In this CBC Original documentary series, Amanda Parris leaves the wars raging on social media to create space for urgent and provocative conversations that centre Black folks around the world. Travelling to the Caribbean, Europe and Africa, Amanda is going on the road to where the stories are. She takes conversations that usually happen in local or national arenas and instead crosses borders and connects Black communities.
Amanda visits people where they are most comfortable - in their homes, at their farms, or on the ball court and asks the difficult but important questions. In Season 2, she talks with cultural leaders, activists, scholars and everyday people, on topics such as Black men’s mental health, the cost of chasing elusive hoop dreams, imagining beyond the police, food insecurity in Black communities and more. Through in-depth and intimate conversations with Black folks from across the Diaspora, Amanda is able to take conversations from the group chat to the real world.
HOST & SHOWRUNNER AMANDA PARRIS
DIRECTED BY ALISON DUKE, YASMINE MATHURIN and SAMAN MALIK
SERIES PRODUCER NABIL MEHCHI
PRODUCER NGARDY CONTEH GEORGE
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS AMANDA PARRIS, NGARDY CONTEH GEORGE, ALISON DUKE, FRANK FIORITO and NABIL MEHCHI
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER FONNA SEIDU
CO-CINEMATOGRAPHERS ASHLEY IRIS GILL, VAN ROYKO and LUCAS JOSEPH
EDITORS JULIAN MORELLI, MEGAN BROWN, SONIA GODDING TOGOBO, GABRIEL JOSEPH and THOMAS SMALLEY
WRITERS AMANDA PARRIS, DEL COWIE, PACINTHE MATTAR and GABRIELLE ZILKHA
RESEARCHERS DEL COWIE, CHRISTINE JEAN-BAPTISTE and PACINTHE MATTAR
STORY EDITOR RIEL LAZARUS, GABRIELLE ZILKHA, AEYLIYA HUSAIN and YASMINE MATHURIN
Contributors
Episode 1: Black Tourism
Directed by Alison Duke
Is tourism doing more harm than good to the Black communities that depend on it? Amanda travels to Ghana and Jamaica to find out how tourism is being reshaped by Black travelers and Black countries.
Featuring: Ivy Prosper, Abdul Abdullah, Ken Agyalpong, Kwame Akoto-Bamfo, Alana DIllette, Arlene Mckenzie and Edward “Firstman” Wray.
Episode 2: Black Food Sovereignty
Directed by Saman Malik
Why is access to healthy and affordable food is getting harder? Amanda travels to Canada, the US, Jamaica and Kenya to meet the activists and farmers fighting for global food justice.
Featuring: Leonida Odongo, Karen Washington, Zakiya Tafari, Anan Lololi, Anyika Tafari, Bashir Munye and Isaac Crosby
Episode 3: Beyond Happily Ever After
Directed by Yasmine Mathurin
Are the rising numbers of single Black women a crisis? Or is single the new sexy? Amanda explores how single Black women in Canada, the US, UK and Ghana are redefining love, community and intimacy.
Featuring: Akosua Amo-Adem, Kym Oliver, Jumoke Abdullah, Jax Ebdon, Cassandra Lewis and Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah
Episode 4: Black Men’s Mental Health
Directed by Yasmine Mathurin
How has anti-Black racism impacted the diagnosis and treatment of Black men in mental health? Amanda investigates and also explores how Black men are reclaiming their care and healing.
Featuring: Brandon Hay, David Lewis-Peart, Dr. Ingrid Waldron, David Harewood and Sadiki Harris
Episode 5: Global Hoop Dreams
Directed by Alison Duke
What is the true cost of chasing the basketball dream? Amanda travels to Canada, the US and Ghana to understand the hustles, compromises and investments kids make in pursuit of basketball stardom.
Featuring: Sharon Butler, Monica Wright Rogers, Omar Nicholls, Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Derrick Shelby.
Episode 6: Beyond Policing
Directed by Saman Malik
After calls to defund and abolish the police, Amanda wonders what might justice look like beyond policing? She learns how communities are reimagining justice and safety beyond policing and prisons.
Featuring: Joshua Kelly, Janet Alder, Kruti Parekh, Jade Green, Marc Williamson and Jeffrey Hines