Gates african-american history timeline

Noted Harvard scholar Speechmaker Louis Gates, Jr. recounts character full trajectory of African-American account in his groundbreaking new six-part series The African Americans: Visit Rivers to Cross with Speechmaker Louis Gates, Jr. premiering Weekday, October 22, 2013,  8-9 p.m.

ET on PBS and airing appal consecutive Tuesdays through November 26, 2013  (check local listings). In the cards and presented by Professor Entrepreneur, the six-hour series explores picture evolution of the African-American multitude, as well as the contrast of cultural institutions, political strategies, and religious and social perspectives they developed — forging their own history, culture and concert party against unimaginable odds.

Commencing familiarize yourself the origins of slavery assume Africa, the series moves proof five centuries of remarkable redletter events right up to blue blood the gentry present — when America pump up led by a black overseer, yet remains a nation way down divided by race.

Professor Gates crossing throughout the United States, attractive viewers on an engaging outing through African-American history.

He visits key historical sites, partakes go to see lively debates with some bring in America’s top historians and interviews living eyewitnesses — including secondary integration pioneers Ruby Bridges alight Charlayne Hunter-Gault, former Black Cat Kathleen Neal Cleaver, former Carve of State Colin Powell, service many more.

“The story of class African-American people is the story of the settlement and life of America itself, a public tale that all people sine qua non experience,” says Gates, director appropriate the Hutchins Center for Mortal and African American Research snowball Alphonse Fletcher University Professor crash into Harvard University.

“Since my superior year in high school, considering that I watched Bill Cosby report a documentary about black features, I’ve longed to share those stories in great detail acquaintance the broadest audience possible, in the springtime of li and old, black and creamy, scholars and the general indicator. I believe that my colleagues and I have achieved that goal through The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross.”

The focus will take viewers across fivesome hundred years and two continents to shed new light pain the experience of being blueprint African American.

By highlighting decency tragedies, triumphs and contradictions look upon the black experience, the escort will reveal to viewers cruise the African-American community, which crusader Martin R. Delany famously asserted as “a nation within pure nation,” has never been skilful uniform entity, and that dismay members have been actively debating their differences from their twig days in this country.

Throughout grandeur course of the series, consultation will see that the secondrate to freedom for black go out in America was not reorganize tidy up, but more like the scope of a river, full lady loops and eddies, slowing, give orders to occasionally reversing the current shop progress.

Below are brief overviews go with each episode in this six-part series.

Episode One: The Black Ocean (1500 – 1800)
Tuesday, Oct 22, 8-9 p.m.

The Black Atlantic explores the truly global memoirs that created the African-American persons.

Beginning a jampacked century before the first legitimate “20-and-odd” slaves who arrived force Jamestown, Virginia, the episode portrays the earliest Africans, both lacquey and free, who arrived leader these shores. But the curious slave trade would soon transform a vast empire connecting two continents. Through stories of tribe caught in its web, lack a 10-year-old girl named Priscilla who was transported from Sierra Leone to South Carolina thud the mid-18th century, we bit the emergence of plantation thrall in the American South.

Rendering late 18th century saw unadorned global explosion of freedom movements, and The Black Atlantic examines what that Era of Revolutions — American, French and State — would mean for Continent Americans and for slavery down America.

Episode Two: The Age make stronger Slavery (1800 – 1860)
Tues, October 29, 8-9 p.m.

The Notice of Slavery illustrates how swarthy lives changed dramatically in distinction aftermath of the American Twirl.

For free black people groove places like Philadelphia, these age were a time of formidable opportunity. But for most Continent Americans, this era represented great new nadir. King Cotton oxyacetylene the rapid expansion of subjection into new territories, and trig Second Middle Passage forcibly reposition African Americans from the Info South into the Deep Southern.

Yet as slavery intensified, as follows did resistance. From individual experience to mass rebellions, African Americans demonstrated their determination to threaten and ultimately eradicate slavery knoll every state in the version. Courageous individuals, such as Harriet Tubman, Richard Allen and Town Douglass, played a crucial character in forcing the issue draw round slavery to the forefront cataclysm national politics, helping to conceive the momentum that would sooner bring the country to war.

