The This Far By Faith: African American Spiritual Journeys Production Papers form a small portion of the larger Henry Hampton Collection. Included are pre-production materials, research materials, photographs, stock footage information, production and editing materials, administrative and publicity and outreach materials.

Episode 1: There is a River There is a River explores the evolution of African-American religious thought, from the beliefs and rituals Africans brought to America to the influence of Christian teachings imposed on slaves in the new world. It charts the devbelopment of underground churches, and attempts by slaves and free blacks to unify the black community. It tells the stories of Sojourner Truth and Denmark Vesey. Both were born enslaved; both used the Gospel to shape their identities. However, both used their voices in very different ways-one chooses retribution and the other, engagement.

Episode 2: God is a Negro God Is a Negro takes place after Emancipation, as the minister and journalist Henry McNeal Turner uses the black church to engage newly freed blacks in the political realm. Pastor Turner helped organize the Repubican Party in Georgia only to find himself denied access to societal institutions as discrimination reigned in the dark days following Reconstruction. Turner encouraged his followers to find God from within. His emphasis on a black nationalist philosophy alienated him from the mainstream, but led to a greater role for the black church in African-American culture.

Episode 3: Guide My Feet Guide My Feet traces African-Americans as they move from the rural South to the promised land of the industrial North. It is the story of two sourthern migrants, Rev. Cecil Williams and Thomas A. Dorsey, born a generation apart, both seeking to bring the reality of the streets into the church. In Chicago, Thomas Dorsey, a pianist with blues singer Ma Rainey, invents gospel music. In San Francisco, the Reverend Cecil Williams develops a "come as you are" church. Through their work, Dorsey and Williams create new expressions of faith.

Episode 4: Freedom Faith Freedom Faith sustained black families through the oppression of segregation in the 1940s and 1950s. It provided the courage needed to fight Jim Crow. The efforts of student workers on the front lines of the civil rights movement are shown from the perspective of Rev. Prathia Hall(1940-2002) and others.. Hall is one of many voices in the film-voices of ordinary people who, through faith, risked their lives to challenge America to live up to its promise "that all men are created equal."

Episode 5: Inheritors of the Faith Inheritors of the Faith follows those who seek spiritual fulfillment outside of Christianity. It explores Islam and Yoruba. Yoruba originated in West Africa and pre-dates Christianity. Yoruba worshipers find a means of gaining strength and spirituality from within. The film also explores the role of the Nation of Islam, led by Elijah Muhammad. When Muhammad's son, Warith Deen, assumes leadership after his father's death, he transforms the organization to follow the practice of orthodox Islam (Louis X. Farrakhan resurrected the ideology of the old Nation of Islam in 1978).

Episode 6: Rise Up and Call Their Names In 1998, 60 people embarked on an Interfaith Pilgrimage of the Middle Passage. The pilgrims took a physical and spiritual voyage, walking from Massachusetts to New Orleans, through the Caribbean, and ultimately, to Goree Island in Senegal. They pray for their ancestors and seek to heal the country's wounds of slavery through prayer vigils at historical slave sites. In time, they discover that the true wounds lie within themselves. After months of difficult travel and deep soul-searching, the pilgrims reach Africa with a stronger sense of identity and purpose.