History

The Black Church

An intimate four-hour series from Henry Louis Gates, Jr., The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song explores 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.

Episode 2

1h 49m

Discover how the Black church expanded its reach to address social inequality and minister to those in need, from the Jim Crow South to the heroic phase of the civil rights movement and the Black church’s role in the present.

Episodes

  • Episode 2: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 2

    S1 E2 - 1h 49m

    Discover how the Black church expanded its reach to address social inequality and minister to those in need, from the Jim Crow South to the heroic phase of the civil rights movement and the Black church’s role in the present.

  • Episode 1: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 1

    S1 E1 - 1h 50m

    Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the roots of African American religion beginning with the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the extraordinary ways enslaved Africans preserved and adapted their faith practices from the brutality of slavery to emancipation.

Extras + Features

  • First Black Run Institutions: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    First Black Run Institutions

    S1 - 2m 14s

    The First African Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia, was founded in 1773 and is one of the first Black run institutions on record in the United States.

  • Fisk Minstrel Show: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Fisk Minstrel Show

    S1 - 1m 36s

    The spiritual arrangements of the 1870s, like the ones performed by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, were quite different from the simple folk songs that had a single melody.

PBS PASSPORT

Stream tens of thousands of hours of your PBS and local favorites with WETA+ and PBS Passport whenever and wherever you want. Catch up on a single episode or binge-watch full seasons before they air on TV.

Similar Shows