In this media gallery, you will find a series of videos from The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross that examines the major movements and turning points in African American history from 1968 to the present, including the Black Panthers and the Black Power movement, Afrocentricity in culture, the rise of the black middle class, the development of hip hop culture, the effects of the War on Drugs, and the election of Barack Obama. As you view the videos, consider the legacy of the civil rights movement, the tensions that emerged from the progress made, and how they reshaped the African American experience.

Noted Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. recounts the full trajectory of African-American history in his groundbreaking series The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross. The series explores the evolution of the African-American people, as well as the multiplicity of cultural institutions, political strategies, and religious and social perspectives they developed — forging their own history, culture and society against unimaginable odds.

Using video clips from The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross, this collection of lesson plans addresses a wide range of themes of the African-American experience from 1500 to the present.

This video segment from Weston Woods presents the story of Duke by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney, and is about Duke Ellington, one of the founding fathers of jazz. When Duke Ellington was young, his parents wanted him to learn to play the piano. Although he began lessons, he was soon lured away by his love of baseball. Later, as a teenager he heard the new musical style called "ragtime" and he was inspired once again to learn to play piano. Soon, he created his own style of music using "hops" and "slides" on the piano. He became a popular entertainer with a flair that attracted many fans.

Learn the story of Ella Baker, the unsung hero of the civil rights movement who founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1960, in this video from The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross.

Understanding saving, investments and retirement can sometimes be a challenge to young people when their immediate needs and wants easily outweigh long-term financial planning. Riza Laudin, an economics teacher at Herricks High School in Long Island, New York, helps students make personal connections to the benefits of saving early through a lesson on the time value of money. In this lesson, Ana begins saving at age 22 for twelve years, while Shawn saves from ages 34 to 65. Students are challenged to predict who was the better saver. Understanding and applying the principles of compound interest, students learn a new strategy for saving and begin to contemplate their own financial futures.