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'Black America Since MLK' Explores Past 50 Years Of African American History
'Black America Since MLK' Explores Past 50 Years Of African American History

'Black America Since MLK' Explores Past 50 Years Of African American History

'Black America Since MLK' Explores Past 50 Years Of African American History

An upcoming television special will focus on the last fifty years of African American history.

Titled Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise, the two part, four hour PBS documentary series will be hosted by Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. (who also serves as writer and executive producer).

Gates embarks on a personal journey throughout America in the series, speaking to scholars, celebrities, and many more to explore not only the state of black America, but the nation as a whole.

In the trailer clip below viewers will get a better sense of what Gates is trying to do with his project. The 30 second clip finds a sequence of important black moments seamlessly spliced together. Martin Luther King Jr.'s iconic "I Have A Dream" speech; the rise of hip-hop culture; President Obama's inauguration — by the looks of the trailer Gates is not only simultaneously celebrating black America, but exploring these moments as a means of creating a commentary, too.

In a press statement for the forthcoming series, Gates said the following.

"How has the black community changed since the Civil Rights Movement? Since MLK died? How would you describe the tremendous progress we have made, but also the enormous challenges that far too many of us still face? How could this be the best of times and the worst of times for Black America? These are the questions that this series explores. We are at a crucial point in history, and with this series, I hoped to reflect on our recent past as a way of helping to devise ways to forge a better future. This series is a very personal one for me, one I'm glad to share with the PBS community, thanks to the generous support of the Milstein Foundation and so many others."

Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise will premiere on PBS stations nationwide this week on Tuesday, November 15, and on the following Tuesday, November 22, 2016 at 8/7 CST. Check out the clip below.