Booker was born in Washington, D.C.; he grew up in Harrington Park, New Jersey, 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Newark.[1][2] His parents, Carolyn Rose (née Jordan) and Cary Alfred Booker were among the first black IBM executives.[2][3][4] Booker has stated that he was raised in a religious household and that he and his family attended a small African Methodist Episcopal Church in New Jersey.[5] Booker has Sierra Leonean ancestry; he learned that information when he was featured on the PBS television program Finding Your Roots.[6]