Mon, Apr 3, 2023
Bill Russell; Michael Jordan; LeBron James. Black athletes have at times been synonymous with the sport of basketball, but it wasn't always that way. Invented at the turn of the 20th century, basketball was initially played in segregated leagues - that is, until the exceptional talent and contributions of a few standout Black teams, including the New York Renaissance, became impossible for the newly formed NBA to ignore. With additional commentary from author and filmmaker Nelson George and author and historian Claude Johnson - we explore the origins of Black basketball, including a heated championship match-up that helped shift the trajectory of the sport.
Tue, Apr 11, 2023
Born into a world awash in racism and sexism, the singer Billie Holiday soon became a beloved voice, known for her unique, jazz-influenced style. But for Holiday, who was haunted by hardship in her own life, music grew to be more than entertainment. Long before the civil rights era took hold in America, Holiday recorded a song that poignantly spoke out against the brutalities of Black life in the South, a controversial protest anthem that helped inspire a movement - while deepening the singer's personal torment. With additional commentary from Robert G. O'Meally of Columbia University and Imani Perry of Princeton University - we meet a bold, inimitable talent whose art fused with her activism.
Tue, Apr 11, 2023
In 1965, James Baldwin and William F. Buckley - thought leaders from dramatically different backgrounds - made plans to debate race relations and the meaning of the American Dream. In this pivotal year at the height of the civil rights movement, students crowded into the debate hall at the University of Cambridge to hear arguments from opposing sides. What followed would go down in history. Hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. - with additional commentary from Khalil Gibran Muhammad of Harvard University and Imani Perry of Princeton University - we witness a haunting performance from one of America's great orators as he confronts head-on the horrors of our history.
Fri, Apr 14, 2023
Today, many are familiar with the term "filibuster," a procedure to prolong debate and delay a vote - but less well-known is its complicated history, which began not with the framers of the Constitution but half a century later, at the height of tensions surrounding slavery. Starting with pre-Civil War theatrics in the Senate Chamber, the filibuster has evolved through emancipation, Reconstruction, the Jim Crow era, and the civil rights movement to become an all-encompassing tactic with the capacity to trump the will of the majority. Hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. - with additional commentary from author Adam Jentleson and Imani Perry of Princeton University - we trace how an antebellum legislative maneuver meant to empower slaveholders became a Senate institution at the center of urgent debate.
Sun, Apr 16, 2023
One vital but less-known story from early America is that of Onesimus, an African man enslaved in the colonies who helped change the shape of American medicine. Infectious disease outbreaks were a too-familiar nightmare for the colonists - and in 1721, a particularly serious smallpox epidemic was ravaging Boston. Before knowledge of inoculation had spread to these shores, the practice was well-known in West Africa - and it was none other than Onesimus who first shared this life-changing method of prevention. Hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. - with additional commentary from Margot Minardi of Reed College and Ted Widmer of Macaulay Honors College CUNY - we explore the surprising origins of American inoculation.