PBS and WETA Announce Four-Part Documentary “Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History” with Henry Louis Gates Jr. to Premiere February 3, 2026 [VIDEO]

PBS and WETA today announced BLACK AND JEWISH AMERICA: AN INTERWOVEN HISTORY, a new four-part docuseries that explores the complex relationship between Black Americans and Jewish Americans – forged in shared struggle, tested by division, and representing a uniquely American experience. From executive producer, host, and writer Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the series premieres February 3, 2026, @ 9:00PM ET on PBS, PBS.org, and the PBS app, and it will run for four consecutive Tuesdays through February 24.

Black and Jewish Americans began on fundamentally different footing, but by the early 20th century, they were drawn together by entrenched racism and rising antisemitism. These shared experiences led to productive civic partnerships and sparked creative bonds that led to collaborations in music and film that would profoundly shape American popular culture. The relationship between these communities deepened after World War II, when the atrocities of the Holocaust came to light, reinforcing a sense of common struggle as both communities grappled with the devastating consequences of hatred and intolerance. The civil rights era is often described as the “golden age” of the alliance, when Jewish Americans worked closely with Black leaders and organizers to dismantle Jim Crow segregation.

While shared ideals of justice united Black and Jewish people, they were also divided by the realities of race in America. The historic alliance suffered as each group turned inward, prioritizing its own struggles and agendas in an increasingly fragmented social and political landscape. Still, the hope and promise of cross-cultural solidarity endures to this day, amid constant reminders of the persistent threat of violence and injustice in the world. BLACK AND JEWISH AMERICA offers a lesson in fulfilling that promise while confronting the challenges of maintaining unity against divisiveness.

In BLACK AND JEWISH AMERICA, Gates, the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University and director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, speaks with dozens of scholars, activists, religious leaders, and writers about the kinship between the two groups, defined by powerful moments of solidarity and painful episodes of division. Notable participants include Billy Crystal, Tony Kushner, Anna Deavere Smith, Al Sharpton, David Remnick, the children of noted civil rights figures Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Rabbi Abraham Joshua, Rabbi Israel Dresner, and more.

“This is a deeply personal subject for me,” said Henry Louis Gates, Jr. “It’s connected to my own coming of age during the heroic days of the civil rights struggle and is an urgent response to the violent forces I’ve seen reawakened in our society over the last decade. By tracing the long arc of Black and Jewish history in America, I hope we can see each other more clearly, more honestly, and find hope in our mutual stories of survival, resilience, and solidarity. But this series is not only about the past. It is about us – and how, together, we can prevail over the forces of hatred that seek to divide us.”

“As directors, it was a dream to explore a story so layered and endlessly fascinating, with countless echoes and lessons for today,” remarked directors Phil Bertelsen, Julie Marchesi, and Sara Wolitzky. “The Black-Jewish connection is complicated and was never inevitable. Our struggles overlap, but our experiences in America are distinct. And yet, the times these communities have come together, however imperfectly, produced defining art and civil rights gains in America. We were determined to tell the unvarnished story, in all its glory and messiness/complication.”

Executive Producer Dyllan McGee observed: “It’s a privilege to be collaborating on another powerful Henry Louis Gates, Jr. history series with our partners at PBS and WETA. This film is particularly poignant in a moment of divisiveness and rancor as a reminder of what’s possible when we choose to come together, even across differences. It is not just a Black and Jewish story, but a quintessentially American story.”

BLACK AND JEWISH AMERICA serves as the latest in a lengthy career of acclaimed docuseries from Gates, who has made a name for himself as one of the preeminent documentarians in public media. A collection of Gates’ most iconic documentary series including THE BLACK CHURCH, GOSPEL, BLACK AMERICA SINCE MLK, RECONSTRUCTION, and MAKING BLACK AMERICA, can be streamed with PBS Passport. In addition to his history-producing content that brings the African and African American experience to a broad audience, Gates’s slate of programming also includes the fan-favorite PBS series FINDING YOUR ROOTS WITH HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR., which recently received its second Emmy Award® nomination, and will return for its 12th season in January 2026.

