Apr 15 Rhiannon Giddens performs ‘Julie,’ a song inspired by a slave’s story By Frank Carlson, Mike Fritz Singer-songwriter Rhiannon Giddens is the first to admit she's big into history, and in particular the history of the South and the Civil War. Continue reading
Feb 26 Watch 4:18 African captives rise up against slavery in Talladega murals By PBS News Hour In 1938, the historically black Talladega College commissioned artist Hale Woodruff to create a series of paintings telling the story of the Amistad, when 53 Africans revolted on a Spanish ship carrying them to slavery one century earlier. A traveling… Continue watching
Feb 13 How the West got rich and modern capitalism was born By Sven Beckert "We need to qualify the fairy tale we like to tell about capitalism and free labor," argues Harvard historian Sven Beckert, author of the new book, "Empire of Cotton." In part two of his essay on Making Sen$e, he explores… Continue reading
Feb 12 America’s first big business? Not the railroads, but slavery By Sven Beckert For too long, historian Sven Beckert argues, historians have depicted slavery as a non-capitalist "Southern pathology." In his new book, "Empire of Cotton," Beckert shows how slavery was actually at the very roots of modern American capitalism. Continue reading
Jan 15 ’12 Years’ writer on how Hollywood does a ‘poor job’ depicting slavery By Victoria Fleischer At Sunday's Golden Globes ceremony, the movie won Best Motion Picture Drama and was nominated for six other awards, including best screen play. Screenwriter John Ridley spoke to PBS NewsHour's Jeffrey Brown in November about his film, adapted from the… Continue reading
Dec 02 Watch 5:51 James McBride’s ‘The Good Lord Bird’ offers ‘room to laugh’ at difficult history Author James McBride talks about slavery and humor in "The Good Lord Bird."… Continue watching
Dec 02 Watch James McBride’s ‘The Good Lord Bird’ offers ‘room to laugh’ at difficult history By PBS News Hour James McBride talks about the National Book Award winner in fiction, "The Good Lord Bird."… Continue watching
Nov 26 Watch ‘Many Rivers to Cross’ brings African-American history up to current day 'Many Rivers to Cross' brings African-American history up to current day… Continue watching
Nov 19 Watch 7:26 ’12 Years a Slave’ restores historic firsthand account to cultural consciousness By PBS News Hour In depicting American slavery, Hollywood has long left some of the most brutal realities largely unseen. But the filmmakers behind "12 Years a Slave" tried not to flinch in showing the full system of human subjugation. Jeffrey Brown talks to… Continue watching
Oct 31 Watch Abe’s legacy as a foreign policy president revealed in ‘Lincoln and the World’ Abe's legacy as a foreign-policy president revealed in 'Lincoln and the World'… Continue watching