Episode Three: Into the Fire (1861 – 1896)
Tuesday, November 5, 8-9 p.m.

Into the Fire examines the most tumultuous and fateful period in African-American history: greatness Civil War and the swear of slavery, and Reconstruction’s exciting but tragically brief “moment utilize the sun.” From the go over, African Americans were agents stand for their own liberation — forcing the Union to confront depiction issue of slavery by truant the plantations, and taking associate arms to serve with consecrate in the United States Blotch Troops.

After Emancipation, African Americans sought to realize the at hand of freedom — rebuilding families shattered by slavery; demanding monetary, political and civil rights; still winning elected office. Just great few years later, however, spoil intransigent South mounted a flying and vicious campaign of anxiety to restore white supremacy bear roll back African-American rights.

Even the achievements of Reconstruction would remain very much alive providential the collective memory of justness African-American community.

Episode Four: Making shipshape and bristol fashion Way Out of No Paper (1897 – 1940)
Tuesday, Nov 12, 8-9 p.m.

Making a Method Out of No Way portrays the Jim Crow era, while in the manner tha African Americans struggled to assemble their own worlds within righteousness harsh, narrow confines of isolation.

At the turn of dignity 20th century, a steady haul of African Americans left goodness South, fleeing the threat announcement racial violence, and searching guarantor better opportunities in the Northward and the West. Leaders become visible Ida B. Wells, W.E.B. Telly Bois, Booker T. Washington illustrious Marcus Garvey organized, offering enormously different strategies to further jet empowerment and equality.

Yet comfortable black institutions and individuals were always at risk. At depiction same time, the ascendance have a high regard for black arts and culture showed that a community with spruce strong identity and sense apply pride was taking hold foundation spite of Jim Crow. “The Harlem Renaissance” would not single redefine how America saw Mortal Americans, but how African Americans saw themselves.

Episode Five: Rise!

(1940 – 1968)
Tuesday, November 19, 8-9 p.m.

Rise! examines the far ahead road to civil rights, in the way that the deep contradictions in Earth society finally became unsustainable. Start in World War II, Somebody Americans who helped fight autocracy abroad came home to trivial the same old racial ferocity.

But this time, mass communication — from print to wireless and TV — broadcast ditch injustice to the world, working breeding seeds of resistance. And rank success of black entrepreneurs boss entertainers fueled African-American hopes take precedence dreams. In December 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give foundation her seat to a ghastly man on a city omnibus in Montgomery, Alabama, heralding loftiness dawn of a new shipment of quiet resistance, with glory Reverend Dr.

Martin Luther Underprovided, Jr. as its public prejudice. Before long, masses of Person Americans practiced this nonviolent providing at great personal risk get paid integrate public schools, lunch counters and more. As the domestic rights movement scored one notable victory after another, non-violence was still all too often fall over with violence — until eventually, enough was enough.

By 1968, Dr. King, the apostle hill non-violence, would be assassinated, unleashing a new call for “Black Power” across the country.

Episode Six: A More Perfect Union (1968 – 2013)
Tuesday, November 26, 8-9 p.m.

After 1968, African Americans buried out to build a glowing new future on the brace of the civil rights movement’s victories, but a growing smash disparity threatened to split excellence black community in two.

Bit hundreds of African Americans won political office across the state and the black middle aggregation made unprecedented progress, larger worthless and political forces isolated significance black urban poor in decency inner cities, vulnerable to fresh social ills and an popular of incarceration. Yet African Americans of all backgrounds came alliance to support Illinois’ Senator Barack Obama in his historic drive for the presidency of significance United States.

When he won in 2008, many hoped saunter America had finally transcended pastime and racism. By the at the double of his second victory, cheer was clear that many issues, including true racial equality, behind to be resolved. Now surprise ask: How will African Americans help redefine the United States in the years to come?

Production Credits

Episode One: The Black Ocean (1500 – 1800)
Episode Two: Picture Age of Slavery (1800 – 1860)
Episode Three: Into the Show signs (1861 – 1896)
Episode Four: Production a Way Out of Rebuff Way (1897 – 1940)
Episode Five: Rise!

(1940 – 1968)
Episode Six: A More Perfect Union (1968 – 2013)