UNC-TV is broadcasting the landmark series Slavery: The Making of America, a four-part series documenting the history of American slavery from its beginnings in the British colonies to its end in the Southern states and the years of post-Civil War Reconstruction, on consecutive Wednesday evenings, February 9 and February 16, at 9:00 p.m. Drawing on a wealth of recent scholarship, it looks at slavery as an integral part of a developing nation, challenging the long held notion that slavery was exclusively a Southern enterprise. At the same time, by focusing on the remarkable stories of individual slaves, it offers new perspectives on the slave experience and testifies to the active role that Africans and African Americans took in surviving their bondage and shaping their own lives.

Following each night's broadcast UNC-TV will follow up with it own discussion program called Focus On ... Slavery at 11:00 p.m. Focus On... Slavery examines the North Carolina connection in the national institution of slavery. Taped at the St. Joseph's Historic Foundation’s Hayti Heritage Center, Mitch Lewis joins a panel of experts in both programs.

In the first part of Focus On...Slavery, Mitch Lewis moderates a discussion between: Dante James, senior producer of the National PBS series, “Slavery and the Making of America;” Dr. Freddie Parker, Chairman and history professor at North Carolina Central University and an author of two books on slavery;Dr. Joyce Blackwell, Chair & Associate Professor of History, at Saint Augustine College , and; Mel White, a researcher.Panelists will discuss many of the issues presented in the PBS Slavery and the Making of America and the original and nature of slavery in North Carolina.

Part two of Focus On...Slavery, Mitch Lewis is joined by Dr. Craig C. Brookings, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at North Carolina State University; Dr. Debra Smith, Assistant Professor in the departments of African American and African Studies and Communication studies at the University of North Carolina Charlotte; Dr. Joyce Blackwell, Chairperson & Associate Professor of History at Saint Augustine College; Dr. Robert Smith, Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina Charlotte and; Mel White, Researcher and; Dr. Robert Smith, Assistant Professor in African American and African Studies department at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. Panelists explore the lasting impacts of slavery, Black Codes and Jim Crow in North Carolina, and how they continue to affect efforts to confront and eradicate racism and discrimination in North Carolina.

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