Celebrate Black History with these Empowering Programs

Austin PBS honors Black History Month with programs such as Great Migrations: A People on the Move, Black Divas, Blackademics and much more. Tune in or stream online starting January 28.

Great Migrations: A People on the Move (4 Episodes): Tuesday Jan. 28 - Tuesday Feb. 18 at 8:00 pm

Great Migrations explores how a series of Black migrations have shaped the U.S. From waves of Black Americans to the North-and back South-to immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean, movement is a defining feature of the Black experience.

Episode One: Exodus
Great Migrations explores 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, forever changing the country and themselves.

Episode Two: Streets Paved with Gold
Learn about the second wave of the Great Migration when Northern and Western Black communities matured through migration and transformed the cultural and political power of Black America.

Episode Three: One Way Ticket Back
Explore how the reverse migration of Black Americans to the South-driven by mass movements, economic change, and an ongoing struggle for freedom-continued to reshape the country.

Episode Four: Coming To America
Hear the story of African and Caribbean immigrants in the United States and examine their profound impact on American culture and what it means to be Black in America.

Blackademics Television (3 Episodes): Friday Feb. 7 to Friday Feb. 21 at 7:30pm

Top Black Studies scholars engage with projects and research focused on education, performance and youth empowerment.

Episode One: Armin Salek, Kevin Foster, Devin Walker
This episode focuses on youth empowerment in various fields. Salek discusses a pathway for first-generation and minority students to become lawyers. Foster highlights the role of co- curricular activities in enhancing student learning. Walker shares efforts to expand study abroad opportunities for African American students.

Episode Two: Nadja Johnson, Javier Wallace, Yvonne Taylor
This episode explores diverse narratives and perspectives. Johnson reflects on her childhood dreams of becoming a rapper in the 90s and how this aspiration shaped her life and self-expression. Wallace addresses the complex issue of sports trafficking of student-athletes.Taylor discusses how being an outsider can provide valuable insights and unique abilities, turning challenges into strengths.

Episode Three: Ricardo Lowe, Brianna McBride, Virginia Cumberbatch
This episode explores identity and community. Lowe addresses the complexity of translating race and ethnicity into census data. McBride emphasizes the value and support that can come from participation in a Black student community. Cumberbatch discusses how clothing can reflect identity, beliefs, and politics for Black individuals.

Black Divas: Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 9:00pm

Enjoy BLACK DIVAS an evening of song honoring birth and birthworkers. This magical broadcast merges together a myriad of musical genres and spiritual backgrounds, to uplift voices and bring the heart to life!

Journeys of Black Mathematicians (2 episodes): Tuesday, Feb 26 and Wednesday, Feb 27 at 10:00pm

JOURNEYS OF BLACK MATHEMATICIANS is a two-part series that traces the cultural evolution of Black scholars, scientists and educators in the field of mathematics. The films follow the stories of prominent pioneers, illustrating the challenges they faced and how their triumphs are reflected in the experiences of today's mid-career Black mathematicians. Their mathematical descendants, in turn, are contemporary college students and K-12 children across the U.S. who are learning they belong in mathematics and STEM. Featuring more than 50 individuals, the series starts with the first Black Ph.D., Edward Bouchet (Yale, 1876), and W. W. S. Claytor, extraordinary exemplars from the early and mid-20th century who prepared the way for several of the trailblazers highlighted in the series. The role of HBCUs in producing Black mathematicians is a central theme. Sections on Morgan State, Howard University, Spelman College and Morehouse College connect the featured individuals in threads of mentorship stretching back to the 1940s. At every HBCU covered in the program, students stress the role of outstanding teachers who are responsible for advancing the math and science programs at the schools today. The search for ways to bring future generations into the mathematical fold is also an integral theme of the series.

Episode One: Forging Resilience
The episode relates stories of prominent African American mathematicians who struggled through adversity to achieve their goals.Contemporary mid-career Black mathematicians and their students describe the role of historically Black colleges in their success. We are also introduced to a range of innovative programs that help students at every level to imagine a future in math and STEM.

Episode Two: Creating Pathways
A legacy of segregation and prejudice lies behind stories of African American mathematicians who attended majority White institutions. The film features several programs aimed at increasing the number of Blacks in the STEM fields. Established Black scholars pursue beauty and meaning in math, becoming role models for younger Black mathematicians who strive to shape new kinds of mathematics.

More Programs

Monday, February 3rd

Antiques Roadshow: Celebrating Black Americana
Celebrate Black History Month anytime with a special hour that spotlights and celebrates Black Americana, including an 1821 U.S. citizenship certificate, a Madam C.J. Walker beauty book, and a visit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. 7:00 pm

Tuesday, February 4th

Sankofa Chicago
Starting in Chicago, the home of Black History Month, this documentary explores the Sankofa philosophy, showing how understanding Black history empowers communities to pursue justice, education, and a lasting legacy. Through personal stories, it connects past lessons to present challenges. 2:00 pm

Friday, February 7th

American Experience: The American Diplomat
Discover how three Black diplomats broke racial barriers at the US State Department during the Cold War. Asked to represent the best of American ideals abroad while facing discrimination at home, they left a lasting impact on the Foreign Service. 9:30 pm

Thursday, February 20th

100 Years from Mississippi
A profile of the life of Mamie Lang Kirkland, who left Mississippi at seven years old to escape racial violence and would not return to the state until a century later. 10:00 pm

Friday, February 21st

Pullman and the Railroad Rebellion: American Stories
In 1864, the powerful industrialist and engineer George Pullman brought luxury to overnight train travel with his revolutionary sleeping cars. Passengers aboard these rail cars were served by former slaves who became known as Pullman Porters and Maids. Pullman soon established a company town for employees on Chicago's South Side,giving him complete autonomy over every aspect of their lives. PULLMAN AND THE RAILROAD REBELLION: AMERICAN STORIES recounts the bloody rebellion that followed as Pullman's workers fought for their independence. 8:00 pm

American Masters: The Disappearance of Miss Scott
How could we forget the one and only Hazel Scott? She was not only the most famous jazz virtuoso of her time, but she was the first African American to have her own television show. This feature documentary will shine a light on this incredible talent whose voice - like the voices of so many women, especially women of color - has been lost. A child immigrant from Trinidad, Scott was a musical prodigy whose talent was equally at home playing Bach, or swinging with Art Tatum and Fats Waller in a jazz club at the height of the Harlem Renaissance. She refused to play before segregated audiences, and as a Hollywood screen siren, she spoke out against unfair treatment - she led an actors strike when a film director insisted on putting his Black actors in dirty costumes. She also took a restaurant to court because it refused to serve her, and joined her voice with the first African American Congressman from the state of New York when she married Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. in 1945. Scott's bright star dimmed when she was caught up in the Red Scare of the 1950s and refused to back down, testifying in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee to defend herself and her colleagues,and was blacklisted as a result. America owes so much to Hazel Scott, trailblazer for Oprah, Beyonce, Alicia Keys and many others, so why is her story not more well-known? Our film will investigate the disappearance of Hazel Scott. 9:00 pm

Tuesday, February 25th

American Experience: Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP
Meet Walter White, the NAACP's longtime leader and one of the most influential but least known figures in civil rights history. Under his leadership, the NAACP paved the way for Black power at the ballot box and scored important legal victories. 8:00 pm