Black History is American history. It honors our past, present and future. NEPM is committed to sharing programs this month — and every month — that explore the Black experience. We celebrate Black achievements in history, art, science, music, culture and more.
Encores Fridays at 9 p.m., Jan. 28 – Feb 18 on NEPM TV
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Muhammad Ali brings to life one of the most indelible figures of the 20th century, a three-time heavyweight boxing champion who captivated millions of fans across the world with his mesmerizing combination of speed, grace, and power in the ring, and charm and playful boasting outside of it. Ali insisted on being himself unconditionally and became a global icon and inspiration to people everywhere.
Host Tom Reney will present Sonny Rollins' "The Freedom Suite" on Feb. 1; Marcus Shelby's "Soul of the Movement: Reflections on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and spirituals and gospel songs performed by jazz artists on Feb. 8; political works by Charles Mingus, including "Haitian Fight Song" and "Fables of Faubus" and Max Roach's We Insist: Freedom Now on Feb. 15; and Civil Rights-inspired works by Abbey Lincoln, John Coltrane, Nina Simone, Clifford Jordan, Christian McBride, and Geri Allen on Feb. 22.
Encores Tuesday, Feb. 1 at 9 p.m. on NEPM TV
Take a riveting ride on the Chuck Berry train, exploring the life of the man behind the music. By blending “hillbilly” music with R&B and writing impactful lyrics, Berry birthed a renaissance in popular music we now call rock and roll.
For Black History Month 2022, Jazz Night in America will be curating episodes that touch on social justice and empowerment, and showcase a wide spectrum from big band, spoken word, and gospel. All Things Considered host Audie Cornish guest hosts on Feb. 3. On Feb. 10, Jazz Night travels to Berkeley, CA to showcase Samora Pinderhughes’ “Transformations Suite.” On Feb. 17, meet vocalist Jazzmeia Horn. The month concludes on Feb. 24 with gospel pianist and vocalist Damien Sneed.
Listen Sunday, Feb. 6 at 4 p.m. on NEPM 88.5
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There were two big music festivals happening in the summer of 1969. While one defined an entire generation of culture and music, the other remained obscure — the only recorded footage placed in a basement that was said to have sat, unpublished, for decades. That is, until Questlove's first documentary Summer of Soul came out last year. In this episode, Sam chats with Questlove about the recent release of the film's soundtrack, the long history of Black erasure, and the memorable performances from the likes of The 5th Dimension, Stevie Wonder (playing the drums!), Mavis Staples, Mahalia Jackson, and Nina Simone.
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The iconic series tells the definitive story of the Civil Rights era from the point of view of the ordinary people whose extraordinary actions launched a movement that changed the fabric of American life and embodied a struggle whose reverberations continue today.
Premieres Monday Feb. 7 at 9 p.m. on NEPM World
In Philadelphia, gun violence is the leading cause of death for young Black men. Heaven: Can You Hear Me? takes us on a journey into the inner sanctum of Mothers in Charge, a Philadelphia-based service and advocacy organization working with victims of violence. The film demonstrates the challenges gun violence prevention advocates confront as they work to interrupt cycles of violence while allowing viewers to understand the often-untold trauma and resilience of survivors.
Premieres Monday, Feb. 7 at 10 p.m. on NEPM TV
Is the "American Dream" of home ownership a false promise? While the government’s postwar housing policy created the world’s largest middle class, it also set America on two divergent paths – one of perceived wealth and the other of systematically defunded, segregated communities.
Premieres Tuesday, Feb. 8. at 9 p.m. on NEPM TV
Contralto Marian Anderson, in a bold protest against racial intolerance, sang before a diverse crowd on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., after being denied use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution. In that moment, Anderson — despite being a fiercely private person — transformed into a symbol for the nascent civil rights movement, even inspiring a 10-year-old Martin Luther King, Jr., who listened on the radio.
In 1946, Isaac Woodard, a Black army sergeant on his way home to South Carolina after serving in WWII, was pulled from a bus for arguing with the driver. The local chief of police savagely beat him, leaving him unconscious and permanently blind.
A special hour-long edition of Witness History presents interviews looking at the African-American experience. Visit the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, meet the African American woman who broke barriers in American news, and hear a first-hand account from when Nelson Mandela visited Detroit.
The American Diplomat explores the lives and legacies of three African-American ambassadors — Edward R. Dudley, Terence Todman and Carl Rowan — who pushed past historical and institutional racial barriers to reach high-ranking appointments in the Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. At the height of the civil rights movement in the United States, they were asked to represent the best of American ideals abroad while facing discrimination at home.
An unsolved 1960s murder reveals an untold story of the civil rights movement and Black resistance. With Retro Report, the film draws on rarely seen footage filmed more than 50 years ago in Natchez, MS, and follows one family's search for justice.
Encores Thursday, Feb. 17 at 9 p.m. on NEPM TV
Dive into the career of the legendary blues guitarist, a pioneer of Chicago’s West Side sound and major influence on rock titans like Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. Featuring performances and interviews with John Mayer, Carlos Santana and others.
Listen Sunday, Feb. 20 at 6 p.m. on NEPM 88.5
Hosted by various WNYC radio hosts, this commemorative special brings together scholars, cultural and community leaders, and activists to engage in conversations and performance, exploring the many ways the arts influenced the creative nonviolent resistance of Dr. Martin Luther King's activism and how his work is continued today.
