New Henry Louis Gates Jr project documents 500 years of black history

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Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr.  and his collaborator Dr. Donald Yacovone have exciting findings for African-American history buffs in his new book and six-part PBS documentary entitled The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross.

Surprising finds

Both the book and the documentary cover African-American history from the 1500s to present day.  That 1500s starting point is in itself a new revelation for most people. “Many of us were told that black history in this country began in 1619 when 20 Africans arrived in Jamestown, but a black conquistador Juan Garrido actually came to what is now the United States in the early 1500s,” said Gates in an exclusive interview with theGrio.

“Our black conquistador, a free black man, is all new information for most people. That was an amazing find.  The first slaves, who were also pre-Jamestown, didn’t arrive until about 20 years after Garrido. I wanted to show the complexity of the black experience in the New World.“  Garrido led a life full of Caribbean adventures, including joining in conquests alongside Juan Ponce de León.

A slave-owning black man

Another interesting story that can be found in The African Americans is that of Anthony Johnson. Originally known as Antoney and possibly one of those 20 Africans who arrived in Jamestown in 1619, this man owned 250 acres of land by 1635.

“Not only did this brother have 250 acres of land, he had white indentured servants and he also had a slave,” said Gates who noted that the black slave took Jordan to court to be considered an indentured servant like the white people and the court sided with Jordan. The slave remained a slave.  Jordan’s son and grandson were also land-owning black men.

Unfortunately, when Jordan died in 1670, a white man was allowed to seize his property because under the law at that time Jordan was a black man, he was not a citizen and so his family had no rights to keep the property.

Despair and Triumph

Anthony Johnson’s story alone is full of enough triumph and tragedy to fill up a book and his is just one story in a narrative that begins in the 16^th century and continues today. Right now, African-American historical dramas are all the rage in Hollywood with the Butler and 12 Years a Slave garnering high praise, but one oft-heard criticism of such work is that it gets tiring to only see sad, “we shall overcome” type of stories when it comes to African-American history.

“I don’t want to only see the sad stories either. These 500 years have been replete with despair, but also joy and triumph. If all we think of when thinking of black history is the struggle, then we’re missing quite a bit. There’s joy in the African-American experience. Go to church or a blues club or a hip-hop club and you’ll see it, hear it and feel it. We need stories about black people examining their blackness and we also [need to hear] when black people are not talking about being black. We also must document the times when we are talking ’bout love or children or other everyday parts of our lives.  We have to include all of those stories,” said Gates.

Turning 500 years of history into one book

Jane Landers of Vanderbilt University is the one who made the Juan Garrido find and she is just one of 40 experts who contributed to the seven years of research that made these two complementary projects a reality.

“It’s impossible to tell every single story in the 500 year span of African-American history, so we used our 40 experts to help us figure out which stories to include. We mapped out the documentary first and wrote the book around the series to complement it,” said the Harvard professor.

According to Gates, the book and the series are suitable teaching materials for middle school, high school and college.

The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross is available now online and in book stores.  The six-part PBS documentary of the same name will air every Tuesday from October 22nd through November 26^th.

Follow Demetria Irwin on Twitter at @Love_Is_Dope and connect with her on Facebook.