PBS’ New Series ‘The Black Church’ Celebrates Music, Activism, Spiritual Journeys Of Black Communities

“The Black Church: This Is Our Story. This Is Our Song” is the superb new PBS series from Dr. Henry Louis Gates.

The programs will soon air on our TV station, ATL PBA.

Tremendous excitement surrounds this series, which explores 400 years of the Black church in America. Producer and director Shayla Harris spoke with “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes about documenting the role of the Black church as the epicenter of Black life.

Interview Highlights 

The significance of the Black church to the community: 

“The Black church has been the center of the community that provided not just the spiritual center, but at a time when the community wasn’t free, it offered a political space, economic space, a cultural space, and it was the first home of education,” said Harris.

How music plays a significant role in Black churches:

“When we think about the cultural expression within the Black community: the music, spirituals, gospel, all of that really emerged out of this really iconic institution,” said Harris. She continued, “The subtitle of our documentary ‘This is Our Story, This is Our Song’ comes from a really popular hymn, ‘Blessed Assurance.’ Music is there from the very beginning when you talk about spirituals during slavery and the power and significance that those songs had, the messages they transmitted.”

Why Gates wanted to create this documentary:

“Dr. Gates has been really instrumental in shining a light on history that has been overlooked. This exploration was really profound in how personal it was for him. One of the things we did was go back to his family’s church that he grew up in in West Virginia and it was one of the most emotional moments that I’ve ever experienced. Certainly our audiences will be moved by that. You know that feeling of coming home, the sort of prodigal son coming home and being embraced by his community despite all of his years away from that place. It was as if he had never left,” said Harris.

PBA will be hosting a virtual event on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 4 p.m. with “Closer Look” host Rose Scott. She will talk with Harris ahead of the documentary’s nationwide premiere. Click here to RSVP and register for free.