Harvard Scholar Henry Louis Gates to Host African-American History Series - Higher Education

Harvard Scholar Henry Louis Gates to Host African-American History Series - Higher Education: Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. returns to television this fall to narrate the six-part documentary series “The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates Jr.,” which presents a sweeping look at African-American history from the early 1500s to present-day America.

The series, which debuts October 22 and airs weekly through November 26 on PBS television stations, charts the evolution of the African-American people, exploring a wide range of cultural, political, religious and social developments that have defined the African-American experience in the U.S.

“The story of the African-American people is the story of the settlement and growth of America itself, a universal tale that all people should experience,” Gates said in a statement.

“Since my senior year in high school, when I watched Bill Cosby narrate a documentary about Black history, I’ve longed to share those stories in great detail to the broadest audience possible, young and old, Black and White, scholars and the general public. I believe that my colleagues and I have achieved this goal through ‘The African Americans:  Many Rivers to Cross,’” added Gates, who is the Alphonse Fletcher University professor at Harvard University and director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research.