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History of Black Achievement in America Season 1 Episodes

2011-2018
1 Season
Syndie
Documentary

Watchlist
Where to Watch

An eight-part series that spotlights the story of black achievement and accomplishment.

Season 1 Episode Guide

Season 1

9 Episodes 2005 - 0

Episode 1

Settling the New World and Founding the United States of America

Tue, Feb 1, 2011 30 mins

Part 1 of 8. An overview of black history, beginning with the years 1619 to 1770. Included: the arrival of blacks to the Jamestown colony; Virginia's general assembly passing the slave codes in 1705; and Crispus Attucks, the first casualty of the American Revolution (he was killed during the 1770 Boston Massacre).

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Episode 2

Emergence of the Black Hero

Tue, Feb 8, 2011 30 mins

Part 2 of 8. 1772-1849: the settling of Chicago; the founding of the African Grove Theatre in New York in 1821. Also: Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad.

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Episode 3

The Fight for Freedom

Tue, Feb 15, 2011 30 mins

Part 3 of 8. The years 1851-69. Included: Sojourner Truth's Ain't I a Woman? speech; the founding of Lincoln University; the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision; the Emancipation Proclamation.

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Episode 4

Blacks Enter the Gilded Age

Tue, Feb 22, 2011 30 mins

Part 4 of 8. 1875-96: the election of former slave Robert Smalls to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1875; Booker T. Washington opening Tuskegee Institute in 1881; Granville T. Woods and the telegraph system; Plessy v. Ferguson, an 1896 Supreme Court case that upheld segregation.

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Episode 5

The Foundation for Equality

Tue, Mar 1, 2011 30 mins

Part 5 of 8. 1904-26: Matthew Henson reaching the North Pole in 1909; W.E.B. DuBois and the NAACP; the Harlem renaissance; Satchel Paige and the Negro Baseball Leagues.

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Episode 6

Depression and War

Tue, Mar 8, 2011 30 mins

Part 6 of 8. 1935-43: Jesse Owens and Joe Louis; Hattie McDaniel winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for "Gone With the Wind"; Duke Ellington's 1943 performance of "Black, Brown, and Beige" at Carnegie Hall.

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Episode 7

Civil Rights

Tue, Mar 15, 2011 30 mins

Part 7 of 8. 1950-63: Ralph Bunche receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950; Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas; tennis player Althea Gibson; Lorraine Hansberry's play "A Raisin in the Sun"; Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech.

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Episode 8

A New Age

Tue, Mar 22, 2011 30 mins

Conclusion. 1967-2004: Muhammad Ali's refusal to be inducted into the Army; Thurgood Marshall becoming the first black Supreme Court justice; the miniseries "Roots"; Colin Powell becoming secretary of state.

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Episode 9

The Barack Obama Era

Fri, Feb 23, 2018 30 mins

Included: the presidential election of Barack Obama; the new wave of black literature; tech entrepreneur Tristan Walker; the National Museum of African American History and Culture; and "Hidden Figures."

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