1 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:05,240 Speaker 1: This is the story of a man who's fascinated me, 2 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:09,680 Speaker 1: haunted me, really for most of my life. His name 3 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: was Sweet Daddy Grace, and that's a name you don't forget. 4 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 2: Daddy Grace had seven dollars in his pocket when he. 5 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,079 Speaker 1: Ends grad He was ahead of his time, a Cape 6 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: Ridian immigrant who built a fortune as a black man 7 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:28,080 Speaker 1: during Jim Crow during the Depression. By the time he 8 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:32,839 Speaker 1: passed in nineteen sixty, he was worth twenty five million dollars. 9 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:36,320 Speaker 1: That's two hundred and fifty million dollars today. 10 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:43,000 Speaker 2: He bought huge complex in Manhattan that didn't rent the 11 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 2: Negro He had a coffee farm in Brazil and egg 12 00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:48,560 Speaker 2: farm in Cuba. 13 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:54,200 Speaker 1: His funeral procession traveled by train from California to Massachusetts. 14 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:59,400 Speaker 1: Thousands of mourners turned out to say their final goodbye. 15 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:03,320 Speaker 1: But today, outside of his church, not too many people 16 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 1: know about Bishop C. M. Grace, the man affectionately known 17 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:09,039 Speaker 1: as Sweet Daddy Grace. 18 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 2: You race sort of wiped out, and I wonder if 19 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:14,720 Speaker 2: this was done intentionally. 20 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:19,319 Speaker 1: And there's one more piece of the puzzle, a big 21 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:23,039 Speaker 1: one for me. My grandmother's a Grace, a Cape Verdie 22 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:26,640 Speaker 1: and Grace my cousins always said that we were related 23 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: to Daddy Grace. But here's where things get murky. Every 24 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,479 Speaker 1: time I asked the elder members of our family, they 25 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:37,639 Speaker 1: flatly denied it. Not everyone has fond memories of Daddy Grace. 26 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 1: My dad kind of looked at him like the devil. 27 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 1: And I can remember him. Daddy Grace would be on 28 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 1: TV and he'd say, look at that guy with that 29 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: money suit. 30 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:51,760 Speaker 2: My mother denied that they were related. 31 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 1: Nobody wanted to be because the man was out there. 32 00:01:55,800 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: He's a cult. I'm Marcy Depena. My entire life, Daddy 33 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:04,280 Speaker 1: Grace has been there. I've always felt this strong connection 34 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:07,840 Speaker 1: to him. When I went to visit his grave, I 35 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:12,360 Speaker 1: literally heard him say, tell my story. 36 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:16,080 Speaker 2: And doing this podcast? 37 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:16,600 Speaker 1: Is this? Like? 38 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:18,799 Speaker 2: What is it that you're looking to get out of this? 39 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: It's an extraordinary American story. I think it's a brilliant 40 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 1: Cape Verdian American story, an African story, and an exceptional 41 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:35,079 Speaker 1: immigrant story of a man who let his faith lead 42 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:39,359 Speaker 1: him all the way across the Atlantic into great success. 43 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 1: And I really do want to know are we connected 44 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 1: to this man or not? Is there a relation or not? 45 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:54,640 Speaker 1: Listen to Sweet Daddy Grace starting July nineteenth, on the 46 00:02:54,680 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.