What To Watch Tuesday: PBS’s ‘The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song’

One of tonight’s TV highlights includes “THE BLACK CHURCH: THIS IS OUR STORY, THIS IS OUR SONG,” airing Tuesday, February 16 and Wednesday, February 17 on PBS.

From Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr, who is the host, the special looks into the history of the Black church which spans 400 years. The documentary reveals how Black people have worshipped and, through their spiritual journeys, improvised ways to bring their faith traditions from Africa to the New World, while translating them into a form of Christianity that was not only truly their own, but a redemptive force for a nation whose original sin was found in their ancestors’ enslavement across the Middle Passage.

Featuring interviews from Oprah Winfrey; John Legend; Jennifer Hudson; Bishop Michael Curry of The Episcopal Church; Yolanda Adams, Pastor Shirley Caesar; BeBe Winans; Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. William Barber II; Cornel West; and many more. Through their interviews, viewers will be transported by the songs that speak to one’s soul, by preaching styles that have moved congregations and a nation, and by beliefs and actions that drew African Americans from the violent margins of society to the front lines of change.

The series continues with the Black church expanding its reach to address social inequality and minister to those in need, from the exodus out of the Jim Crow South during the Great Migration to the heroic phase of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and ‘60s. After the violent loss of leaders like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., many Black churches found themselves at a crossroads — struggling to remain relevant in an era of increasing secularization while reckoning with urgent social and cultural issues within their congregations and broader communities. The series brings the story of the Black Church up to the present — a time of renewed struggle for racial justice in America.