Available:*
Material Type | Library | Call Number | Suggested Age | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Video Disc | Searching... Putnam Main Public Library | 973.0496073 A | Adult | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
The first AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES revealed the power in discovering one's family history. Now, Henry Louis Gates Jr. will guide a new group to discover their ancestry in AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2. The series will draw on DNA analysis, genealogical research and family oral tradition to trace the lineages of the participants, including Maya Angelou, Morgan Freeman, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and Tina Turner, down through U.S. history and back to Africa.
Author Notes
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was born on September 16, 1950, in Keyser, West Virginia. He received a degree in history from Yale University in 1973 and a Ph.D. from Clare College, which is part of the University of Cambridge in 1979. He is a leading scholar of African-American literature, history, and culture. He began working on the Black Periodical Literature Project, which uncovered lost literary works published in 1800s. He rediscovered what is believed to be the first novel published by an African-American in the United States. He republished the 1859 work by Harriet E. Wilson, entitled Our Nig, in 1983.
He has written numerous books including Colored People: A Memoir, A Chronology of African-American History, The Future of the Race, Black Literature and Literary Theory, and The Signifying Monkey: Towards a Theory of Afro-American Literary Criticism. In 1991, he became the head of the African-American studies department at Harvard University. He is now the director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African-American Research at the university.
He wrote and produced several documentaries including Wonders of the African World, America Beyond the Color Line, and African American Lives. He has also hosted PBS programs such as Wonders of the African World, Black in Latin America, and Finding Your Roots.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 11 Up-Henry Louis Gates, Jr., W.E.B. DuBois Professor of Humanities and Chair of African and African-American Studies at Harvard, hosts this four-part program, picking up where the acclaimed African American Lives (PBS, 2006) left off. It offers a multidimensional perspective of the African-American experience throughout the history of the Unites States and back to Africa. The narrative is told through in-depth genealogical investigations that involve determining the racial makeup of 12 influential African Americans by mapping their DNA. Among those profiled are Maya Angelou, Morgan Freeman, Don Cheadle, Chris Rock, Tina Turner, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Reverend Peter Gomes, and others. What is particularly stunning about these touching portrayals is their ability to personalize a tumultuous cultural history. Seamlessly, viewers learn about the larger picture through these individual stories. Each episode is progressively staged: "The Road Home" focuses on the participant's stories of their heritage in the 20th century, "A Way Out of No Way" explores their lineage through the Civil War era, "We Come from People" explicates the colonial history of these families, and "The Past Is Another Country" demonstrates the advances DNA research has made in connecting African Americans to their cultures of origin. The series challenges our traditional understanding of race as both a cultural and biological construct by demonstrating, through modern technology, the interconnectedness of all humanity. These are not only the stories of African Americans, they are the stories of us all. An important acquisition for libraries serving advanced high school, college, and adult audiences.-Vincent M. Livoti, Kresge Center for Teaching Resources, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Library Journal Review
African American Lives 2 continues Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s. 2006 series with four more episodes tracing the ancestry and lineage of 11 different people. Through extensive research, interviews, and DNA analysis, Gates reveals once unknown information to the individuals in the context of American history. Actor/comedian Chris Rock was unaware that his great-great-grandfather was elected twice to the South Carolina state legislature. Actor Don Cheadle learns that his ancestors were slaves owned by Chickasaw Indians, and because Native Americans were not considered U.S. citizens at the time, the Emancipation Proclamation didn't apply to their slaves. Informative, enlightening, and emotionally powerful; mandatory viewing for all audiences. Highly recommended.-Lori Lampert, Coll. at Brockport Lib., NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
