PBS explores racial history, justice with Alicia Keys, Henry Louis Gates Jr. projects

Bill Keveney, USA TODAY
·2 min read

Black religious tradition and trailblazing Black female entertainers get the spotlight in upcoming PBS programming announced Tuesday.

The projects feature big names behind the camera: "Finding Your Roots" host Henry Louis Gates Jr. is behind "The Black Church" and music superstar Alicia Keys is producing a documentary on Lena Horne, Nina Simone and other iconic Black female artists. And a PBS kids special, due in October, will focus on conversations between adults and children about race.

During an online Television Critics Association panel substituting for the usual in-person event in Los Angeles, Gates called the 400-year history of the Black church in America a "story of grace and resilience, struggle and redemption, hope and healing."

Alicia Keys is producing a PBS documentary focus on six iconic Black female entertainers.
Alicia Keys is producing a PBS documentary focus on six iconic Black female entertainers.

He also mentioned other social justice projects he has in the works for PBS, including one about the long history of Black social protest and another looking at how the "twin pandemics" of COVID-19 and racism come together in the disparate medical outcomes for people of different races in the U.S.

He said he has "oriented our next several years of programming around issues of social equity and social justice to speak to this fragile, fraught moment in our country's history."

PBS, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, announced these programs Tuesday:

• "The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song" (Feb. 16 and 23, 9 EDT/PDT) – Gates explores the 400-year history of the Black church in America. The two-part, four-hour series features interviews with Oprah Winfrey, John Legend, Jennifer Hudson, Bishop Michael Curry, Cornel West, Pastor Shirley Caesar and Rev. Al Sharpton.

'Finding Your Roots' host Henry Louis Gates Jr. looks at the 400-year history of the Black Church in America in an upcoming two-part PBS presentation.
'Finding Your Roots' host Henry Louis Gates Jr. looks at the 400-year history of the Black Church in America in an upcoming two-part PBS presentation.

• "American Masters: How It Feels To Be Free" (Early 2021) – Keys executive produces this documentary that includes interviews with and archival performances by trailblazing Black female entertainers Horne, Simone, Abbey Lincoln, Diahann Carroll, Cicely Tyson and Pam Grier. Other interview subjects include Halle Berry, Lena Waithe, Meagan Good, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Samuel L. Jackson and Horne’s daughter, Gail Lumet Buckley.

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• “PBS KIDS Talk About: Race and Racism” (Oct. 9) – The half-hour special features children and parents talking about race and racial justice in an age-appropriate way, along with content from PBS Kids series "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood," "Arthur" and "Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum." Topics include noticing differences in race, understanding what racism can look like and understanding the importance of standing up for ourselves and each other.

• "Mr. SOUL!" (Early 2021) – This PBS "Independent Lens" offering focuses on the country's first Black variety show, "SOUL!," which premiered on public TV in 1968, and its producer and eventual host, Ellis Haizlip. Filmmaker Melissa Haizlip, his niece, includes archival footage and interviews with Black artists who appeared on "SOUL!"

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: PBS: Henry Louis Gates, Alicia Keys look at Black church, entertainers