Black History Month Programming on WETA World

Sunday, February 1 at 10pm

Defying Jim Crow and Adolf Hitler to win hearts and medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, these African American athletes represented a country that considered them second-class citizens. During the Games, they competed in a country that rolled out the red carpet for them despite an undercurrent of Aryan superiority and anti-Semitism.

Monday, February 2 at 3pm

Explore the life, career, art, and legacy of the African American contralto and civil rights pioneer in her own words using archival interview recordings. Marian Anderson’s singing and speaking voice are heard throughout the documentary, providing a new understanding of the woman behind the music.

Wednesday, February 4 at 7pm

Walter White, head of the NAACP from 1929 to 1955, has been all but forgotten despite helping lay the groundwork for the Civil Rights movement. Despite his blond hair and blue eyes, he was descended from slaves and considered himself Black and spent his entire life fighting for Black civil rights. The film traces the life and explains his disappearance from our history.

Thursday, February 5 at 8pm

Retraces the life and legacy of an American civil rights pioneer who set more than 20 world records in speed cycling during the heart of Jim Crow America. Major Taylor captured the world cycling championship, the American cycling crown, and set dozens of world speed cycling records – all while having to endure withering racial pressures.

Thursday, February 5 at 9pm 

The story of former NBA player Robert Covington, who defied odds by transitioning from HBCU student to a decade-long career in the highest level of professional basketball. 

Friday, February 6 at 7pm

Part 1. Building Black America. In this WETA co-production, host Henry Louis Gates, Jr. introduces the organizations, networks, and artistic impressions created by and for Black people in the fight for full citizenship.

Friday, February 6 at 8pm

Part 1 of 4. Exodus. Hosted by scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., this documentary spotlights how Black migrations have shaped the United States. The premiere episode traces the first wave of the Great Migration (1910 – 1940), when more than a million Black Americans fled the Jim Crow South for the promised lands of the North.

Friday, February 6 at 9pm

A four-part series traces the rich, complex relationship between Black and Jewish Americans. The premiere episode traces the early forces that shaped the Black and Jewish connection in the U.S. Journeys of exile, faith, resilience, terror, migration, early civil rights partnerships, and tests of solidarity define the relationship by the early 20th century. Repeats Fridays 8 pm on WETA World

Saturday, February 7 at 7pm

Step into the world of Chuck Berry – exploring the life, the legend, the music, and the man who is regularly credited as the father of rock and roll. Meet the family who loved him, the players who were there for the rise, and the stars who bow to his inspiration and credit him for their own success. 

Saturday, February 7 at 8pm

Experience the meteoric rise and enduring legacy of Little Richard. Explore his far-reaching influence and advocacy for the rights of Black artists in the music industry.

Monday, February 9 at 7 pm

Black Panthers co-founder Huey Newton is accused of murdering a white policeman after a car stop in 1967 Oakland. A landmark trial ensues, and Newton's defense team calls out racism in the judicial system. With a death penalty looming, a shocking verdict is delivered that still reverberates today.

Sunday, February 8 at 9pm 

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the roots of basketball superstars Brittney Griner and Chris Paul – revealing that they are not the first extraordinary people in their family trees – while telling stories of courage, talent, and grit.

Monday, February 9 at 9pm

The last living descendants of a once-thriving Black neighborhood in Athens, GA, come together to fight to preserve the memory of Linnentown. Their family homes were razed in a 1960s urban renewal project, and now they, along with civic-minded neighbors, unite to try to reclaim their forgotten history and seek redress.

Tuesday, February 10 at 3pm

Learn about the inspirational woman who repeatedly risked her own life and freedom to liberate others from slavery. Harriet Tubman was a conductor of the Underground Railroad, a Civil War scout, nurse, and spy, and one of the greatest freedom fighters in our nation’s history.

Tuesday, February 10 at 9pm

With the help of scientists and genealogists, this filmmaker and his family members search for their ancestors. Follow their journey as they hunt for new details of a history long obscured by the enduring legacy of slavery. 

Wednesday, February 11 at 2pm

The documentary challenges the widely held belief that slavery in the U.S. ended with Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and the end of the Civil War. However, even though chattel slavery was abolished with the passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865, thousands of African Americans were pulled back into forced labor with shocking force and brutality. 

Wednesday, February 11 at 3:30pm

A portrait of James Baldwin, one of the greatest American authors of the 20th century. The film uses rarely seen archival footage to meld intimate and eloquent interviews with family, friends, and colleagues, including Toni Morrison, Bobby Short, and Maya Angelou.

Wednesday, February 11 at 7pm

Racial tensions ignite in this documentary when a historically Black neighborhood in Palm Springs, California fights to remove a towering wall of tamarisk trees. The trees form a barrier, believed by some to be a symbol of racism that segregates the community. 

Friday, February 13 at 7pm

Part 2. The Work of the Imagination. Featuring host Henry Louis Gates, Jr., this episode explores the genesis of the educational, economic, political, and cultural organizations that paved the way for Black life to flourish despite Jim Crow laws.

