The Black Church
Now Streaming
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)
Featured Videos
Episode 1
Ep1 | 1h 50m 9s | WETA Passport
Episode 2
Ep2 | 1h 49m 49s | WETA Passport
Trailer
Preview: S1 | 30s
Episodes
Episode 2
Ep2 | 1h 49m 49s | WETA Passport
Episode 1
Ep1 | 1h 50m 9s | WETA Passport
See all Episodes for The Black Church
Specials
Cornerstones | The Servant
Special | 2m 37s
Cornerstones | The Reader
Special | 2m 20s
Cornerstones | The Hymnist
Special | 2m 40s
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Extras
Prathia Hall’s Inspires MLK’s “I Have A Dream"
Clip: S1 | 1m 14s
John Legend Credits the Church for His Music Career
Clip: S1 | 26s
Jennifer Hudson On the Power of Church
Clip: S1 | 38s
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Collections
- Cornerstones: Founding Voices of the Black Church Without people, there can’t be a church. Who made the black church possible in America?
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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).
Watch NowWatch On Air
WETA Airdates
WETA PBS
Timezone: Eastern
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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