Ep 4. Beyond the Middle Passage

Beyond the Middle Passage is the fourth episode of season one of the documentary series African American Lives. In this episode, host Henry Louis Gates Jr. continues his exploration of African American genealogy and history by focusing on the post-slavery era.

Gates speaks with three guests who share their family stories and reveal how they have traced their ancestry back to the time period following the end of the transatlantic slave trade. The episode also examines the migration of African Americans from the rural south to northern cities during the Great Migration.

Gates first speaks with Reverend Dr. R. Drew Smith, a professor of African American studies and the co-author of the book Freedom's Racial Frontier: African Americans in the Twentieth-Century West. Smith’s research illuminates the experiences of African Americans in the American West during the period immediately following the Civil War. Smith's family includes a number of black cowboys in his ancestry, and he explores how they navigated the dangerous cattle drives of the time and carved out a piece of the West for themselves.

Next, Gates speaks with actor Don Cheadle, best known for his performances in popular films like Hotel Rwanda and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Cheadle recounts his journey to learn more about his family history, which included a trip to Angola to visit a slave fortress that was once a hub for the transatlantic slave trade. From there, Cheadle describes how his ancestors were brought to the Americas and how he was able to track down records to piece together their story.

Finally, Gates speaks with scholar and writer NEH Professor Martha S. Jones, who is the Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor and Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University. Jones is working on a book about the role of African American women in the struggle for suffrage and voting rights during the Reconstruction era following the Civil War. She tells Gates about her own family history, which includes a great-grandmother who was born into slavery and who used the freedom granted to her after the Civil War to become a schoolteacher.

Throughout the episode, Gates weaves together the stories of these three guests with broader historical context about the challenges facing African Americans in the wake of slavery. He examines the ways in which segregation, discrimination, and Jim Crow laws continued to impede black progress, both in the South and in the North.

Beyond the Middle Passage is a compelling dive into the post-slavery era and the ways in which African Americans worked to build a life for themselves and their families in the face of adversity. Through the stories of these three fascinating individuals, viewers gain a deeper understanding of the ongoing legacy of slavery and racism in America.