This Far by Faith: African-American Spiritual Journeys

Ranging across many faiths, places, and historical eras, this six-part series profiles religious leaders whose stories reveal how religion has shaped African American culture, identity, and history.

Premiere Date
June 24, 2003
Length
360 minutes
Funding Initiative
Series and Special Projects
June Cross
Producer

June Cross

June Cross has won two national Emmys and two duPont-Columbia Journalism Awards. Her previous work includes Wilhemina’s War, which follows a Southern grandmother who struggles to help her granddaughter survive the health risks and social stigma of living with HIV in South Carolina. Her film The Old Man and the Storm followed the travails of an extended Show more New Orleans family for three years after Hurricane Katrina. She was an executive producer for This Far by Faith, a six-part PBS series on the African American religious experience broadcasted in 2003.

During her career, she completed eight documentaries for Frontline. She has also worked at CBS News, and PBS’s MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. She is the author of Secret Daughter, published by Viking in 2006, and based on an earlier documentary she produced that aired on Frontline. She is the founder of the Documentary Program at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in New York City. Show less

We fund untold stories for public media.

Learn more about funding opportunities with ITVS.

The Film

How has religion shaped African American culture, identity, and history? This Far by Faith celebrates the central role of religious groups in creating leaders, developing citizens, and forming communities. The six-part series tells the stories of extraordinary religious leaders who represent different faiths, places, and historical moments — from Islam to Christianity, Africa to Charleston, slavery times to the present day.

Topics