SNCC 50th Anniversary Conference Closing Program: Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon. "I am standing on ground plowed by people before I came into being." She describes her deep involvement with the freedom struggle in Albany, Georgia. A noted scholar of Black music, she says that the spirituals, often thought of as old people's music, "leaped into service in jail cells in the 1960s." The cultural history of Black people has always reflected what Black people expect from life on earth. Her presentation in song and spoken word outlines the history expressed by Black spiritual music and how it connects to contemporary struggle. "You will not be able to get through your life if you dismiss the ground you're standing on." [88 minutes]

Dirt And Deeds in Mississippi reveals the extraordinary story of a Delta community called Mileston in which 100 sharecropping families gained control of 10,000 acres of some of the best land in the state as a result of a radical New Deal era experiment in the 1930’s and in turn, became leaders of the movement in the 1960s. The film also presents new information about the infamous case of the three young activists murdered during Freedom Summer in 1964. [1 hour 23 minutes]

SNCC 50th Anniversary Conference Freedom Concert. Featured Musicians: Hot 8 Brass Band, SNCC Freedom Singers. Bernice Johnson Reagon explains the origin of the SNCC Freedom Singers. She introduces a brief video of Cordell Reagon who organized the singers with Charles Sherrod. Many well known activists participate in the session including Guy Carawan who introduced We Shall Overcome to SNCC in 1960 Folk singer Len Chandler, a regular presence at protests and rallies, explains singing freedom songs: "When you hear something twice, sing it!" [108 minutes]

Homecoming is the first film to explore the rural roots of African American life. It chronicles the generations-old struggle of African Americans for land of their own which pitted them against both the Southern white power structure and the federal agencies responsible for helping them. Director Charlene Gilbert weaves this history together with a fond portrait of her own Georgia farming family into what she calls, "A story of land and love." [57 minutes]

'Into the Fire' examines the most tumultuous and consequential period in African-American history: the Civil War and the end of slavery, and Reconstruction's thrilling but brief 'moment in the sun.' From the beginning, African Americans were agents of their liberation - by fleeing the plantations and taking up arms to serve in the United States Colored Troops. After Emancipation, African Americans sought to realize the promise of freedom - rebuilding families shattered by slavery; demanding economic, political and civil rights; even winning elected office - but a few years later, an intransigent South mounted a swift and vicious campaign of terror to restore white supremacy and roll back African-American rights. Yet the achievements of Reconstruction remained in the collective memory of the African-American community. [57 minutes]

Henry Louis Gates Jr. presents a vital new four-hour documentary series on Reconstruction: America After the Civil War. The series explores the transformative years following the American Civil War, when the nation struggled to rebuild itself in the face of profound loss, massive destruction, and revolutionary social change. [56 minutes]

Henry Louis Gates Jr. presents a vital new four-hour documentary series on Reconstruction: America After the Civil War. The series explores the transformative years following the American Civil War, when the nation struggled to rebuild itself in the face of profound loss, massive destruction, and revolutionary social change. [56 minutes]

Henry Louis Gates Jr. presents a vital new four-hour documentary series on Reconstruction: America After the Civil War. The series explores the transformative years following the American Civil War, when the nation struggled to rebuild itself in the face of profound loss, massive destruction, and revolutionary social change. [56 minutes]

Henry Louis Gates Jr. presents a vital new four-hour documentary series on Reconstruction: America After the Civil War. The series explores the transformative years following the American Civil War, when the nation struggled to rebuild itself in the face of profound loss, massive destruction, and revolutionary social change. [56 minutes]