TV Programs in Honor of Black History Month 2014

TV Programs in Honor of Black History Month

February 3 @ 10pm – PBS

American Promise

“American Promise” spans 13 years as Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, middle-class African-American parents in Brooklyn, New York, turn their cameras on their son, Idris, and his best friend, Seun, who make their way through Manhattan’s Dalton School, one of the most prestigious private schools in the country. Chronicling the boys’ divergent paths from kindergarten.

George Clinton, Nelson George and Nona Hendrix

February 4 @ 10pm – VH1

Finding The Funk

Questlove

Narrated by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson of The Roots, the documentary showcases how funk music’s infectious groove paved the way for groundbreaking genres such as hip-hop and house music. The funk explosion is traced from Dayton, Ohio to Detroit via interviews with pioneers like Sly Stone, Bootsy Collins, George Clinton, Nona Hendryx. Nile Rodgers, Maceo Parker, Bernie Worrell, and Steve Arrington and their descendants Mike D, D’Angelo, Shiela E and Shock G.　 The documentary, directed by filmmaker and journalist Nelson George and produced by record producer Arthur Baker.

February 6 @ 10pm – PBS

Underground Railroad: The William Still Story

William Still

Map

Underground Railroad: The William Still Story is the story of a humble Philadelphia clerk who risked his life shepherding runaway slaves to freedom in the tumultuous years leading up to America’s Civil War. William Still was the director of a complex network of abolitionists, sympathizers and safe houses that stretched from Philadelphia to what is now Southern Ontario.

Frederick Douglass

Black Panther Party

February 9 @ 10pm – PBS

Black Power Mixtape 1967 – 1975

Documentary by Swedish filmmakers taking with most of the important black power figures of the era, such as Stokely Carmichael, Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver and Angela Davis. This film includes very rare footage of Carmichael’s Stockholm visit in 1967 shot by Swedish television.

Angela Davis

February 10 @ 10pm – PBS

Spies of Mississippi

1960s

This is the story of a secret spy agency formed during the 1950s and 1960s by the state of Mississippi to preserve segregation and maintain white supremacy. Over a decade, the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission employed a network of investigators and informants, including African-Americans, to help infiltrate the NAACP, Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). They were granted broad powers to investigate private citizens and organizations, keep secret files, make arrests and compel testimony.

CrazySexyCool

February 22 @ 9pm – TV One

45th NAACP Image Awards

12 Yeas A Slave

Recognized as the nation’s premier multi-cultural awards show, the event celebrates the outstanding achievements and performances of people of color in the arts (television, recording, literature, motion picture and writing & directing), as well as individuals or groups who promote social justice.