Episode descriptions are provided below:

Tuesday, February 3, @ 9PM/8c – “Let My People Go”

Episode 1 explores the core differences at the start of the Black and Jewish American stories, as well as overlapping struggle, faith, resilience, and early civic partnerships by the 1920s.

Tuesday, February 10, @ 9PM/8c – “Strange Fruit”

Episode 2 spotlights how Black and Jewish communities collaborated in the early 20th century on music, movies, and the universal fight against fascism, navigating tensions while shaping culture, confronting injustice, and leaving a lasting social impact.

Tuesday, February 17, @ 9PM/8c – “The ‘Grand Alliance'”

Episode 3 traces the 1960s’ “Grand Alliance” as Black and Jewish communities fought for civil rights in a transformative interracial coalition, and the imbalances that quickly tested their alliance.

Tuesday, February 24, @ 9PM/8c – “Crossroads”

Episode 4 examines the shifting Black and Jewish relationship from the 1970s onward, exploring political gains, global tensions, rising hate, and the enduring lessons of coalition building and solidarity.

BLACK AND JEWISH AMERICA: AN INTERWOVEN HISTORY is a production of McGee Media and Inkwell Media, in association with WETA Washington, D.C. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the writer, host, and executive producer. Dyllan McGee is an executive producer. Executive in charge for PBS is Geoff Daniels. Phil Bertelsen and Sara Wolitzky are co-executive producers and directors. Julia Marchesi is a series producer and director. Rachel Dretzin is an executive producer. Deborah Clancy Porfido and Robert L. Yacyshyn are the supervising producers. Kevin Burke is a producer, and Rachel Fleischer, Bianca Ladipo, and Lauren Wimbush are co-producers. Ashley Thomas is line producer. Megan A. Graham is the supervisory archival producer and story producer. Stacey Holman and Eric Thielman are story producers.

Corporate support for BLACK AND JEWISH AMERICA: AN INTERWOVEN HISTORY was provided by Bank of America and Johnson & Johnson. The Corporation provided major support for Public Broadcasting. Major foundation support was provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Ford Foundation. Major support was also provided by The Klarman Family Foundation, Brad Bloom, Robert F. Kraft through the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, Abby Milstein and Howard Milstein – Chairman of Emigrant Bank and co-founder of HooverMilstein, Dr. Georgette Bennett in memory of Dr. Leonard Polonsky CBE, Leonard & Judy Lauder, The Ronald & Joe Carole Lauder Foundation, The Righteous Persons Foundation, and Mimi & Peter Haas Fund. Additional support was provided by The Jeffrey H. & Shari L. Aronson Family Foundation, David Berg Foundation, Kenneth & Kathryn Chenault through the Ayco Charitable Foundation, David Fialkow, Grain Family Foundation, Hobson Lucas Family Foundation, Jewish Story Partners – Co-Founders Roberta Grossman & Caroline Libresco, Van Jones – Founder of the License to Dream Fund, Laura & Gary Lauder, Carol Sutton Lewis & William M. Lewis, Jr., Joanna Lipper, Michael Lynton with Ares Management LLC, Charles E. Phillips, Regina K. Scully and Artemis Rising Foundation, Robert F. Smith, Sy Syms Foundation, The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, The Inkwell Society, together with these members – Hayward & Kathy Draper, Betsy & Jesse Fink, John H. N. Fisher & Jennifer Caldwell, Brenda Johnson, Eric G. Johnson, Mitch Kapor & Freada Klein, Jim & Susan Swartz, Richard & Kathy Taylor, Larry Thompson & Dr Unjeria Jackson, Lloyd & Teri Trotter, Charlotte Wagner, and Fletcher & Benaree Wiley, and by public television viewers.