This resource bank will provide a broad view of pre-Civil war history, one that tells how both Africans and Europeans struggled to define freedom and how together they created a new nation, one that presents many heretofore hidden stories. A historical essay will provide an orientation to the relevant people, events, and issues for each period. Sample lesson plans for each period will model how teachers can integrate the resource bank into their classroom lessons. The Youth Initiative includes eight urban communities nationally where young people are creating their own history projects that will be used to foster community discussions about race and American identity. The Africans in America Youth Council is a diverse team of Boston teenagers who are working with WGBH staff to shape the national outreach activities in order to engage youth from a variety of cultures.
Educators can tape programs off the air for one year after broadcast.
Videocassettes will be available for purchase through PBS video. NPR Companion Pieces NPR will draw on the Africans in America core research and scholarship as they produce a set of radio features exploring Race and American Identity. A soundtrack CD , featuring music composed, complied, and produced by Bernice Johnson Reagon, will be released by WGBH Records in Fall 1998. Major funding for Africans in America is provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities. National sponsorship is provided by Bankers Trust and the Fannie Mae Foundation.