Customer Reviews

Promised Land [VHS]

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I had this documentary on VHS, but now since VHS is about as relevant
as horse & buggy whips, I think it's long overdue for it to be released to DVD!!
Morgan Freeman narrates well throughout, but the real stars are the actual people
who grew up as sharecroppers sons and daughters, or preachers kids, etc.,
in Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee and Louisiana during the harsh
Jim Crow era in America when blacks were grossly mistreated, disenfranchised,
lynched at random, and systematically stomped into the ground by a harsh racist
regime which had been in place in the south since the late 18th Century.
Even though the Civil War had been fought and won by the north, and there had
been a brief and begrudging experimental "Reconstruction" period where certain
lackluster efforts were made to give the freed slaves certain rights of full U.S.
citizenship, the evil forces to crush the hopes and aspirations of black people
in the south were full on at work, and by the 1890's the Jim Crow Era was in full effect!
This era would last for nearly 75 yrs until the heroic events of the civil rights
era broke those hideous chains once and for all! (-:
From around 1910 to roughly 1947, there was a "great migration" of
poor blacks from the south who packed up their meager belongings and left everything
to escape the crushing tyranny and racial hatred which had held them in bondage & terror.
Millions of uneducated, raggedy, rural blacks moved to the big industrial northern
cites of Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, Detroit, Boston, and later on
when WW2 first broke out, out west to California in hopes of a better life of
good paying jobs in factories & liveries, better housing, better opportunities for
education, etc., where they would be treated with the common dignity and respect that
every human being should be treated. These northern cities seemed like heaven on earth
to those downtrodden southern blacks who related everything in biblical terms, so the phrase
THE PROMISED LAND was born and it stuck!---This 3-part documentary gives us the firsthand
recantings of the men and women, many of who are now deceased since this first aired
on the History Channel in the mid to late 90's, who lived this turbulent time in
America's history. Much of it is very moving and poignant as well as having moments
of levity as well. It deals mostly with those who moved to Chicago.
It also briefly touches on the modern urban phenomenon of the grandchildren and
great grandchildren of those original black migrants to the north who are
returning to the southern cities since the 1990's for much the same reasons that
their ancestors left all those decades ago!---THE RE-MIGRATION!!
This definitely deserves to be remastered and released to DVD as soon as possible.
A worthwhile addition to your DVD collection if you enjoy the history of
the american experience without all the white-washing & sugar-coating.
Just tell it like it happened and teach the younger generation to appreciate
the sacrifices and struggles of those who went before, in hopes that they will
better take advantage of the rights & opportunities that they have today.

After I read Isabel Wilkerson's excellent recounting of the Great Migration, "The Warmth of Other Suns", I wanted again to view this 1995 documentary. Fortunately, I have the VHS tapes and a VHS player. It is as excellent, thorough and relevant as it was when first aired. While the focus is primarily on the exodus from Mississippi to Chicago, the experiences are relevant to almost anywhere. As the daughter of well-educated parents who left Mississippi for a small town in Michigan, I can attest to the soul crunching experience they were fleeing. it would be important to expose this detailed documentary to a new generation of people who have absolutely no understanding of the legacy of systematic segregation and discrimination in this country.

Surely someone can obtain the rights to update the format for viewing this must-see series!

I remember waiting for February to come so I could watch this. They only showed it during Black History Month. Our PBS channel was the only station that showed it. Lucky for me I taped it before they stopped showing it. 2 years ago I saw the VHS on Amazon and bought it. I have continued to wait for it to come on DVD

It is an amazing depiction of the Great Migration and is just as relevant today as it was then. It is a shame that this great work of truth has been overlooked.

To the power's that be please release this great work of art on DVD.