Black History Month Programming

For Black History Month our programming honors the many contributions and sacrifices of Black Americans. The following schedule reflects broadcasts on Austin PBS 18.1 and Q 18.3.

Jazz
Jazz has been called the purest expression of American democracy; a music built on individualism and compromise, independence and cooperation. Ken Burns follows the growth and development of jazz music from the gritty streets of New Orleans to Chicago's south side, the speakeasies of Kansas city and to Times Square.
Continues Thursdays, February 2-25 at 11 p.m. on Austin PBS
Continues Sundays, February 7-21 at 7 p.m. on Q

Masterpiece: The Long Song
Set during the final days of slavery in 19th-century Jamaica, follow the trials, tribulations and survival of a plantation slave named July and her odious mistress.
Continues Sundays, February 7 and 14 at 9 p.m. on Austin PBS

Antiques Roadshow: Celebrating Black Americana
An 1821 U.S. citizenship certificate for a free man of color; beauty book by Madam C.J. Walker, the first American female millionaire; a trip to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum; see these treasures and more!
Monday, February 1 at 8 p.m. on Austin PBS

Jazz Ambassadors
Discover how the Cold War and Civil Rights movement collided when America asked Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman to travel as cultural ambassadors and combat racially charged Soviet propaganda through their music. For them, this was a dilemma.
Tuesday, February 2 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, February 7 at 2 p.m. on Austin PBS

ATX Together: Roots of Racism
Austin’s 1928 Master Plan is the heart of institutionalized racism that forced all Black people to move east of East Avenue, where I-35 stands today. Judy Maggio talks with UT’s Dr. Kevin Foster, former Austin City Council Member Ora Houston and community mobility advocate and attorney Yasmine Smith about how the plan continues to shape our city’s racial divide almost 100 years later.
Thursday, February 4 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, February 6 at 6 p.m. and Sunday, February 7 at 6 p.m. on Austin PBS

Power To Heal: Medicare And The Civil Rights Revolution
This documentary chronicles the historic struggle to secure equal and adequate access to healthcare for all Americans and examines how civil rights leaders and grass-roots volunteers pressed and worked with the federal government to achieve justice and fairness for African Americans.
Thursday, February 4 at 10:03 p.m. on Austin PBS

An Evening With Denyce Graves
A rare and unique look inside her life and career is showcased. Actress Angela Bassett talks with the mezzo-soprano about her rise to success from the inner city to the Metropolitan Opera.
Friday, February 5 at 11 a.m. & 2 p.m. on Q

An Evening With Andrew Young
An inside look into the life and career of the Civil Rights Leader and former UN Ambassador. Born in New Orleans, Young also served as a U.S. congressman and mayor of Atlanta.
Friday, February 5 at 6 p.m. and Wednesday, February 10 at 5 p.m. on Q

Charlie’s Place
A significant stop on the Chitlin' Circuit, Charlie's Place featured many of the great musicians of the era, including Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Holiday and Ray Charles. The story of Charlie's Place remains an important example of racial diversity, Black entrepreneurship and the struggle for civil rights in South Carolina and beyond. Charlie's Place garnered a Southeast Region Emmy Award in 2019.
Friday, February 5 at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, February 9 at 11:30 p.m. and Monday February 22 at 11:30 p.m. on Austin PBS

A Conversation With Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
A look into the life and career of the well-known Harvard professor and historian is presented.
Saturday, February 6 at 5:30 p.m., Friday, February 12 at 6 p.m. and Wednesday, February 17 at 5 p.m. on Q

An Evening With Gwen Ifill
Journalist Gwen Ifill discusses her childhood and her development as a television correspondent.
Saturday, February 6 at 6:30 p.m. and Friday, February 12 at 11 a.m. & 2 p.m. on Q

American Experience: Goin’ Back to T-Town
Hear the extraordinary history of Greenwood, a successful Black community in segregated Tulsa. In a nostalgic celebration of old-fashioned neighborhood life, Black residents of "T-Town" relive their community's remarkable rise and ultimate decline.
Monday, February 8 at 8 p.m. on Austin PBS

