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Many Rivers to Cross
African-American history has played an integral role in the shaping of politics, economics, and culture in the United States. Growing up, how did you learn about the accomplishments and struggles of African Americans? Were you in a classroom? Reading a book? Talking with relatives or friends? How has your understanding or knowledge of African-American history changed and/or developed over time? What do you think is the most effective way to pass along this rich and growing history to future generations?

Donna Iglesias

First of all, I would like to thank PBS & Henry Louis Gates Jr. because this informative, educational collaboration is one of the most effective ways to pass along this rich and growing history to future generations. That’s the issue why it is still growing, because as we research we learn more of a history that has lost its culture, as well as ancestral origin. Sadly it is still lost to a lot of African Americans, & I feel that the American school system is partly responsible. I was only a little girl that muggy Friday afternoon, when Martin Luther King Jr. stepped out of the car that had ferried him to Marquette Park on Chicago’s Southwest Side to lead a march of about 700 in 1966…..As I held my father’s hand tight, I looked up and asked “Who is that, daddy?? and Why is all those people following him??” My Father laughed and said “That is who daddy has come to see”. That day began a journey to self knowledge of my people’s history in America!

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