Who Needs Insomnia?

Again, I love February! I fell asleep watching PBS last night, and I am so bummed I missed so much! Black History month has been fun to celebrate and enjoy through PBS this month so far.

Please watch your local stations for the incredible series called "African American Lives 2". Click here for details. Just click "play" on the little clip, and you will get a very good overview of the series. Very simply, it is genealogy. The narrator has chosen a few prominent African American celebrities and traced their roots, and found some incredible things. For instance, Don Cheadle's family was owned by Chickasaw Indians in Oklahoma! When the Emancipation Proclamation was declared, the Indians were sovereign and didn't have to comply to that order, and didn't. His family remained slaves in a no-man's-land kind of situation for 30 more years. Amazing!

Morgan Freeman. His last name comes from the Emancipation Proclamation. Many freed slaves changed their names to reflect a new identity, and Freeman was his ancestors chosen name. Also, his great great grandmother was in an interracial "marriage" that was never sanctioned by anybody. But from looking closely, it is obvious this woman and her man loved each other and lived together for 35 years, and were buried next to each other. Her last name on the tombstone is his last name. It was touching to see.

Chris Rock showed his tender side when he was told his great great grandfather enlisted as a soldier in the black army to fight for the freedom of slaves. When the war was over and reconstruction was the big hope of the south, he became a state senator! Once reconstruction came to an end, he was destitute. It is amazing history.

I totally recommend this series. Mainly, it is so interesting, yet not with an angry tone or an ax to grind. It is an appreciation of the history of African Americans, where they came from, how they worked hard for the future, and had hope for the future.

After that was over, then came the documentary on William Wilberforce, the Briton who was a staunch abolitionist, and fought hard for the rights of slaves. This show is not for youngsters-- there is nothing gratuitous but certainly recounted stories of slave abuse that might be too much for kids. What is so cool, he was a staunch Christian as well. The statement that rang in my ears the best before I fell asleep was, "Here is a man of faith, who used that to make social change."

Amen.

I am sure all this month, these two shows will be repeated. I know the "African American Lives 2" is on at three in the morning in a few days. Please tivo it. It is amazing.

I will be purchasing soon the DVD set of "African American Lives" that first aired in 2006 as well as this one. It is so interesting, and something I can share with the kids. This series is absolutely appropriate for children, and would be a great history lesson this month.