Plot Synopsis

From executive producer, host and writer Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., MAKING BLACK AMERICA: THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE is a four-part series that features Gates and directors Stacey L. Holman and Shayla Harris, who chronicle the vast social networks and organizations created by and for Black people beyond the reach of the "white gaze." The series recounts the establishment of the Prince Hall Masons in 1775 through the formation of all-Black towns and business districts, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, destinations for leisure, and the social media phenomenon of Black Twitter. Gates sits with noted scholars, politicians, cultural leaders, and old friends to discuss this world behind the color line and what it looks like today. MAKING BLACK AMERICA takes viewers into an extraordinary world that showcases Black people's ability to collectively prosper, defy white supremacy and define Blackness in ways that transformed America itself. Premieres 9-10pm on PBS (check local listings) on Tuesdays, October 4, 11, 18 and 25, 2022:

Episode 1 (Tuesday, October 4, 2022): Exploring how free Black people in the North and South built towns, established schools and held conventions, creating networks to address the political, economic and social needs of the Black community.

Episode 2 (Tuesday, October 11, 2022): How Blacks created a community that sustained and empowered, from HBCUs to Black businesses and Harlem Renaissance to political organizations.

Episode 3 (Tuesday, October 18, 2022): To survive economic disaster, Blacks rely on informal economies, grassroots organizations and cultural innovations to dismantle the realities of Jim Crow.

Episode 4 (Tuesday, October 25, 2022): Despite the gains of legal desegregation, hour four reveals how Black political and cultural movements -- from Black Power to Black Twitter -- provide a safe space to debate, organize and celebrate.