Want to point out two historical treasures showing currently on tv:

History Internation Program: Currently playing Gheng He: True Discoverer of 
America? Which explores the known and concrete information on Gheng He's 
voyages. It includes interviews with Gavin Menzies, author of 1421, but it 
stops short of portraying the voyages are traveling around the Cape of Good 
Hope and exploring West Africa and ultimately South America. It also does 
not discuss the voyage by an officer under Gheng He who purportedly explored 
the west coast of the two Americas. It focuses on the part of the book which 
is generally accepted as probably true.

Two: Roots The Next Generation is playing on TV One, and is an excellent 
mini-series continuing the story of Kunta and his descendents in the 
ante-bellum south. It is not specific to Virginia, but I suspect the events 
portrayed are similar. The story is set in Tennessee. Tonight's episode 
included the story of an honest man who ran afoul of a dishonest white man, 
and eventually was burned alive, while another black man was given the keys 
to an important town industry when the white man who owned it sank into 
drink and was no longer supportable by the white power structure. A 
well-woven story, and lots of good actors/actresses in it!

Anne

Anne Pemberton
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http://www.erols.com/apembert
http://www.educationalsynthesis.org