Documentary series spotlights film on history-making campaign of CNN pundit Bakari Sellers, a young Democrat fighting for change in the red South
Actress Danielle Brooks hosts, as episode four premieres on Monday, February 11, on WORLD Channel, airing in Chicago
The new season of AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange continues with a revealing look at CNN commentator and attorney Bakari Sellers’ courageous quest to become lieutenant governor of South Carolina in While I Breathe, I Hope. The documentary, which airs in Chicago on WORLD Channel, takes viewers on an intimate journey from his 2014 campaign in his home state to the devastation of the 2015 Charleston church shooting and Sellers’ renewed commitment to helping heal a fractured nation. While I Breathe, I Hope premieres on WORLD Channel at 8 p.m. ET (10 p.m. PT) on Monday, February 11. Now in its 11th season, AfroPoP is hosted by actress Danielle Brooks (Orange Is the New Black), produced by Black Public Media (BPM) and co-presented to public television stations by series distributor American Public Television (APT).
Directed by Emily Harrold and executive produced by Charlamagne tha God, both natives of South Carolina, While I Breathe, I Hope takes its name from the state motto of Sellers’ beloved birthplace and explores how his family history gave rise to his political aspirations. His father was imprisoned for protesting segregation in what became the1968 Orangeburg massacre at South Carolina State University, and the fight for justice and racial equality is in Sellers’ DNA. He first made headlines when he was elected to the South Carolina state legislature at 22. As Harrold’s film opens, Sellers has set his sights on the lieutenant governorship. He has the drive, the ideas and the vigor, but will voters in a traditionally red state be swayed by a young, Black Democrat? An absorbing exploration of the political process,While I Breathe, I Hope puts viewers in the front seat of the gripping roller coaster ride that is political campaigning and one man’s quest to bring healing and hope to his birthplace and an ever-changing American political landscape.
”I’m thrilled to premiere While I Breathe, I Hope on AfroPoP. It is especially special because Danielle Brooks, another South Carolinian, is the series host this year,” said Harrold. “With this film, I’ve loved being able to shine a light on an important South Carolina story.”
Additional executive producers for While I Breathe, I Hope are Marco Williams, Jedd Canty, and Karen Kinney.
New episodes of AfroPoP, the nation’s only public television series dedicated to contemporary stories of Black life, culture and art from around the world, air weekly through February 18 on WORLD Channel. Films will also be available for streaming beginning on the day of their broadcast premiere on all station-branded platforms, including worldchannel.org, PBS.org, and on PBS apps for iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Chromecast. APT will release the series to public television stations across the nation in February.