Friday, February 13 at 8pm

Part 2 of 4. Streets Paved with Gold. This episode explores the second wave of the Great Migration (1940-1970), highlighting how Northern and Western Black communities matured through migration and transformed the cultural and political power of Black America.

Saturday, February 14 at 8pm

Follow the music icon from a piano lounge through her rise to stardom. From “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” to “Killing Me Softly,” Flack’s virtuosity was inseparable from her commitment to civil rights. Detailing her story in her own words, the film features exclusive access to Flack’s archives and interviews with Rev. Jesse Jackson, Peabo Bryson, and more. 

Sunday, February 15 at 10pm

Part 1. The Foundation. Public Enemy's Chuck D narrates this classic docuseries about the birth of Hip Hop as social commentary. Discover the events that led to the birth of Hip Hop and its first socially conscious hit, "The Message," by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five in 1982. Part 2. Under Siege. Explore the 1980s and the Reagan Era with emerging Hip Hop creators like Public Enemy, KRS-One, Ice-T, and N.W.A.

Monday, February 16 at 3pm

When Black neighborhoods across the nation erupted in violence during the summer of 1967, President Lyndon Johnson appointed the bipartisan “Kerner Commission” to investigate. The commission’s final report offered a shockingly unvarnished assessment of American race relations and examined the fraught social dynamics that simultaneously spurred the commission’s investigation and doomed its findings to political oblivion. 

Monday, February 16  at 8pm

This film examines the profound and often-contradictory roles played by Buffalo Soldiers in U.S. history and how they fought on two sets of front lines: military conflicts abroad and civil rights struggles at home.

Tuesday, February 17 at 3pm

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Douglas A. Blackmon looks back at how school integration transformed his hometown of Leland, Mississippi. After the 1954 Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, little more than token efforts were made to desegregate Southern schools. That changed dramatically on October 29, 1969, when the Supreme Court ordered that Mississippi schools desegregate fully and immediately.

Tuesday, February 17 at 8pm

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Stanley Nelson investigates the dramatic health disparities in the U.S. and the health factors behind the health crisis facing Black Americans.

Wednesday, February 18 at 2pm

A heartwarming documentary tells the story of a 70-year-old defying health statistics after three open heart surgeries. A 350-mile cycling adventure with his son, the film’s producer, leads to a bonding experience and a hard look at the health inequities plaguing Black men.

Wednesday, February 18 at 7pm

Court-mandated social integration unleashes racial unrest throughout Boston in the 1970s as Black and white students are bused together.

Thursday, February 19 at 3pm

Tells the little-known story of a deadly race massacre and carefully orchestrated insurrection in North Carolina’s largest city in 1898 – the only coup d’état in the history of the United States.

Friday, February 20 at 7pm

Part 3. The Growing Resistance. Host Henry Louis Gates, Jr. examines the social networks African Americans relied on during America’s Great Depression that would ultimately transform race relations and dismantle the oppressive realities of Jim Crow.

Sunday, February 22 at 6pm

Go-Go City follows protesters for racial justice as they took to the streets in the summer of 2020, pushing back against gentrification and rallying around the city's unique Go-Go music scene.

Sunday, February 22 at 10pm

Part 3. Culture Wars. Follow the unstoppable rise in popularity of Hip Hop – a force attacked by all sides of the political establishment during the 1990s Clinton years. Part 4. Still Fighting. Chuck D examines the evolution of Hip Hop as its artists turn into multimillionaires and successful entrepreneurs.

Monday, February 23 at 3pm

Sixty years ago, while pursuing their dreams of careers in classical dance, three ballerinas confronted racism, exclusion, and unequal opportunity in segregated mid-century America. In 2015, three young Black women pursued careers as ballerinas, facing many of the same obstacles as their predecessors. Explore larger issues of exclusion, equal opportunity, and change in the ethereal world of ballet.

Wednesday, February 25 at 3pm

A documentary about the life and legacy of the first African American poet to earn national fame. Born to former slaves in Dayton, Ohio, Dunbar also wrote short stories, novels and hard hitting essays critical of Jim Crow laws and lynching. Dunbar's story is also the story of the African American experience at the turn of the century.

Thursday, February 26 at 7pm

Explore the life and legacy of the nation’s first African American Supreme Court justice. This film follows Justice Marshall, known as “Mr. Civil Rights,” from his legal career with the NAACP to his 1967 appointment to the nation’s highest court.

Friday, February 27 at 7pm

Part 4. Life Beyond the Veil. In the conclusion to the series, host Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores how Black cultural and political movements – from Black Power to Black Twitter – embraced a radical consciousness that championed a new generation.

Friday, February 27 at 8pm

Part 4 of 4. Coming to America. This episode tells the story of African and Caribbean immigrants in the United States, examining their profound impact on American culture and what it means to be Black in America.

Saturday, February 28 at 8pm

A syncopated voyage through the history of funk music – from African, soul, and early jazz roots through James Brown, Parliament Funkadelic, Labelle, and Fela Kuti – showing the genre’s impact on new wave and Hip Hop.