Black In Latin America: Haiti & The Dominican Republic: An Island Divided

"Black In Latin America," a new four-part series on the influence of African descent on Latin America, is the latest documentary film from renowned Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., presenter and writer of the acclaimed PBS series "African American Lives" (2006), Oprah’s "Roots" (2007), "African American Lives Two" (2008), "Looking For Lincoln" (2009), and "Faces Of America" (2010).

Professor Gates’ journey discovers, behind a shared legacy of colonialism and slavery, vivid stories and people marked by African roots. He introduces viewers to the faces and voices of the descendants of the Africans in six Latin-American countries, who created these worlds. He shows the similarities and distinctions between these cultures and how the New-World manifestations are rooted in, but distinct from, their African antecedents.

A quest he began 12 years ago with "Wonders Of The African World" comes full circle in "Black In Latin America," an effort to discover how Africa and Europe combined to create the vibrant cultures of Latin America, with a rich legacy of thoughtful, articulate subjects whose stories are astonishingly moving and irresistibly compelling.

"Haiti & The Dominican Republic: An Island Divided"

In the Dominican Republic, professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores how race has been socially constructed in a society whose people reflect centuries of inter-marriage, and how the country's troubled history with Haiti informs notions about racial classification.

In Haiti, Professor Gates tells the story of the birth of the first-ever black republic, and finds out how the slaves' hard fought liberation over Napoleon Bonaparte's French Empire became a double-edged sword.

Up Next:

"Black In Latin America: Cuba: The Next Revolution" will air on Tuesday, April 26 at 9 p.m.

"Black In Latin America: Brazil: A Racial Paradise?" will air on Tuesday, May 3, at 9 p.m.

"Black In Latin America: Mexico & Peru: The Black Grandma In The Closet" will air on Tuesday, May 10, at 9 p.m.