Black History Month

Unlocking the Gates: How the North Star State Pioneered Structural Housing Discrimination in America

Posted on January 27, 2025

In this Black History Month special from Marketplace Morning Report, host Lee Hawkins investigates how a secret nighttime business deal unlocked the gates of a community called Maplewood for dozens of Black families seeking better housing, schools, and safer neighborhoods -- his own family included. Continue »

Thursday, February 27, at 3:00 p.m. and Friday, February 28, 8:00 p.m.

 

In Performance and Penn State
Black History Month

In Performance at Penn State: Celebrating Black History Month with Essence of Joy

Posted on January 27, 2025

A collection of concert performances from recent years by Essence of Joy, the student choir devoted to performing music from African and African American choral traditions. The choir was founded and directed by the late Tony Leach, professor emeritus of music and music education at Penn State. Continue »

Friday, February 21, at 11:00 a.m. and Monday, February 24, 8:00 p.m.

 

Artwork of civil war battle.
Black History Month

The Lost Cause — the Civil War, Then and Now

Posted on January 27, 2025

We explore the enduring myth of The Lost Cause, a revisionist history contrived right after the Civil War. It cast the Confederacy’s humiliating defeat in a treasonous war for slavery as the embodiment of the framers’ true vision for America – and pushed the idea that the Civil War was not actually about slavery. Continue »

Thursday, February 20, at 3:00 p.m. and Friday, February 21, 8:00 p.m.

 

Black History Month

Langston Hughes – I Too Sing America

Posted on January 27, 2025

Hosted by Terrance McKnight, WQXR host and former Morehouse professor of music, “I, Too, Sing America” will dive into the songs, cantatas, musicals and librettos that flowed from Langston Hughes’ pen. As he did with his poetry, Hughes used music to denounce war, combat segregation and restore human dignity in the face of Jim Crow. Continue »

Thursday, February 13, at 3:00 p.m. and Friday, February 14, 8:00 p.m.

 

Black History Month

The Breakthrough of ’48: When Civil Rights Won the White House

Posted on January 27, 2025

During this time when racial politics and presidential authority are critical themes, comes a compelling radio program revealing a lesser-known chapter in America’s civil rights story. In 1948, Minneapolis Mayor Hubert Humphrey called on the Democratic party to “walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights.” This led to a series of dramatic political events eventually leading to the landmark civil rights laws of the 1960s. Based on Samuel Freedman’s book “Into the Bright Sunshine,” this documentary features compelling interviews and archival audio to recall pivotal moments in American history that remain relevant and revealing today.   Continue »

Thursday, February 6, at 3:00 p.m. and Friday, February 7, at 8:00 p.m.