In 1963 Michigan State Head Coach Duffy Daugherty and 23 African American young men seized the opportunity of a lifetime. Now, the daughter of Minnesota Vikings football legend Gene Washington deepens her connection to her father as she uncovers how the first fully integrated college football team in America changed the game forever.
A portrait of a civil rights activist and the injustices in America that made her work essential. Through public speeches, personal interviews, and powerful songs of the fearless Mississippi sharecropper-turned-human-rights-activist, Fannie Lou Hamer's America explores and celebrates the lesser-known life of one of the Civil Rights Movement’s greatest leaders. Produced in part by Fannie Lou Hamer’s great-niece, Monica Land.
Follow the courageous journey of John Lewis, whose unwavering fight for justice spanned the past 50 years, from his youth in the segregated South, through his leadership within the Civil Rights movement, to his role as a powerful voice in Congress.
Listen Saturday, Feb. 26 at 1 p.m. on NEPM 88.5
When Philadelphia-born contralto Marian Anderson stepped onto the Met stage on January 7, 1955, she made history, crossing the Met’s color barrier with her debut as Ulrica in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera. She also became the first artist among generations of extraordinary Black singers who have made invaluable contributions to the company’s legacy — stars like Reri Grist, Leontyne Price, George Shirley, Grace Bumbry, Martina Arroyo, Shirley Verrett, Kathleen Battle, Jessye Norman, and Simon Estes.
Listen Saturday, Feb. 26 at 3 p.m. on the NEPM News Network
Author Tayari Jones hosts this celebration of one of America’s most important writers, Toni Morrison, whose novels include Beloved, Jazz, and Song of Solomon. Her fierce, poetic visions earned her the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The program features performances of her works including her essay “A Knowing So Deep” read by Jones, an excerpt from The Bluest Eye performed by Anika Noni Rose, an excerpt from Jazz performed by S. Epatha Merkerson, “Sweetness” performed by Phylicia Rashad, and a tribute from writer Fran Lebowitz, who says that Morrison was “two of my four best friends.”
From the Top
Black History Month Highlights Program
Listen Sunday, Feb. 27 at 3 p.m. on NEPM 88.5
Enjoy some outstanding performances by young black musicians selected out of From the Top’s archives.
Listen Sunday, February 27 at 6 p.m. on NEPM 88.5
Music stars discuss how they make their music. Delving into Chicago’s avant-jazz scene, Angel Bat Dawid invites her friends to discuss major issues in their art. They consider the importance of not conforming, the struggle to find money to do what you love, and the experience of being diasporic African and its influence on their music.
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Connecting Point
Connecting Point offers a collection of segments featuring the work of local Black artists, performers, difference makers and thought leaders. New content is added frequently.
The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song
An intimate four-hour series from Henry Louis Gates, Jr., The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song explores the 400-year-old story of the black church in America, the changing nature of worship spaces, and the men and women who shepherded them from the pulpit, the choir loft, and church pews.
American Experience: The Blinding of Isaac Woodard
In 1946, Isaac Woodard, a Black army sergeant on his way home to South Carolina after serving in WWII, was pulled from a bus for arguing with the driver. The local chief of police savagely beat him, leaving him unconscious and permanently blind.
PBS NewsHour
Race Matters: America After George Floyd
On the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death, Judy Woodruff and PBS NewsHour reporters focused on what had changed, and what hadn’t, since the outrage and protests of last summer, focusing on Minneapolis as well as several other communities around the country that had seen protests, police killings and hate crimes.
Reconstruction: America After the Civil War
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Explore the transformative years following the American Civil War, when the nation struggled to rebuild itself in the face of profound loss, massive destruction, and revolutionary social change. The twelve years that composed the post-war Reconstruction era (1865-77) witnessed a seismic shift in the meaning and makeup of our democracy.
American Experience: The Murder of Emmett Till
The murder and the trial horrified the nation and the world. Till's death was a spark that helped mobilize the Civil Rights movement. Three months after his body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River, the Montgomery bus boycott began.
Driving While Black
Discover how the advent of the automobile brought new mobility and freedom for African Americans but also exposed them to discrimination and deadly violence, and how that history resonates today.
American Masters
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
Discover the man behind the legend in this two-time Emmy-winning and Grammy-nominated Stanley Nelson film featuring never-before-seen footage, including studio outtakes from his recording sessions, rare photos and new interviews.
Independent Lens: Always in Season
Always in Season follows the tragedy of African American teenager Lennon Lacy, who in August 2014, was found hanging from a swing set in North Carolina. His death was ruled a suicide, but Lennon’s mother and family believe he was lynched. The film chronicles her quest to learn the truth and takes a closer look at the lingering impact of more than a century of lynching African Americans.
FOR KIDS, PARENTS AND EDUCATORS
In the PBS KIDS "Talk About: Race & Racism" special, hosted by the country's first National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman, PBS KIDS spoke with real families and had conversations about racial identity, anti-Black racism, and how it is incumbent on all of us — children and parents alike — to actively work towards building a more equitable society.
PBS Parents explains that it’s never too early to begin celebrating and teaching children about Black leaders, and provides resources for parents to explore Black scientists, politicians, activists, artists, and more who have left their mark on U.S. history with their children. Instead of shying away from hard truths, parents can help children understand the resiliency of Black women and men by discussing the history of unfair and differential treatment towards Black people due to their skin color.
Teachers and parents turn to PBS Learning Media for a wealth of information on just about any school subject — including many relating to Black History month. Units are available on the Freedom Riders, Malcom X, Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglas, and many more.