Explore with Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the evolution of the African-American people, as well as the multiplicity of cultural institutions, political strategies, and religious and social perspectives they developed - forging their own history, culture and society against unimaginable odds.
The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross
Written and presented by Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., director of W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University, this six-hour series explores the evolution of the African-American people, as well as the multiplicity of cultural institutions, political strategies, and religious and social perspectives they developed - forging their own history, culture and society against unimaginable odds.
Commencing with the origins of slavery in Africa, the series moves through five centuries of remarkable historic events right up to the present - when America is led by a black president, yet remains a nation deeply divided by race.
By highlighting the tragedies, triumphs and contradictions of the black experience, the series reveals to viewers that the African-American community has never been a uniform entity, and that its members have been actively debating their differences from their first days in this country.
Throughout the course of the series, viewers will see that the road to freedom for black people in America has not been linear, but more like the course of a river, full of loops and eddies, slowing, and occasionally reversing the current of progress.
Episodes include:
The Black Atlantic (1500-1800)
The Age of Slavery (1800-1860)
Into the Fire (1861-1896)
Making a Way Out of No Way (1897-1940)
Rise! (1940-1968)
It's Nation Time (1968-2013)
Producer: Peter Kunhardt, Julie Anderson, Dyllan McGee, Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Production Year: 2013
Copyright Year: 2013
Rating: TV-PG
Number of Discs: 2
Length: 360 minutes
Subtitled: Y
Subtitle Languages: English (SDH)
DVI: Y
Audio Format: Stereo
Aspect Ratio: 16x9 Widescreen
VIDEO USAGE RIGHTS
Why the AV version? Because it provides additional usage options for PBS videos. AV versions come with limited performance rights so they can be shown in classrooms, at PTA meetings, during after school programs, and transmitted on a closed-circuit system within a building or on a single campus. They also can be enjoyed in admission-free public screenings, which also makes them ideal for use by library patrons and businesses involved in community clubs and organizations.