History

Great Migrations: A People on The Move

Great Migrations: A People on the Move explores the transformative impact of Black migration on American culture and society. From the waves of Black Americans to the North—and back South—over the last century to the growing number of immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean today, the film shows how movement is a defining feature of the Black experience.

Coming to America

52m 55s

Episode 4 of Great Migrations tells the story of African and Caribbean immigrants in the 20th and 21st centuries. It traces their journeys to the United States, the contributions they have made to the nation’s economy and culture, and how they have impacted what it means to be Black in America.

Episodes

  • Coming to America: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Coming to America

    S1 E4 - 52m 55s

    Episode 4 of Great Migrations tells the story of African and Caribbean immigrants in the 20th and 21st centuries. It traces their journeys to the United States, the contributions they have made to the nation’s economy and culture, and how they have impacted what it means to be Black in America.

  • One Way Ticket Back: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    One Way Ticket Back

    S1 E3 - 52m 25s

    Episode 3 of Great Migrations reflects on how the 1970s marked a turning point in American history. For the first time in 60 years, more Black people were moving to the South than leaving it. Driven by mass movements and economic change, the reverse migration shows how Black Americans’ never-ending search for freedom and opportunity continues to shape the country today.

  • Streets Paved with Gold: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Streets Paved with Gold

    S1 E2 - 52m 25s

    Episode 2 of Great Migrations explores the second wave of the Great Migration (1940-1970) within the context of World War II and its aftermath. It traces how Northern and Western Black communities evolved through migration, which intensified housing tensions while also transforming the cultural and political power of Black America.

  • Exodus: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Exodus

    S1 E1 - 52m 25s

    Episode one of Great Migrations explores the first wave of the Great Migration (1910-1940), a collective leap into the unknown as more than a million Black Americans fled the Jim Crow South for the promised lands of the North. In the face of some of the country’s worst racist violence, these migrants established thriving Black neighborhoods, wielded political power, and redefined American culture.

Extras + Features

  • New Legislation: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    New Legislation

    S1 E4 - 2m 38s

    A little known, but important civil rights era law passed in 1965, which got rid of the ethnically-biased immigration laws of the 1920s. No one knew how much it would change the demographics of incoming immigrants.

  • Haitian Migration to the US: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Haitian Migration to the US

    S1 E4 - 7m 14s

    Beginning in the 1970s, South Florida saw a wave of asylum-seeking Haitians fleeing political repression, which would reveal remaining bias and inconsistency in the American immigration system.

  • The 1967 Detroit Uprising: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The 1967 Detroit Uprising

    S1 E3 - 2m 38s

    The 1967 Detroit uprising was one of the most violent of the 20th century, and it was rooted in a series of grievances, first and foremost, persistent police harassment.

  • How the Housing Crisis Impacted the Great Migration: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    How the Housing Crisis Impacted the Great Migration

    S1 E3 - 4m 29s

    Housing had always been inadequate in the Northern Black neighborhoods of the Great Migration but there were even more sinister forces at work: government policies that sought to keep neighborhoods segregated by race – or destroy Black neighborhoods altogether.

  • Westward Migration: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Westward Migration

    S1 E2 - 2m 13s

    The second wave of the great migration saw people not only traveling north but increasingly West, which provided a different flavor of freedom.

  • The Red Summer: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Red Summer

    S1 E1 - 4m 57s

    The Red Summer of 1919 was one of the most volatile periods of our nation’s history but one of the lesser known stories is how in the midst of some of the country’s worst racist violence, Black people fought back.

  • The Fallout of the Red Summer: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Fallout of the Red Summer

    S1 E1 - 4m 11s

    By the summer of 1919, racial tensions in Chicago reached a boiling point. When white people attacked, Black people fought back.

Schedule

  • Image
    Great Migrations: A People on the Move: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Great Migrations: A People on The Move

    Coming to America

    Wednesday
    Feb 19

    1 Hour

    The impact of African and Caribbean immigrants on American culture and what it means to be Black in America.
  • Image
    Great Migrations: A People on the Move: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Great Migrations: A People on The Move

    Coming to America

    Wednesday
    Feb 19

    1 Hour

    The impact of African and Caribbean immigrants on American culture and what it means to be Black in America.
  • Image
    Great Migrations: A People on the Move: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Great Migrations: A People on The Move

    One Way Ticket Back

    Wednesday
    Feb 19

    1 Hour

    How reverse migration of Black Americans to the South continued to reshape the country.
  • Image
    Great Migrations: A People on the Move: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Great Migrations: A People on The Move

    One Way Ticket Back

    Wednesday
    Feb 19

    1 Hour

    How reverse migration of Black Americans to the South continued to reshape the country.
  • Image
    Great Migrations: A People on the Move: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Great Migrations: A People on The Move

    Coming to America

    Wednesday
    Feb 19

    1 Hour

    The impact of African and Caribbean immigrants on American culture and what it means to be Black in America.
  • Image
    Great Migrations: A People on the Move: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Great Migrations: A People on The Move

    Coming to America

    Wednesday
    Feb 19

    1 Hour

    The impact of African and Caribbean immigrants on American culture and what it means to be Black in America.
  • Image
    Great Migrations: A People on the Move: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Great Migrations: A People on The Move

    Coming to America

    Saturday
    Feb 22

    1 Hour

    The impact of African and Caribbean immigrants on American culture and what it means to be Black in America.
  • Image
    Great Migrations: A People on the Move: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Great Migrations: A People on The Move

    Coming to America

    Saturday
    Feb 22

    1 Hour

    The impact of African and Caribbean immigrants on American culture and what it means to be Black in America.
  • Image
    Great Migrations: A People on the Move: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Great Migrations: A People on The Move

    Coming to America

    Saturday
    Feb 22

    1 Hour 30 Minutes

    The impact of African and Caribbean immigrants on American culture and what it means to be Black in America.
  • Image
    Great Migrations: A People on the Move: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Great Migrations: A People on The Move

    Coming to America

    Sunday
    Feb 23

    1 Hour

    The impact of African and Caribbean immigrants on American culture and what it means to be Black in America.
  • Image
    Great Migrations: A People on the Move: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Great Migrations: A People on The Move

    Coming to America

    Sunday
    Feb 23

    1 Hour

    The impact of African and Caribbean immigrants on American culture and what it means to be Black in America.
  • Image
    Great Migrations: A People on the Move: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Great Migrations: A People on The Move

    Coming to America

    Sunday
    Feb 23

    1 Hour

    The impact of African and Caribbean immigrants on American culture and what it means to be Black in America.
  • Image
    Great Migrations: A People on the Move: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Great Migrations: A People on The Move

    Coming to America

    Sunday
    Feb 23

    1 Hour

    The impact of African and Caribbean immigrants on American culture and what it means to be Black in America.
  • Image
    Great Migrations: A People on the Move: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Great Migrations: A People on The Move

    Coming to America

    Wednesday
    Feb 26

    1 Hour

    The impact of African and Caribbean immigrants on American culture and what it means to be Black in America.
  • Image
    Great Migrations: A People on the Move: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Great Migrations: A People on The Move

    Coming to America

    Wednesday
    Feb 26

    1 Hour

    The impact of African and Caribbean immigrants on American culture and what it means to be Black in America.
  • Image
    Great Migrations: A People on the Move: TVSS: Banner-L1

    Great Migrations: A People on The Move

    Exodus

    Saturday
    Mar 1

    1 Hour 30 Minutes

    Exploring the first wave of the Great Migration (1910-1940) when more than one million Black Americans fled the Jim Crow South for the promised lands of the North.

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