The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross

The African Americans: Many Rivers To Cross is a six-part, six-hour series that chronicles the full sweep of African American history, from the origins of slavery on the African continent through five centuries of remarkable historic events right up to today—when America has a black President, yet remains a nation deeply divided by race.

The series will explore the origins of the people from Africa whose enslavement led to the creation of the African American people, as well as the multiplicity of cultural institutions, political strategies, and religious and social perspectives that African Americans have developed against unimaginable odds. All of these elements define the rich and compelling diversity of African American culture, from slavery to the White House.

Hosted by noted Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and drawing on some of America’s top historians and heretofore untapped primary sources, the series will guide viewers on an engaging journey across five hundred years and two continents to shed new light on the experience of being an African American.