

Explores the transformative impact of Black migration on American culture and society. From the waves of Black Americans to the North—and back South—over the last century to the growing number of immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean today, movement is a defining feature of the Black experience.

Episode one of Great Migrations explores the first wave of the Great Migration (1910-1940), a collective leap into the unknown as more than a million Black Americans fled the Jim Crow South for the promised lands of the North. In the face of some of the country’s worst racist violence, these migrants established thriving Black neighborhoods, wielded political power, and redefined American culture.
Aired: 1/28/2025
Episode 2 of Great Migrations explores the second wave of the Great Migration (1940-1970) within the context of World War II and its aftermath. It traces how Northern and Western Black communities evolved through migration, which intensified housing tensions while also transforming the cultural and political power of Black America.