The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross

[JustAnotherGen]

Last edited Sat Aug 10, 2013, 08:12 AM - Edit history (1)

Should be interesting!

That’s what he’s hoping will happen with “The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross,” a six-hour PBS documentary series that traces 500 years of black history.

“To tell the whole sweep of African-American history — no one’s tried to do that. That was what we were crazy enough to do,” Gates said in an interview on Wednesday.

He hopes the series will find its way into the nation’s schools as well as its living rooms, and acquaint audiences of all ages — both black and white — with black history, about which he says both races are equally ignorant.

“How can I help with the conversation about race? Schools are tools for the formation of citizenship. My target is the school curriculum: getting an integrated story told,” he said.

At the link - Gates advises that African American history actually starts in 1513 (not when the textbooks tell us) when an African arrived with Ponce De Leon (explorer).

Quote from Gates: “I wanted to get the subjects in the film to speak to me as we would speak to each other behind closed doors.”

Starts airing October 22, 2013!

ETA: http://thegrio.com/tag/the-african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/

[dipsydoodle]

1. Sounds good to me.

I'll buy the DVD set when they release it - such subject matter is better to watch at leisure than on live tv.

[bravenak]

2. I gotta see this.

I find that there are not enough full length documentaries on African American history. I wonder how much it's going to cost.

[Number23]

3. "He hopes the series will find its way into the nation’s schools as well as its living rooms"

Well, given the freak out from a certain segment when the president dared to send a pre-recorded speech to elementary schools encouraging kids to work hard, I won't hold my breath for this to happen.

Is there a link to this story??

[kwassa]

4. Here is a link

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/

the song "Many Rivers to Cross", a great song, is by the Jamaican singer Jimmy Cliff. I first heard it in the movie "The Harder They Come".

[JustAnotherGen]

5. Sorry

I got it off The Grio yesterday: http://thegrio.com/tag/the-african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/