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The Black Church

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An intimate four-hour series from Henry Louis Gates, Jr., The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song will explore the 400-year-old story of the black church in America, the changing nature of worship spaces, and the men and women who shepherded them from the pulpit, the choir loft, and church pews. (official site)

THE BLACK CHURCH: THIS IS OUR STORY, THIS IS OUR SONG is a production of McGee Media, Inkwell Films and WETA Washington, DC. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Dyllan McGee are executive producers. John Wilson is executive producer in charge for WETA. Stacey Holman is the series producer and director. Christopher Bryson and Shayla Harris are producers/directors. Corporate support is provided by Johnson & Johnson. Major funding is also provided by the Lilly Endowment; the Ford Foundation; and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS.

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Virtual Event | external link

The Black Church PBS Panel Discussion

Watch a virtual panel discussion with Sylvia Bugg (PBS Chief Programming Executive), Rev. Dr. Yolanda Pierce (Professor and Dean of Howard University Divinity School), and Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III (Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ).

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About the Series

The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song is a moving four-hour, two-part series from executive producer, host and writer Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University and director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, traces the 400-year-old story of the Black church in America.

The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song is a moving four-hour, two-part series from executive producer, host and writer Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University and director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, that traces the 400-year-old story of the Black church in America, all the way down to its bedrock role as the site of African American survival and grace, organizing and resilience, thriving and testifying, autonomy and freedom, solidarity and speaking truth to power. The documentary reveals how Black people have worshipped and, through their spiritual journeys, improvised ways to bring their faith traditions from Africa to the New World, while translating them into a form of Christianity that was not only truly their own, but a redemptive force for a nation whose original sin was found in their ancestors’ enslavement across the Middle Passage. A production of McGee Media, Inkwell Media and WETA Washington, D.C., in association with Get Lifted.

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