BLACK AND JEWISH AMERICA: AN INTERWOVEN HISTORY Series Coming to PBS

PBS and WETA will release Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History, a new four-part docuseries that explores the complex relationship between Black Americans and Jewish Americans. From executive producer, host, and writer Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the series premieres February 3, 2026, at 9:00 p.m. 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.

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 actor Billy Crystal, playwright 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.”  

Black and Jewish America serves as the latest in a lengthy career of acclaimed docuseries from Gates, which also includes THE BLACK CHURCH, GOSPEL, BLACK AMERICA SINCE MLK, RECONSTRUCTION, and MAKING BLACK AMERICA, which 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 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

Tuesday, February 3, at 9/8c - “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, at 9/8c - “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, at 9/8c - “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, at 9/8c - “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.