Family Across the Sea

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Program
Family Across the Sea
Producing Organization
South Carolina Educational Television Network
Contributing Organization
South Carolina ETV (Columbia, South Carolina)
The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia (Athens, Georgia)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip-41-56932dxj
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Description
Program Description
"Family Across the Sea is a documentary exploring the cultural, historical, and linguistic connections between the 'Gullah' people of the Southeastern United States, and the people of Sierra Leone in West Africa. It reveals how scholarly research can have profound personal effects on individuals from both cultures. "The Gullah, rural blacks descended from rice plantations slaves, possess a unique culture that has flourished in isolation. For centuries scholars have studied the Gullah people, their odd dialect, and folkways. But scholars mostly considered these as degenerate imitations of Europeanisms. Recently, however, revisionist scholars have re-examined the Gullah, discovering surprising links to their African ancestors in Sierra Leone. West Africans here have [practiced] rice cultivation for centuries, and it was their knowledge of rice that made them valuable to Europeans who lacked the same. "The documentary takes a conventional look at the history, but also follows a group of Gullah people on a journey to their homeland where they are eagerly welcomed by their brothers and sisters. On the same trip, they confront their fore-parents enslavement in a Sierra Leone slave fort. The Gullah delegation learns that they have a history far beyond slavery. For the Africans, it gives them an understanding of where and why their people were taken away. For both, the knowledge tells them of their collective strength of their people. "The program appears to be having a significant affect both upon African-American and non-black viewers who have seen it. The evidence of such strong ties to a particular part of Africa gives to the Gullah a feeling of strong identity and a reshaped view toward themselves. For Non-blacks, the connection reveals the strength of character in blacks that was never before known. Some have commented that they previously considered the ways of the Gullah to be born of ignorance; now the see them as legitimate cultural makers as valid as their own. "Word of the program has traveled across the nation. Since its initial showing in South Carolina, we have received dozens of inquires regarding availability and re-broadcast. Most of the inquiries are from schools wanting to include it in curriculum. A study guide is currently under development to handle the demand. PBS will make the program available nationally in February, 1990. The number of station inquiries and publicity requests leads us to anticipate heavy airplay across the country in addition, the program has begun sparking related news stories around the country, after only local air in South Carolina."--1990 Peabody Awards entry form.
Broadcast Date
1990-10-19
Created Date
2000-01-10
Asset type
Program
Media type
Moving Image
Duration
01:03:57.133
Credits
Director: MIMI
Producing Organization: South Carolina Educational Television Network
AAPB Contributor Holdings
South Carolina Network (SCETV) (WRLK)
Identifier: cpb-aacip-6d4949ffa33 (Filename)
Format: Betacam: SP
Generation: Dub
Duration: 01:00:00:00
The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia
Identifier: cpb-aacip-33724779313 (Filename)
Format: U-matic
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Citations
Chicago: “Family Across the Sea,” 1990-10-19, South Carolina ETV, The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed December 2, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-41-56932dxj.
MLA: “Family Across the Sea.” 1990-10-19. South Carolina ETV, The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. December 2, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-41-56932dxj>.
APA: Family Across the Sea. Boston, MA: South Carolina ETV, The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-41-56932dxj