Multimedia Collection

The Story of English: Black on White

DVD
59 min
1986
PE1075 .S76 2007 DVD

The Story of English has little to do with dictionaries, official documents, or highbrow literature. It is a tale of language used for immediate needs - in street talk, popular entertainment, war, and trade - and it covers more than a millennium of civilization's ebb and flow. Vividly capturing a sense of global dynamics, the series travels to 16 countries and across 5 continents as it follows the evolutionary path of the first worldwide language.

  • Chapter 1: The Birth of Black English Black English is a separate and distinct branch of the standard language family; its roots reach back to Africa.
  • Chapter 2: African Language Connections and the Slave Trade Black English includes the dialect-based influences of Gullah, pidgin English, and Creole, examined here in their African and American contexts.
  • Chapter 3: Slavery and the American South Black English thrives in the American South amidst plantation life and Creole language influences. Black and White English move closer together.
  • Chapter 4: Musical Influences Musical influences on English including DuBose Heyward and George Gershwin, Cab Calloway and the Harlem music scene.
  • Chapter 5: Black Ascendancy and Language Rise of African-American cultural influences in American society and their impact on language, including the issue of Black English in the schools.
  • Chapter 6: Modern Influences Modern influences are examined, including language of the ghetto, Black youth culture, and “street” language.

Host: Robert MacNeil.

Distributed by Films for the Humanities & Sciences.

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