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PBS North Carolina honors the impact and legacy that Black culture has had on our country with powerful documentaries and thought-provoking specials this month and all year long. Explore our February schedule below, and rediscover favorites streaming now.
Watch on PBS NC This Month | February 2021
The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song
Tuesday-Wednesday, February 16-17, 9 PM
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 their faith practices from the brutality of slavery to emancipation. In part 2, discover how the Black church expanded to address social inequality and minister to those in need.
Amen! Music of the Black Church
Thursday, February 18, 10 PM
Taped before a live audience at the Second Baptist Church congregation in Bloomington, Indiana, Rev. Dr. Raymond Wise guides viewers on an educational and uplifting learning experience while leading the Indiana University African American Choral Ensemble in a performance of sacred music deriving from African traditions.
400 Years: Taking the Knee
Thursday, February 4, 10 PM
Writer and BBC radio presenter Dotun Adebayo narrates the many stories of black resistance to oppression. From the Jamaican national hero Nanny of the Maroons, to the NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, the documentary celebrates individuals who fought and struggled against colonialism, slavery, and their legacies.
Keb' Mo' | Bluegrass Underground
Friday, February 5, 10:30 PM
Nashville-based singer/songwriting bluesman and four-time Grammy Award winner Keb' Mo' has been described as "a living link to the seminal Delta blues that traveled up the Mississippi River and across the expanse of America."
Goin' Back to T-Town | American Experience
Monday, February 8, 9 PM
Revisit Greenwood, a Black community in Tulsa. Torn apart in 1921 by a racially- motivated massacre, the neighborhood rose again but could not survive integration and urban renewal. A bittersweet portrait of small-town life told by those who lived it.
Black Issues Forum
Sundays at 4 PM
Every week, join host Deborah Holt Noel as she welcomes thought leaders, policy influencers, and journalists for diverse conversations that inform and engage viewers on the issues impacting North Carolina’s Black communities today.
Black Issues Forum airs Sundays, 4 PM, on PBS NC and streaming anytime on the PBS Video App.
The Jazz Ambassadors
Tuesday, February 9, 9 PM
The Cold War and civil rights collide in this remarkable story of music, diplomacy and race. While traveling the world as cultural ambassadors, America's jazz greats faced a dilemma: representing a country that still practiced Jim Crow segregation.
Hollywood's Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story
Thursday, February 11, 10 PM
Nicknamed "Architect to the Stars," Paul R. Williams was one of the most successful architects in the country, from the early 1920s until his retirement 50 years later. But at the height of his career Williams wasn't always welcome in the restaurants and hotels he designed or the neighborhoods where he built homes, because of his race.
Charlie's Place
Friday, February 12, 10:30 PM
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.
Voice of Freedom | American Experience
Monday, February 15, 9 PM
Hailed as a voice that “comes around once in a hundred years” by maestros in Europe and widely celebrated by both white and black audiences at home, Marian Anderson's fame hadn’t been enough to spare her from the indignities and outright violence of racism and segregation.
Write My Name in the Book of Life | Finding Your Roots
Tuesday, February 16, 8 PM
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. helps musician Pharrell Williams and filmmaker Kasi Lemmons uncover extraordinarily rare first-person accounts of their enslaved ancestors.
Dulatown
Thursday, February 18, 9:30 PM
Dulatown, a community in Lenoir, was established from land a slave owner, Alfred Dula, bequeathed to his slave Harriet and their eight children and remains home to the extended Dula clan. Using contemporary interviews with members of the Dula family alongside historical images, this film weaves an insightful tale of history, family, race and identity.
Historic Attucks Theatre: Apollo of the South
Friday, February 19, 10:30 PM
One of Hampton Roads' greatest treasures, the Attucks Theatre, turned 100 years old in 2019. Musicians of the greatest caliber have performed at the Attucks, legends like Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole. The 600-seat venue was an instant source of pride to Norfolk's Black community, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
Mr. SOUL! | Independent Lens
Monday, February 22, 9 PM
Premiering in 1968, SOUL! was the first nationally broadcast all-Black variety show on public television, merging artists from the margins with post-Civil Rights Black radical thought. Mr. SOUL! delves into this critical moment in television history, as well as the man who guided it, highlighting a turning point in representation whose impact continues to resonate to this day.
