The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross (2013)

Original title

The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Genre

documentary television program

Country

United States

Length

1 season, 6 episodes

Rated

TV-PG

Rating

10.0 of 10 from 1 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Henry Louis Gates Jr. hosts a six-part documentary series that covers the full scope of African American history from the slave trade up to Barack Obama's presidency. Each episode focuses on a different era, tracing the experiences and struggles of African Americans over centuries.

educationalhistoricalinformativepacedsoberreflectivecomprehensiveneutral-toned

What happens

The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross is a six-part documentary miniseries written and presented by Henry Louis Gates Jr. It aired for the first time on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the fall of 2013, beginning with episode 1, "The Black Atlantic (1500–1800)", on October 22, 8–9 p.m. ET on PBS, and every consecutive Tuesday through to episode 6, "A More Perfect Union (1968–2013)", on November 26. The companion book to the series, The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross (SmileyBooks, 2013), was co-authored by Gates and historian Donald Yacovone. The two-DVD set of the series was released in January 2014. The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross chronicles the African-American experience from the origins of the transatlantic slave trade to the reelection and second inauguration of President Barack Obama. It is the first documentary series to recount this history in its entirety since the nine-part History of the Negro People aired on National Educational Television in 1965, and the one-hour documentary Black History: Lost, Stolen, or Strayed, narrated by Bill Cosby and broadcast in 1968. According to the PBS website for the series, The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross "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." (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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