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The Documentary: Reaching back to Hands Across America

Hands Across America event

25/05/2021 GMT

Reaching back to Hands Across America

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Reaching back to Hands Across America

Can a human chain between New York and LA ever form again?

On 25 May 1986, 6.5 million people did the impossible; they joined hands to form the world’s longest human chain, from New York to Los Angeles. But far from being a simple stunt, Hands Across America was raising money to fight hunger and homelessness in the world’s richest country. Did it succeed?

Aleks Krotoski was 11 years old when she stood in the sunshine between her mother and a stranger and held their hands for those 15 minutes 35 years ago. She speaks with the organisers, the people who participated, and the people who received the donations, and discovers that Hands Across America didn’t just feed the hungry, but led the social networking revolution a well.

(Photo: People join hands at the Hands Across America benefit event aiming to raise money for local charities, New York City, 25 May 1986. Credit Barbara Alper/Getty Images)

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