The Hammocks
Thursday, February 25, 9:30 PM
The Hammocks reveals the little-known origins of Hammocks Beach State Park. The story begins with an unlikely turn of the century friendship between a wealthy white neurosurgeon born in Philadelphia and an African American Duplin County farmer and outdoorsman. Together they protected and preserved thousands of acres of pristine coastline maritime forests and fertile estuaries.
The Red Cape
Thursday, February 25, 10 PM
A young black child and his tenacious father struggle to survive a mounting white supremacy campaign that incites the violent 1898 Wilmington Race Riot, a conspiracy that would reverse racial progress and become the only Coup d'Etat in United States history.
Fat Boy: The Bill Stewart Story
Friday, February 26, 9 PM
Chronicling the life and career of one of the most popular rhythm and blues singers of the 1960s, tracing his journey from a young piano player to a famous R&B balladeer. Growing up, Stewart's early passion and talent made him a Washington, D.C. legend, and he regularly sang in area nightclubs and other popular venues across the city. After meeting Bo Diddley in 1955, Stewart joined his band and headed to Chicago, where he first signed with Chess Records. Stewart's soulful music touched audiences all over the country, from New York to California and beyond.
Watch Now: Profiles of Prominent North Carolinians
Eva Clayton | Biographical Conversations
On taking her seat in the US House of Representatives in 1992, where she served for five terms, Eva Clayton became the first African American to represent North Carolina in the House since George Henry White was elected to his second and last term in 1898.
Henry Frye | Biographical Conversations
Henry Frye served as the first African American assistant district attorney in the South, and became the first African American to win a seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives, when he triumphed in the 1968 election.
Harvey Gantt | Biographical Conversations
The first Black mayor of Charlotte, Harvey Gantt was elected to two terms and served from 1983 to 1987.
Julius Chambers | Biographical Conversations
Chambers, a lawyer and civil rights leader, founded the first integrated law practice in North Carolina and served as Director-Counsel of the NAACP.
Howard Lee | Biographical Conversations
Lee served as Mayor of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, from 1969 to 1975. He was the first African American mayor elected in Chapel Hill, and the first African American mayor elected of any majority-white city in the South.
Chuck Davis | Biographical Conversations
A dancer and choreographer whose work focused on traditional African dance, Davis was the founder of DanceAfrica, the Chuck Davis Dance Company and the African American Dance Ensemble.
Watch Now: Streaming in February
Say It Loud | Black People Made That! Intellectual Property and US Patents
Black inventors throughout history have navigated a difficult US patent system. At the end of the day, it's all about the benjamins. In this episode, Azie Dungey and Evelyn From The Internets discuss all the creative ways Black people have worked through their intellectual property and how it affects the United States as a whole today.
Tell Them We Are Rising
The rich but undertold history of America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Watch Now
Streaming through February 18
Shaw Rising
Shaw University, the oldest HBCU in the South, rose to become a co-educational college, a medical school, law school & divinity school
The Changing Same | POV Shorts
One man runs a marathon in hopes of lifting the veil of racial terror in his town.
Struggle & Hope | America ReFramed
The stories, and fight, of the residents of the last remaining all-Black towns in the U.S.
Antiques Roadshow: Celebrating Black Americana
ANTIQUES ROADSHOW honors Black History Month with a special episode Celebrating Black Americana. Highlights include an 1821 U.S. citizenship certificate for George Barker, a free man of color; an African American beauty book written by Madam C.J. Walker, the first American female millionaire.
How It Feels To Be Free | American Masters
A documentary that tells the inspiring story of how six iconic African American women entertainers – Lena Horne, Abbey Lincoln, Nina Simone, Diahann Carroll, Cicely Tyson and Pam Grier – challenged an entertainment industry deeply complicit in perpetuating racist stereotypes, and transformed themselves and their audiences in the process.
Watch Now
Streaming through February 16
Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise | American Masters
Distinctly referred to as “a redwood tree, with deep roots in American culture,” Dr. Maya Angelou led a prolific life. She inspired generations with lyrical modern African-American thought that pushed boundaries. Best known for her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she gave people the freedom to think about their history in a way they never had before.