On Story: Awkward Black Girl - A Conversation with Issa Rae
Creator/director/producer/star Issa Rae discusses the unique challenges that surround creating an independent web series, the freedoms that come with doing it your own way and how to navigate the growing sensation of developing original online content.
Tuesday, February 9 at 11 p.m. on Austin PBS

An Evening With Valerie Simpson In Honor Of Nick Ashford
The wonderful career of the legendary singer-songwriter duo Ashford and Simpson is showcased.
Wednesday, February 10 at 11:30 p.m. on Q

Reconstruction: America After the Civil War Part 1
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. hosts this four-hour documentary exploring how the United States emerged from the Civil War and slavery. Featuring interviews with historians, authors and other experts, the film explores the transformative years following the Civil War through the rise of Jim Crow segregation. The film also looks at Blacks in art, music, literature and culture and the surge of political activism that eventually leads to the rise of civil rights organizations.
Thursday, February 11 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, February 14 at 2:15 p.m. on Q

Looking Over Jordan: African Americans and the War
The black experience in the South before, during and after the Civil War is chronicled.
Thursday, February 11 at 11:25 p.m. and Sunday, February 14 at 5:40 p.m. on Q

Black Ballerina
The stories of several Black women from different generations who fell in love with ballet are told.
Thursday, Friday 11 at 10:02 p.m. on Austin PBS

Historic Attucks Theatre: Apollo of the South
One of Hampton Roads' greatest treasures, the Attucks Theatre, turns 100 years old. Musicians of the greatest caliber have performed at the Attucks, legends like Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole just to name a few. The 600-seat venue was an instant source of pride to Norfolk's Black community. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
Friday, February 12 at 7:30 p.m. & 10:30 p.m., Sunday, February 14 at 1 p.m. and Tuesday, February 16 at 11:30 p.m. on Austin PBS

Dave Chappelle: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents the 22nd annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor to Dave Chappelle.
Friday, February 12 at 9 p.m. on Austin PBS

An Evening With Smokey Robinson
An inside look into the life and career of iconic Motown singer Smokey Robinson is showcased.
Saturday, February 13 at 5:30 p.m. on Q

An Evening With Earth Kitt
An inside view into the life and career of the late legendary singer and actor.
Saturday, February 13 at 6:30 p.m. on Q

Rising From The Rails: The Story of the Pullman Porter
This is the little-known history of the African American men hired to work on railroad sleeping cars beginning in the late 1860s. Serving wealthy, white passengers in the golden age of rail travel, the Pullman Porters carried labor organizing skills, civil rights ideals and elements of Black culture — such as jazz and blues — across the country. As trailblazers in the struggle for African American self-sufficiency, the Pullman Porters inspired future generations of independent Black leaders, including their own future descendants.
Sunday, February 14 at 1:30 p.m. and Thursday, February 18 at 10:07 p.m. on Austin PBS

American Experience: Voice of Freedom
Explore the fascinating life of celebrated singer Marian Anderson. In 1939, after being barred from performing at Constitution Hall because she was Black, she triumphed at the Lincoln Memorial in what became a landmark moment in American history.
Monday, February 15 at 8 p.m. on Austin PBS

Black Bodies
This film is an exploration of what it means to be Black in America, in the world and within the shrinking Black population in Austin. Local filmmaker Charlotte Moore told Austin Monthly that "When you lose your people, you lose your voice." Black Austin residents share what home feels like while being a part of a shrinking minority citizenry.
Monday, February 15 at 10 p.m. on Austin PBS

Finding Your Roots: Write My Name in the Book of Life
Musician Pharrell Williams and filmmaker Kasi Lemmons uncover accounts of their enslaved ancestors.
Tuesday, February 16 at 7 p.m. on Austin PBS

The Black Church: This is Our Story, This Is Our Song Episode 1
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the roots of African American religion beginning with the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the extraordinary ways enslaved Africans preserved and adapted faith practices from the brutality of slavery to emancipation.
Tuesday, February 16 at 8 p.m. on Austin PBS

The Black Church: This is Our Story, This Is Our Song Episode 2
Discover how the Black church expanded its reach to address social inequality and minister to those in need, from the Jim Crow South to the heroic phase of the civil rights movement, and the Black church's role in the present.
Wednesday, February 17 at 8 p.m. on Austin PBS

