“The first step toward tolerance is respect and the first step toward respect is knowledge.” -Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. What is the Inkwell Society? Inkwell Society is a group of committed donors who are passionate about the important work of Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in partnership with McGee Media and the public broadcasting station, WETA. They are dedicated to promoting and funding Dr. Gates’s pipeline of films that examine the rich history of this country and the African American experience. Inkwell Society members support the production of these high-quality, impactful films, as well as accompanying educational outreach materials, digital and social media activities, and community engagement.
Fall 2021 Edition
INKWELLNEWS
Making Black America: Through The Grapevine Production Update
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aking Black America: Through the Grapevine aims to take viewers into an extraordinary world that highlights Black people’s ability to collectively prosper, defy white supremacy and define Blackness in ways that transformed America itself. During the height of the worldwide COVID pandemic in spring 2020, our team went to work to figure out how best to shoot the interviews and scenes needed for the series with strict safety protocols for our crew and interview subjects. We conducted interviews with over 80 scholars, experts and eyewitnesses to history. McGee Media’s archival team has been hard at work gathering archival photographs, home video footage and news clips to help illuminate the vivid moments of Black life throughout history. A composer and music supervisor are working to help bring these stories to life musically. And a graphics team is helping to illustrate the words and images in a new and exciting style. We wrapped principal photography in August and expect to finish post-production in the fall of 2021. The series will be delivered to PBS by the end of the year and will premiere in 2022.
2021 Pen/Audible Literacy Service Award: Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
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r. Gates was presented with the PEN Literary Service Award by a former professor, Wole Soyinka, and a former student, Jodie Foster. They praised him not only for his influential mentorship and friendship over the years but for widening the landscape of African American culture through your academic research and media. His remarks expanded on PEN’s motto “the freedom to write” in relation to African American identity and history. Dr. Gates later adapted his remarks into an essay published in the New York Times titled “Henry Louis Gates Jr. on Literary Freedom as an Essential Human Right.” “Social identities can connect us in multiple and overlapping ways; they are not protected but betrayed when we turn them into silos with sentries. The freedom to write can thrive only if we protect the freedom to read — and to learn. And perhaps the first thing to
learn, in these storm-battered days, is that we could all do with more humility, and more humanity.” For further information, please click here.
Coming Soon The History of Gospel and Black Preaching
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his follow-up to the hit PBS series, The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song, will offer viewers a rich exploration of African American religion’s two transcendent gifts to national and world culture: gospel music and the Black preaching tradition. We want to document Black Preaching historically, politically, culturally, theologically and, not least, as an art form of astounding human creativity. Our aspiration is to also present viewers with a genealogy of gospel music that reveals its connections to so many aspects of American life, from sanctuaries to mass gatherings to cross-over artists who have embedded the gospel tradition in nearly every form of popular culture. This four-hour documentary event, in giving equal focus to the history of Black music and preaching, will put the genius of the Black Church front and center and, through interviews, performances and personal reflections, show how indelible it is to the larger American story.
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High on the Hog Celebration Dinner with Dr. Jessica Harris
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e were honored to celebrate Dr. Jessica B. Harris this past August at our High on the Hog Dinner. It was a spectacular gathering of local Inkwell friends on the vineyard. With special guest, Chef Omar Tate, we engaged in a curated dinner and discussion between Dr. Gates and Dr. Harris. We also enjoyed music and singing by Fred Yonnet and Grace Gibson. Finding Your Roots guest Questlove was
also in attendance. A special thank you to Jim and Susan Swartz, Geralyn Dreyfous, Sarah and Bob Nixon, Chef Omar Tate, and Dr. Jessica Harris for making this event a success. We hope to host more in-person Inkwell events and see each of you soon, but meanwhile we are planning an exciting virtual event for early 2022.
Finding Your Roots Season 8 Finding Your Roots, the groundbreaking genealogy series, will broadcast its eighth season beginning on January 4, 2022! As we prepare for this upcoming season’s premiere, we are excited to announce our special guests include Pamela Adlon, Erin Burnett, Amy Carlson, David Chang, Terry Crews, Brittany Packnett Cunningham, Lee Daniels, Tony Danza, Raúl Esparza, Kathryn Hahn, Rebecca Hall, Anita Hill, Regina King, Nathan Lane, John Leguizamo, Damon Lindelof, Mario Lopez, Leslie Odom, Jr., André Leon Talley, Melissa Villaseñor and Lena Waithe.
Thank You
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our generosity allows Dr. Henry Louis “Skip” Gates, Jr. and McGee Media to continue to produce the #1 limited series on PBS, Finding Your Roots, and innovative and compelling historical documentaries that reveal powerful stories about the African American experience. We aim to produce MEMBERS Roger Altman and Jurate Kazickas Anonymous Georgette Bennett and Leonard Polonsky Lloyd Carney Joanne L. Cassullo Richard Cohen Nicole Commissiong and Darnell Armstrong David M. Cote Geralyn Dreyfous Beth R. DeWoody/Beth Rudin DeWoody Foundation David and Nina Fialkow Jesse Fink John H. Fisher and Jennifer Caldwell Nancy Garvey Benjamin A. and Felicia Horowitz
content that informs and elevates national conversations around race, identity and social justice issues. We hope the content we produce educates and inspires our viewers. The Inkwell Society is critical to our success. We appreciate you!!!
Grant S. Johnson Mitch Kapor and Freada Klein Demond and Kia Martin Howard and Abby Milstein Sarah and Bob Nixon Peter and Gwen Norton Deval L. Patrick Steve Rattner Sheryl Sandberg and Tom Bernthal Peter Schwabach and Misan Sagay Robert F. Smith Josh Steiner Jim and Susan Swartz Richard and Kathy Taylor Candace King Weir Fletcher and Benaree Wiley Anne Wojcicki
MAJOR FUNDERS Ancestry AT&T Bank of America Carnegie Corporation Ford Foundation Gilder Foundation Johnson & Johnson John S. and James Knight Foundation Lilly Endowment Inc. Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Open Society Foundations The Zegar Family Foundation
As always, we are happy to hear from you! For more information, CONTACT please contact Danielle Manning-Halsey, Senior Director, Principal and Major Gifts, at dmanninghalsey@weta.org or by phone at 703-998-2812. You may also head over to our website: https://weta.org/inkwellsociety. 3