The Black Church

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

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

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

Trailer

S1 - 30s

In this intimate four-hour series from executive producer, host, and writer Henry Louis Gates, Jr., we trace how this came to be in 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 endurance, grace and resilience, thriving and testifying, freedom and independence, solidarity and speaking truth to power.
Gospel Trailer

S1 - 30s

From its early origins to today’s Black Lives Matter movement, The Black Church explores the church’s powerful influence as the spiritual, cultural, and political epicenter of the African American community. Hear from iconic musicians such as John Legend, Pastor Shirley Caesar, Kirk Franklin and Yolanda Adams on the powerful role of gospel music within the Black church.
Inside Look

S1 - 2m

Host Henry Louis Gates, Jr. discusses the origins of Black church and its continued influence as the spiritual, cultural, and political epicenter of the African American community.

Schedule

Local Black Church Connections

The Black Church in Washington: show-mezzanine16x9

In our The Black Church in Washington series of shorts, WETA explores the Black Church experience in the Washington, D.C. area and highlights several local congregations.

From the pulpit to politics to building community, African American churches have played in integral role in shaping the history of the Washington, D.C. region. Learn more on our Boundary Stones local history blog.

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