"Black In Latin America," a new four-part series on the influence of African descent on Latin America, is the latest documentary film from renowned Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., presenter and writer of the acclaimed PBS series "African American Lives" (2006), Oprah’s "Roots" (2007), "African American Lives Two" (2008), "Looking For Lincoln" (2009), and "Faces Of America" (2010).
Photo Gallery
View photos from Professor Gates' time in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, Brazil, Mexico and Peru.
Professor Gates’ journey discovers, behind a shared legacy of colonialism and slavery, vivid stories and people marked by African roots. He introduces viewers to the faces and voices of the descendants of the Africans in six Latin-American countries, who created these worlds. He shows the similarities and distinctions between these cultures and how the New-World manifestations are rooted in, but distinct from, their African antecedents.
A quest he began 12 years ago with "Wonders Of The African World" comes full circle in "Black In Latin America," an effort to discover how Africa and Europe combined to create the vibrant cultures of Latin America, with a rich legacy of thoughtful, articulate subjects whose stories are astonishingly moving and irresistibly compelling.
"Cuba: The Next Revolution"
In Cuba, Gates finds out how the culture, religion, politics and music of this island are inextricably linked to the huge amount of slave labor imported to produce its enormously profitable 19th century sugar industry, and how race and racism have fared since Fidel Castro's Communist revolution in 1959.
Up Next:
"Black In Latin America: Brazil: A Racial Paradise?" will air on Tuesday, May 3, at 9 p.m.
"Black In Latin America: Mexico & Peru: The Black Grandma In The Closet" will air on Tuesday, May 10, at 9 p.m.
"Black In Latin America : Haiti & The Dominican Republic: An Island Divided" aired on Tuesday, April 19th.
Watch the full episode. See more Black in Latin America.
