Integration Stories
It's been more than four decades since the Civil Rights movement ended racial segregation in America. Yet few would say African-Americans are now fully integrated – or assimilated. In this hour...
View ArticleThe Tavis Smiley Show: Memories of the Movement
The years of the Civil Rights Movement are counted among the most volatile, yet vibrant, in American history. In our Black History month special, Memories of the Movement, The Tavis Smiley Show...
View ArticleStill Swinging, Still Classic: A Musical Biography of Pioneering Pianist...
A musical portrait of the wife of late Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. and Julliard-trained pianist who performed in the most prestigious concert halls in the world. Known as the “darling of Café...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Realism vs. Racism: Opera's Casting Call
Some of my African-American friends like to remark, only partially in jest, that February was designated as Black History Month because it is the shortest month of the year. With 2012 being a leap...
View ArticleKareem Abdul-Jabbar's New Children's Book on African American Inventors and...
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a jack of all trades — and a master of each. During his 20 year NBA career with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers, he won six NBA championships and a record six regular...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Shoulders On Which They Stand
In my previous post about blackness in opera, I explored how makeup is used on certain singers to transform them (externally, at least) into characters of one race or another. This was but one of many...
View ArticleSay It Loud: Great Speeches on Civil Rights and African American Identity
This American RadioWorks program traces the last half-century of black history through stirring, historically important speeches by African Americans from across the political spectrum.
View ArticleBack of the Bus: Mass Transit, Race and Inequality
In the '60s, highway projects nearly destroyed African American communities. Now in this collaborative reporting project from Transportation Nation and WNYC, "Back of the Bus" investigates why...
View ArticleThe Harlem Renaissance: Music, Religion, and the Politics of Race
During the vibrant years of the Harlem Renaissance, music, religion, and spirituality were interconnected - not just in the religious setting of the church, but in the jazz club, the dance hall, the...
View ArticleI, Too, Sing America: Music in the Life of Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes, an enduring icon of the Harlem Renaissance, is best-known for his written work, which wedded his fierce dedication to social justice with his belief in the transformative power of the...
View ArticleMaya Angelou’s Black History Month Special
Maya Angelou defines Black History, as it is embraced in our popular culture with an emphasis on the civil rights era and a poetic acknowledgement of late activist, Rosa Parks. In this one hour...
View ArticleState Of Siege: Mississippi Whites and the Civil Rights Movement
No state in the South was more resistant to the struggle for black equality and none more violent than Mississippi. Drawing on newly discovered archival audio and groundbreaking research on the civil...
View Article
