Known Rivers by Aaliyah Bilal

My friend Aaliyah has created a video series called Known Rivers about the experiences of Black people in China throughout history. It’s created for a Chinese audience, but there are English subtitles. Check it out! Good original stuff.

• Known Rivers 河流 Episode 1: Agatha and Eugene Chen “Origins”
• Known Rivers 河流 Episode 2: Agatha and Eugene Chen “Love, Marriage and Revolution”
• Known Rivers 河流 Episode 3: Langston Hughes “St. Petersburg to Shanghai”
• Known Rivers 河流 Episode 4: Langston Hughes “Jazz in Shanghai”
• Known Rivers 河流 Episode 5: Black People in Ancient China “The Kunlun”
• Known Rivers 河流 Episode 6: Black People in Ancient China “Zheng He’s Westward Voyage”

I first met Aaliyah not long after she first came to China, and her Chinese has improved a lot! From an educator’s perspective, this is a great example of a learner getting to a level where she can use her Chinese to do something interesting and creative to connect with a Chinese audience.

“Known Rivers” is a reference to the poem by Langston Hughes.