The Black Church in Detroit

A Yearlong Initiative of Detroit Public TV

The signature event in the PBS winter season is the eagerly awaited series by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., “The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song.” This landmark four-hour series traces the 400-year-old saga of the Black Church in America and its role as the bedrock institution of African American endurance, grace, freedom and solidarity through times of joy and times of turmoil.

It will air on Detroit Public TV and other PBS stations on Feb. 16 and 17, 2021 at 9pm ET.

But more than just showcasing this achievement in public broadcasting, DPTV will be bringing the story home through a series of reports on the historic importance and continuing influence of the Black Church in Detroit.

And what better place to showcase this content than on “American Black Journal,” the nation’s longest running news show devoted to the African American experience? Starting on Sunday, Feb. 14, the show will feature in-depth and heartfelt explorations of the dramatic and decisive role that the Black church has played in the history of the city.

These discussions will be led by the host of “American Black Journal,” Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Stephen Henderson.

The series is being produced in partnership with the Ecumenical Theological Seminary and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, and it is being informed with input and guidance from a range of church and civic leaders representing the diversity of  theology and thought in the city.

“The Black Church in Detroit” is not intended to be a one-time, Black History Month special. Rather, it is a year-long commitment to telling a story of the religious institutions that served have serve the community well from the days of the underground railroad through the struggle for social justice and the ongoing quest for a better and more equitable future.