WKAR Celebrates Black History Month
Join WKAR Radio and TV in celebrating the contributions and talents of African Americans during February.
WKAR Radio
90.5 Classical
Monday, February 1
90.5 WKAR features classical music selections by black composers, including William Grant Still (Folk Suite No. 4 and Miniatures for Flute, Oboe & Piano), Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (Ballade for Violin & Piano), and Chevalier de Saint-Georges (Violin Concerto No. 9, Quartet No. 1) throughout the day.
Jazz ‘til Midnight
Saturdays, 8 p.m.
Doug Collar spotlights performances from the series Jazz at the Philharmonic throughout the month, featuring artists such as Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Nat King Cole, Hank Jones, Max Roach, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, and many more.
The performances, captured at a variety of venues including jazz concerts, tours, and in-studio recordings, were produced by Norman Granz from 1944-1983. Collar says they were remarkable at the time, because they were among the first high-profile performances to feature racially integrated bands.
WKAR-HD/23
Listed below are just a few of the programs featured this month on WKAR.
Independent Lens
Tuesday, February 2, 10:30 p.m.
Herskovitz at the Heart of Blackness is a documentary that examines the forgotten legacy of Melville Herskovits.
Gullah
Tuesday, February 2, 11 p.m.
A remarkable cultural legacy has been preserved by the descendants of the original slaves who have never left St. Helena Island in South Carolina’s Outer Banks. This documentary focuses on the history and creative achievements of the Gullah people.
Soul of Justice
Thursday, February 4, 11 p.m.
This documentary profiles Thelton Henderson and his commitment to integrity and human rights, as well as his profound influence on the American judicial system.
Great Performances: Harlem in Montmartre
Sunday, February 7, 10 p.m.
A musical documentary that explores an often neglected area in African American history: Paris’ famed “Jazz Age” between the first and second World Wars. Included is footage of such key figures as James Reese Europe, Josephine Baker, Sidney Bechet, Ada “Bricktop” Smith, Eugene Bullard, Django Reinhardt, and many more.
Independent Lens: P-Star Rising
Tuesday, February 9, 10 p.m.
Dreams do come true for a determined single father (Jesse Diaz), his nine-year-old daughter (Priscilla), and his quest – of seeing his long ago dream realized – when his child becomes a rap star. This program follows the father-daughter duo through the grit and glamour of the music industry, the struggles of being a single dad with no means of support, and the sacrifices a child makes in order to make her father proud.
Faces of America
Wednesdays, 8 p.m., beginning February 10
Building on the PBS series from last season, African American Lives, Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. takes viewers on genealogic journeys into the lives of Eva Longoria Parker, Steven Colbert, Mehmet Oz, Meryl Streep, Yo-Yo Ma, Malcolm Gladwell, Queen Noor, Mike Nichols, and many others.
In Performance at the White House
Thursday, February 11, 8 p.m.
Join the festivities at the White House when President and Mrs. Obama celebrate the music of the Civil Rights Movement with an all-star cast of performers. Included in the cast are Bob Dylan, Blind Boys of Alabama, Natalie Cole, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, John Mellencamp, Smokey Robinson, Seal and the Howard University Choir. Morgan Freeman and Queen Latifah are co-hosts of the event.
Prince Among Slaves
Thursday, February 11, 11 p.m.
This award-winning documentary tells the story of an African prince who endured slavery for 40 years and then went on to a remarkable career.
American Masters: Sam Cooke – Crossing Over
Sunday, February 14, 4 p.m.
Sam Cooke put the spirit of the black church into popular music – creating a new sound and setting into motion events that altered the course of popular music and race relations in America.
Independent Lens: Mine/Home
Tuesday, February 16, 10 p.m.
This double feature of shorts focuses on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The first focuses on the animals left behind during Katrina. The second follows the filmmaker who explores the childhood home both before and after the hurricane.
Meet Mary Pleasant
Thursday, February 18, 11 p.m.
This biography tells of a 19th century slave whose story encompasses slavery, abolition, the gold rush and the Civil War. Known as “the mother of civil rights in California,” it tells the true story of a woman who became an international abolitionish and a prosperous entrepreneur.
Sisters of Selma: Bearing Witness for Change
Sunday, February 21, 4 p.m.
This documentary takes viewers back in time to Selma, Alabama’s 1965 voting marches, focusing on the Catholic nuns who came from around the country to join the protests. They were the unsung foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement.
American Masters
Monday, February 22, 10 p.m.
Zora Neale Hurston was one of the most celebrated and controversial figures of the Harlem Renaissance. Jump at the Sun is a profile of the writer and her impact on American culture.
Independent Lens: Behind the Rainbow
Tuesday, Febuary 23, 10 p.m.
A previously untold account of South Africa’s political problems, struggles, and realities.
Before Rosa: The Unsung Contributions of Sarah Mae Flemming
Tuesday, February 23, 11:30 p.m.
Seventeen months before Rosa Parks refused to surrender her seat in 1944, Sarah Mae Flemming refused to obey a similar ordinance in Columbia, South Carolina. Her actions set in motion a ruling that would play an important role in the Parks case.
Judge Damon J. Keith: Equal Justice
Sunday, February 28, 4:30 p.m.
A profile of Judge Damon J. Keith who has been a trail-blazer on the U.S. Court of Appeals and consistently courageous defender of the constitutional and civil rights for all people.
published: February 21, 2010
