PBS and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. expose Latin America’s dirty secrets | Being Latino Online Magazine: For centuries, Latin America has denied its African past. Race was a taboo topic that was rarely discussed and celebrated. To be Black and Latino meant you were mystical, mysterious, and foreign. Blacks knew their place in Latin American society and “rocking the boat” was always frowned upon.
That image and the issues surrounding it are now being challenged in Black in Latin America, the four-part PBS series hosted by acclaimed Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. The series, which premiered two weeks ago with a fantastic segment about the Black experience in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, concludes with two more episodes that have quickly become must-see TV for any serious follower of Latin American history and society.
Gates, who two years ago gained global notoriety with his controversial arrest in front of his Cambridge apartment that led to a beer summit with President Obama, shines in this series. His insight and ability to exhibit Latin America’s dirtiest secret on the small screen needs to be commended.
