All God's Children | The History of White People in America, Episode 5
Special | 4m 15sVideo has Closed Captions
The powerful story of an enslaved woman who sued and won her family’s freedom in 1832.
In this moving, animated short, poet Ashley M. Jones offers a lyrical historical account of Ann Williams, an enslaved Black woman who won her freedom in the 1830s. When faced with the torturous fate of being separated from her family and sold into Southern slavery, Williams took a literal leap of faith to avoid the dreadful mandate.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
All God's Children | The History of White People in America, Episode 5
Special | 4m 15sVideo has Closed Captions
In this moving, animated short, poet Ashley M. Jones offers a lyrical historical account of Ann Williams, an enslaved Black woman who won her freedom in the 1830s. When faced with the torturous fate of being separated from her family and sold into Southern slavery, Williams took a literal leap of faith to avoid the dreadful mandate.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
How to Watch Independent Lens
Independent Lens is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
Buy Now
"The Wire" and "Charm City"'s Baltimore
Former Baltimore City Paper editor Lee Gardner revisists the acclaimed Baltimore-set series "The Wire" in search of accuracy, and finds the PBS doc "Charm City" fills in the rest.Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipPart of These Collections
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship(thunder rumbling) ♪ ♪ ♪ Swing low, ♪ ♪ sweet chariot.
♪ ♪ Coming for to carry me home.
♪ ♪ Home.
♪ - All God's children got wings.
♪ Got wings.
♪ - They brought me away with two of my children.
And wouldn't let me see my husband.
They didn't sell him.
And I didn't want to go.
I was so confused and distracted.
Didn't know hardly what I was about.
I didn't want to go.
And I jumped out of the window.
- Out the window.
- Out the window.
♪ God is coming to carry me home.
♪ ♪ Take me home.
♪ ♪ Carry me home.
♪ ♪ He's coming.
♪ ♪ Carry me home.
♪ ♪ He's coming to carry me home.
♪ - When I was born, God gave me wings.
♪ God gave me wings.
♪ - Feathers fit to fly.
The wide breadth of the open sky.
When I was born, God said, you are.
And I was.
♪ God said.
♪ - This place called Maryland can't own my flesh.
This place called America.
can't own my blood.
No master over my love or my womb.
No master.
No man making devil's deals.
No mistress holding her skin above mine.
No five flat dollars enough to sell me.
They say I'm going South.
They can't take us from Africa anymore, so they'll just take us from here.
Can the Capitol's shadow hide this sin?
In the South the sun is mad, just like we are.
It burns the whole land to spite the men who make us work it.
It reminds us that something in this world can be warm.
My children are traded for vulgar currency.
And I remember God said, "You are made of wings."
And then I remember the sky, its gift.
Those clouds which they cannot hold.
And my soul.
I remember that God does not know their names.
No slave master will see the pearly gates.
♪ No slave master will see the pearly gates.
♪ - In the window it says you are.
It says I got wings.
Feathers, fit to fly.
When I get to heaven, When I get to heaven, there'll be no bones to break.
No families unglued by the spit of Satan.
I'm gonna fly all over God's heaven.
I'm gonna fly.
♪ Ooh.
Carry me home.
♪ ♪ Swing low.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
Support for PBS provided by: