married a woman
named Lucy Hellum. Together they had a child,
who became Berry Gordy the Second. In 1922,
Berry the Second and his wife Bertha decided
to move to Detroit, Michigan, in part because
the South was still an extremely dangerous
place for black people at the time. The KKK
was at its peak and lynchings were all too
common.
Berry and Bertha were gifted entrepreneurs.
In Detroit, they established several businesses,
including a construction firm, a grocery store,
a print shop, and a life insurance company.
Together, they had 4 sons and 4 daughters,
most of whom initially ended up working for
the various family businesses. But their second
youngest son, Berry Gordy III, had other interests.
He became a professional boxer for several
years and then served during the Korean War,
working as a chaplain’s assistant and playing
the organ during the troop’s church services.
When he returned home, he married Thelma Coleman
and opened a record store. That didn’t pan
out so instead, he started writing and producing
songs for several up-and-coming R&B artists,
including a group called The Miracles, whose
lead singer was Smokey Robinson.
Then, in 1959, he made the most important
decision of his life. He founded Motown Records
(although originally it was named Tamla Records).
He did this by borrowing some seed money from
his sister Esther, who managed the family’s
savings fund. It was a great decision because,
during the 1960’s, Motown ended up becoming
one of the most successful record companies
that America had ever seen. Here are some
of the artists who signed with Motown: [4-5
second clips from The Miracles, The Supremes,
The Temptations, Gladys Knight & The Pips,
The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder,
and The Jackson 5]
So now that you get a sense of the Gordy family’s
connections to the music industry, let’s
return to the family tree and look at it in
more detail. All of Berry’s siblings eventually
ended up working for Motown in one way or
another, either as executives or songwriters,
or both. His eldest brother’s daughter Iris
ended up serving as a top executive as well.
Two of Berry’s sisters ended up marrying
Motown artists. Anna married Marvin Gaye,
who was known as the Prince of Soul, and Gwen
married Harvey Fuqua, a member of The Moonglows.
While married to Anna Gordy, Marvin Gaye conceived
a child with Denise Gordy. Denise was the
daughter of Anna’s brother George. At the
time, Anna faked a pregnancy and the child,
named Marvin Gaye III, grew up believing that
Anna was his biological mother. Marvin Gaye
was shot and killed in 1984 by his father,
Marvin Gaye I, following a physical altercation
between the two men. Marvin Gaye III did not
learn who is real mother was until many years
after his father’s death.
Denise Gordy married actor Richard Lawson
and together they had a daughter named Bianca,
who, like her father, went into acting. Eventually,
Richard and Denise divorced and in 2015, Richard
married Tina Knowles, mother of Beyonce and
Solange Knowles. So these two well-known woman
in the musical industry are now the step-sisters
of Gordy-descendant Bianca Lawson.
Okay, let’s now look at the children Berry
Gordy. With his first wife, Thelma, he had
three children. His eldest daughter, Hazel,
married Jermaine Jackson, a member of The
Jackson 5 and thus a brother of the late Michael
Jackson. With his second wife, Ray Singleton,
Berry had a son named Kerry. In the late 70’s,
Kerry was part of a band known as Apollo with
his friend Benny Medina. Benny Medina grew
up in a poor inner city setting but ended
up moving to Bel Air to live in a mansion
with his rich friend Kerry. Sound familiar?
That’s because Benny later helped create
the TV show “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air”
which was loosely based on his own life.
The rest of Berry Gordy’s children came
from various other relationships he had over
the years. One of these children was Kennedy
Gordy, better known by his stage name “Rockwell”.
He had a hit in the 1980s [clip]. Berry also
had a relationship with Diana Ross of the
Supremes and together they had a daughter
named Rhona Ross. However, Diana Ross was
married to Robert Silberstein at the time
and therefore Rhonda grew up as Rhonda Silberstein,
only discovering who her biological father
was at age 13. She married Jazz musician Rodney
Kendrick and is herself both a musician and
actress.
Finally, I want to point out Berry’s youngest
child, Stefan Gordy, who is better known by
his stage name Redfoo. Together with his nephew
Skyler, son of Berry Gordy IV, he formed the
duo LMFAO [clip].
Okay, now what about that link to President
Jimmy Carter that I mentioned earlier? Well,
the maiden name of Jimmy Carter’s mother
Lily was Gordy. She, like Berry Gordy II,
was a grandchild of James T. Gordy. Lily’s
father was James Jackson Gordy, son of James
T. and his wife Harriett. So that makes James
Jackson and Berry I half-brothers, Lily and
Berry II first cousins, and President Carter
and Motown founder Berry Gordy III second
cousins. That’s a pretty close relationship.
Which brings me to one final point that I’d
like to make. In most Black American family
trees, there’s a white ancestor in there
somewhere for non-consensual reasons. This
is why, when I did my video on the fact that
all people with at least some European blood
are the descendants of royalty, I said that
this applies to people of color as well. The
flip-side of this is that in many white American
family trees – at least the ones that go
back to colonial times – you’re probably
going to find branches that lead to Black
American families, meaning that a lot of White
Americans have some distant black cousins
and a lot of Black Americans have some distant
white cousins.
So, one way or another, we are all connected.
But because of the power imbalances that existed
in the past, some of us have reached the present
with far more privilege than others. While
those of us who are white can’t change the
actions of our ancestors in the past, we can
take positive action in the present to help
build a better future for everybody.
Before I go, I want to give a big shout out
to Orice Jenkins for suggesting this topic
and for helping me put the chart together.
Like many of the individuals we’ve talked
about today, Orice is a musician and you can
check out his music by following the link
in the description.
Thanks for watching.
