WOUB to participate in sixth annual Athens School District Black History Month event with screening of PBS’ “Great Migrations”

WOUB Public Media is partnering with the Athens City School District, the Mount Zion Black Cultural Center, and the Southeast �� History Center to celebrate Black History Month with a screening of an excerpt of PBS’s "Great Migrations" during the District's Andrew Jackson Davidson's Clubs’ sixth annual Black History Month event on Feb. 18.

The "Great Migrations" docuseries, from executive producer, host, and writer Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., tells the story of African American movement over the 20th and 21st centuries, and how it has shaped our nation by exploring the meaning behind those movements. After emancipation, the migratory spirit took hold in this new space of freedom, and many African Americans uprooted themselves from all that was familiar to move to northern cities (sometimes stopping first in southern cities) to build entirely new lives – a decision that dramatically changed the fabric of American culture and society. It was an epic migration of people that began in the late 19th century when it was clear that the early promises of Reconstruction would not be fulfilled and accelerated as the century progressed. Underlying this courageous act was the abiding belief in American opportunity, as well as a belief in their own capacity to better their lives, and the lives of their children. In some ways, it has never really ended.

Throughout "Great Migrations," Gates, the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University and director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, interviews dozens of journalists, scholars, professors, and experts. The series includes notable figures including political leader Stacey Abrams, artist George F. Baker III, journalist Charles Blow, and more.

The event, which is being presented by the Athens City School District’s Andrew Jackson Davidson (AJD) Clubs, will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 18, in the Athens Middle School (AMS) Auditorium, 51-55 W. State Street, in Athens. The program will begin at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. It will honor Black community builders of Athens. There will be musical performances andthe AJD Clubs’ students will unveil the Eastside Window Mural they crafted under the direction of artist Keith Wilde for the Mount Zion Black Cultural Center. A reception will follow in the AMS cafeteria.

Corporate support for "Great Migrations: People on the Move" is provided by Bank of America, Ford Motor Company and Johnson & Johnson. Major support is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Support is also provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Ford Foundation. Additional support was provided by the Inkwell Society together with many of its members, and by public television viewers. For a complete list of funders, please contact McGee Media.

About the Andrew Jackson Davidson Clubs
The Andrew Jackson Davison Club was founded in 2019 by 10 eighth graders. Davison was the first Black attorney in Athens, but his portrait was excluded from the 1876 composite portrait of the Athens Bar Association that is on display in our Courthouse. The students successfully worked to install Davison's portrait next to the composite portrait. To share this story with the community, the Andrew Jackson Davison Club hosted the First Black History Month Community Celebration, which has become the AJD Clubs' signature event. There are now three clubs in three different schools. The AJD Clubs continue to host the Annual Black History Month Community Celebration while learning about and engaging in local history and history projects.

About the Southeast �� History Center
The Mission of the Southeast �� History Center is to collect, share, and preserve our region’s unique cultural and natural heritage.

We seek to use history as a powerful tool to help Southeast ��ans celebrate their identities, develop critical thinking skills, and inspire them to lead and to leave a legacy for their families and communities by serving educators and students, researchers, regional history organizations, public policy makers, and members of the general public through relevant programs and events that equip educators, challenge and inspire students, and engage our communities.

About the Mount Zion Black Culture Center
The Mount Zion Black Culture Center aims to preserve the Mount Zion Baptist Church as a community-wide asset and multi-use venue that recognizes the contributions, history and ongoing concerns of Black Americans in Southeast �� and throughout the Appalachian region.

Learn more about WOUB here.

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