Watch Now
Streaming through February 21
Nina Simone's Birthplace: A National Treasure
Tryon, North Carolina is the birthplace of legendary songstress and High Priest of Soul Nina Simone. On June 19, 2018 the National Trust designated it a National Treasure, celebrating with tours of the home while local artists Yolanda Rabun, Mary D. Williams, Carly Jones, and others honored Ms. Simone through song. This feature from Black Issues Forum shares highlights from the event and background of Nina Simone.
Freedom Riders
The story behind civil rights activists who challenged segregation in the American South.
Freedom Summer
Shattering the foundations of white supremacy over 10 memorable weeks in 1964.
The First Rainbow Coalition
Across lines of race and ethnicity, alliances formed among Chicago activists in the '60s.
Policing the Police 2020 | FRONTLINE
George Floyd's killing triggered mass demonstrations nationwide calling for racial justice and police accountability in the United States. In the wake of those protests, New Yorker writer and historian Jelani Cobb returns to a troubled police department he first visited four years ago to examine whether reform can work, and how police departments can be held accountable. Premiered September 15, 2020.
Watch Now: PBS NC Passport Exclusives
Watch these great programs with PBS NC Passport, your member benefit unlocking access to hundreds of exclusive shows. Learn more about PBS NC Passport.
Reconstruction
Explore the transformative years following the American Civil War, when the nation struggled to rebuild itself in the face of profound loss, massive destruction, and revolutionary social change.
The African Americans: Many River to Cross
Chronicling the full sweep of African American history, from the origins of slavery on the African continent right up to today when America remains a nation deeply divided by race.
Roads to Memphis
The fateful narrative of James Earl Ray who shot Dr. Martin Luther King on April 4, 1968.
The Central Park Five
The story of five teenagers who were wrongly convicted in the Central Park Jogger case.
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
Discover the man behind the legend. With full access to the Miles Davis Estate, the film features never-before-seen footage, including studio outtakes from his recording sessions, rare photos and new interviews.
Jackie Robinson
A fierce integrationist, Robinson used his immense fame to speak out against the discrimination he saw on and off the field, angering fans, the press, and even teammates who had once celebrated him for turning the other cheek.
T-Rex: Her Fight for Gold
Claressa "T-Rex" Shields won a Gold Medal in 2012, the first time women were allowed to box in the Olympics. T-Rex is a coming-of-age tale of a girl who learns that in Flint, a gold medal doesn't always make life easier.
Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project
A fiercely intelligent activist who became a wealthy recluse in her later years, Marion Stokes was dedicated to furthering and protecting the truth — so much so that she recorded American television 24 hours a day for over 30 years.
Watch on Rootle PBS KIDS This Month | February 2021
Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum on Rootle PBS KIDS
Follow the adventures of Xavier, Yadina and Brad as they tackle everyday problems by doing something extraordinary: traveling back in time to learn from real-life inspirational figures.
I Am Maya Angelou/I Am Frederick Douglass
Wednesday, February 3, 7 PM on Rootle
I Am Rosa Parks/I Am Thurgood Marshall
Thursday, February 4, 7 PM on Rootle
I Am Harriet Tubman
Friday, February 5, 7 PM on Rootle
The Power of We: A Sesame Street Special
Tuesday, February 16, 7 PM on Rootle
Follow Elmo, Abby, Tamir and Gabrielle as they prepare for a virtual community singalong as they stand up against racism by expressing love, kindness, and respect. Tamir and Gabrielle belong to an affinity group called the Power of We, led by Chris Jackson.
PBS Kids Talk About: Race and Racism
Tuesday, February 16, 7:30 PM on Rootle
Hosted by inaugural National Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman, this half-hour program features authentic conversations between real children and their parents and includes content from favorite PBS KIDS programs. The show looks at race and racial justice-related topics in an age-appropriate way and offers viewers ideas to build on as they continue these important conversations at home.
Discover more ways to play and learn at home with PBS KIDS for Parents: Celebrating Black Leaders.
