That being said, I was dissapointed with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. as a host. It would have been better had Gates come to Africa to accept it as it is, instead of how he wanted it to be.

Throughout the series, it is apparent he was seeking unadultued, 'pure' African culture. Instead he discovered African culture has grown serperately from African-American culture since his ancestors left the continent in chains of slavery. Arabs, Persians, Europeans, and Indians have all had influence on Africa, and it was clear that Gates was dissapointed to learn that. But the notion of a 'pure' culture is bogus, every culture in the world is influenced by others.

Learning about Africa should be more than a one way relationship, where Americans visit simply to fit Africa into their lives back in the states. The disconnect between Africans and African-Americans was most vivid in a scene in Benin where Gates asks a local leader to apologize for selling his ancestors into slavery. While the leader did apoligize, it was apparent she was simply being cordial to a visitor, her apology didn't come across as being very genuine.

Aside from the politics of the video, you should buy it. The photography is unparalleled.

Much of this travelogue is cast within the light of Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s personal experiences. This is most definately a strength to this series, as not only do we get to know this fascinating character with a witty personality, we're directed to points of significance for the African-American experience. This thread by no means overshadows the importance of African history itself, but is rather an important and interesting secondary theme.

Much work is yet to be done in bringing the richness of African history into the mainstream of American culture. Gates, however, has taken a huge step in that direction with this powerful series and its equally excellent companion book by the same title.

Unfortunately, this series falls into the first category. It would have been more properly titled "Slavery Quest in Africa". The first two tapes are full of Gates talking about slavery. He specifically visits villages where African chiefs sold others into slavery and makes it a point to tell them that his family were slaves and were probably sold by their ancestors. This gets old quickly, as he completely leaves out some great African wonders to spend time on his personal agenda.

Other problems with the series include exclusion of north African culture, leaving out countries such as Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco. This tape only covers Africa south of the Sahara (including bits of Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia).

The third tape is better than the first two, covering the great university at Timbuktu and lost cities in South Africa and Zimbabwe that the Afrikaners tried to explain away during Apartheid as being created by other, non-black cultures.

Perhaps I bought this video looking for something else. I wanted to learn more about some of the wonders of the African continent, and instead I found a series that is 80% preaching and 20% content. I do believe, however, that this series would be very good for people to watch who don't believe there's anything the African cultures have to offer the western world.