LeVar Burton releases YouTube video series on what it’s like to be Black in America

'The Reading Rainbow' star wants to educate the masses about the daily racism that still exists

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 03: LeVar Burton attends the 2020 Breakthrough Prize at NASA Ames Research Center. (Photo by Ian Tuttle/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize )

LeVar Burton is trying to educate the masses about the daily racism and microaggressions that affect Black Americans through a video series called This is My Story.

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The Roots and Star Trek actor said he came up with the idea just thinking “about the state of race relations in America,” according to his Twitter post. Through the six-part, YouTube series, Burton said he hopes to provide an “anecdotal context” for what it’s like to be Black in America by utilizing the “power of storytelling as a way to bridge the gap between races.”

“There was an America before ROOTS and there was an America after ROOTS and post ROOTS, America was a greater, more enlightened nation. We came to a better, deeper, more informed understanding of the evil nature, intent, and outcomes of chattel slavery as practiced in America,” Burton says on Twitter. “As a result, I fervently believe in the power of Storytelling to move the culture forward. To that end, some friends and I have created a few videos, 6 in all, that chronicle some of the racist experiences most Black people who live in America, have in common.”

Burton warned naysayers to open their minds to the realization that their experience in America is not everyone’s experience.

Spoiler Alert: Unless you have walked the walk of the African American experience in this country, it is difficult — not impossible — but difficult, to know what that journey is on the daily. Trust me when I say, being Black in America is not for the weak of heart. — LeVar Burton (@levarburton) January 2, 2020

“Spoiler Alert: Unless you have walked the walk of the African American experience in this country, it is difficult — not impossible — but difficult, to know what that journey is on the daily. Trust me when I say, being Black in America is not for the weak of heart,” Burton said in the Twitter post. “Neither is it for the weak in Spirit. For, being Black in America oftentimes means living in and loving a country, that does not love us back. You may take exception to my premise but you cannot discount my experience.”

Burton then goes into what viewers can expect from each of the six videos of the series. The veteran actor narrates each of the stories.

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“The first installment of, This Is My Story, is an incident from my own life,” Burton wrote, referring to when he was racially profiled as a student at the University of Southern California. “The others are real life experiences of some of my friends, told by me. Like ROOTS did so long ago, my intention in sharing these stories is to provide anecdotal context for being Black in America.”