Reconstruction: America After the Civil War Part 2
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. hosts this four-hour documentary exploring how the United States emerged from the Civil War and slavery. Featuring interviews with historians, authors and other experts, the film explores the transformative years following the Civil War through the rise of Jim Crow segregation. The film also looks at Blacks in art, music, literature and culture and the surge of political activism that eventually leads to the rise of civil rights organizations.
Thursday, February 18 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, February 21 at 2 p.m. on Q

Signing Black in America
This is the history and development of Black American Sign Language, a vibrant dialect that today conveys an identity and sense of belonging that mirrors spoken language varieties of the African American hearing community.
Friday, February 19 at 7:30 p.m. on Austin PBS

An Evening With Della Reese
An entertaining and historical look into the life of the singer, actor and minister is showcased.
Friday, February 19 at 11 a.m. & 2 p.m. on Q

An Evening With Eric Holder
Former U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. discusses his career in a one-on-one interview.
Friday, February 19 at 6 p.m. and Wednesday, February 24 at 5 p.m. on Q

Driving While Black: Race, Space and Mobility in America
Discover how the advent of the automobile brought new freedoms and new perils for African Americans on the road in this deep look into the dynamics of race, space and mobility in America over time.
Friday, February 19 at 8 p.m. on Austin PBS

George Washington Carver: An Uncommon Life
While George Washington Carver's rise from slavery to scientific accomplishment has inspired millions, time has dulled the luster of his reputation, reducing him to the man who did something with peanuts. This documentary uncovers Carver's complexities and reveals the full impact of his life and work.
Saturday, February 20 at 11 a.m. and Sunday, February 21 at 5 p.m. on Q

An Evening With Berry Gordy
The founder of Motown Records discusses his life as an entrepreneur and record producer.
Saturday, February 20 at 5 p.m. on Q

An Evening With Dionne Warwick
This one-on-one interview program provides a rare look into the life of the chart-topping singer and well known entertainer.
Saturday, February 20 at 6 p.m. on Q

Independent Lens: Mr. Soul!
Celebrate SOUL!, the public television variety show that shared Black culture with the nation. Ellis Haizlip developed SOUL! in 1968 as one of the first platforms to promote the vibrancy of the Black Arts Movement. Its impact continues to this day.
Monday, February 22 at 9 p.m. on Austin PBS

On Story: Creed: A New Legend
Writer Aaron Covington discusses how he and director Ryan Coogler came up with the idea for Creed.
Tuesday, February 23 at 11 p.m. on Austin PBS

Sculpted Life
Every state in the country has two statues in the U.S. Capitol. Nebraska has chosen to replace both of its statues. Littleton Alston will be the first African American to create a sculpture for Statuary Hall as he's been chosen to create a bronze of world renown author Willa Cather. He grew up in extreme poverty in the D.C. suburbs and escaped from his troubled neighborhood by visiting the U. S. Capitol and dreaming of being an artist one day. Single and poor, Alston's mother worked behind the scenes to get him accepted into the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. As a young man, he came to Omaha on a residency and stayed to raise his family.
Tuesday, February 23 at 11:30 p.m. on Austin PBS

American Experience: Jubilee Singers - Sacrifice and Glory
This documentary tells the story of a group of unknown singers from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. The Jubilee Singers performed at many public events trying to win the heart of the nation. Two members of this group were former slaves and others still in their teens. They sang spirituals such as "Steal Away" and religious anthems of slavery.
Thursday, February 25 at 10:05 p.m. on Austin PBS

An Evening With Valerie Jarrett
A unique look at the life and career of Valerie Jarrett who served as Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama.
Friday, February 26 at 11 a.m. & 2 p.m. on Q

An Evening With Colin Powell
An insightful look into the life and career of the former U.S. Secretary of State is showcased.
Friday, February 26 at 6 p.m. on Q

An Evening With Harry Belafonte
A one-on-one interview focuses on the life and times of the legendary entertainer and humanitarian.
Saturday, February 27 at 5:30 p.m. on Q

An Evening With Dihann Carroll
A rare and insightful look into the life and career of the award-winning actor.
Saturday, February 27 at 6:30 p.m. on Q