WPSU-FM will celebrate Black History Month with a series of special programs airing during the month of February, highlighting African American history and culture. Here's the list:
LIFT EVERY VOICE: A MUSICAL STORY FROM SORROW TO JUSTICE
Thursday, February 4, 8:00 p.m.
A collection of powerful songs, stories and interviews with some of today’s most acclaimed Black artists and scholars. This program was curated with the intent of creating awareness around the African American musical past, while inspiring listeners to cling to the hopefulness of our musical future together as every voice is heard and celebrated.
WITNESS: BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Thursday, February 11, 7:00 p.m.
Go back in time to key events in history and hear the story of our times told by the people who were there. Witness History from the BBC features first-hand accounts, archive material and insight from historians.
SELECTED SHORTS: Celebrating James Baldwin
Thursday, February 18, 7:00 p.m.
Guest host LeVar Burton presents a program celebrating the author he calls “potent and polemical.” Christopher Jackson reads an excerpt from Baldwin’s famous letter "The Fire Next Time" -- “My Dungeon Shook,” in which he addresses internalized racism. Next, Anthony Rapp performs an excerpt from "Giovanni's Room," in which an expat comes to terms with his sexuality and loneliness in Paris. And Baldwin contemplates the Great Migration in his novel "Go Tell It On The Mountain." We hear an excerpt performed by Charlayne Woodard.
THROUGHLINE: Billie Holiday and Shirley Chisholm
Friday, February 26, 7:00 p.m.
When Billie Holiday was harassed by U.S. government agents and told to stop singing "Strange Fruit," she refused. When Shirley Chisholm ran for president and was ridiculed and told she shouldn’t aim that high politically, she refused. On this episode of NPR’s Throughline, we’ll recall two pioneering Black women, Billie Holiday and Shirley Chisholm, who set their own sights and never backed down from a fight.
