From history to performing arts to independent film, PBS and Arizona Public Media offer television viewers the opportunity to explore the rich and vibrant history and cultural contributions of African Americans throughout the year. This special slate of new and encore programs in honor of Black History Month includes:
INDEPENDENT LENS offers three new films about race in February: “Adjust Your Color: The Truth of Petey Greene” profiles America’s first “shock jock,” who, with his raw, unvarnished voice, spoke truth to power on his groundbreaking radio and television series; “Tulia, Texas” examines the price Americans pay for the nation’s war on drugs; and “The Order of Myths” reveals the parallel black and white worlds of Mardi Gras Secret Societies in Mobile, Ala., where separate and unequal is still the order of the day. Petey Greene KUAT6 and HD, Feb. 3 at 11 p.m. and Feb. 4 at 4 a.m. UA Channel, Feb 8 at 9 p.m. PBS World, Feb 8 at 11 a.m. Tulia, Texas KUAT6 and HD, Feb. 10 at 11 p.m. and Feb. 11 at 4 a.m. UA Channel, Feb. 15 at 9 p.m. PBS World, Feb 11 at 7 a.m., 1 p.m., 6 p.m., 11 p.m. and Feb 15 at 11 a.m. The Order of Myths KUAT6 and HD, Feb 24 at 11 p.m. PBS World, Feb. 25 at 6:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.
FAUBOURG TREMÉ: THE UNTOLD STORY OF BLACK NEW ORLEANS Arguably the oldest black neighborhood in America and the birthplace of jazz, Faubourg Tremé was home to the largest community of free black people in the Deep South during slavery and a hotbed of political ferment. Lolis Eric Elie, a New Orleans newspaperman, tours this storied neighborhood. UA Channel, Feb. 17 at 8 p.m.; Feb. 18 at 1 a.m.; Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. Feb. 23, at 1 a.m.; Feb. 24 at 2 p.m. PBS World, Feb 6 at 3 a.m., 9 a.m., 4 p.m.
FLY BOYS: WESTERN PENNYSLVANIA'S TUSKEEGEE AIRMEN. The triumphant story of the African-American soldiers who served their country during World War II. KUAT6 and HD, Feb. 18 at 10 p.m., Feb. 19 at 3 a.m. and Feb. 22 at 3 p.m. PBS World, Feb 8 at 3 am and Feb 24 at 6 a.m., 12 p.m., 5 p.m. and 10 p.m.
LOOKING FOR LINCOLN Henry Louis Gates Jr. (“African American Lives” and “Oprah’s Roots”) dissects the myths that have grown up around Abraham Lincoln. KUAT6 and HD, Feb. 11 at 8 p.m.; Feb. 12 at 1 a.m.; and Feb. 15 at 1 p.m. PBS World, Feb. 17 at 6 a.m., 12 p.m., 5 p.m. and 10 p.m.
SIMON SCHAMA’S ROUGH CROSSINGS At the end of the American Revolution, slaves were offered freedom in return for service to the British. This is the story of their resettlement first in Nova Scotia, then Sierra Leone, where dreams of a haven came to a tragic end. KUAT6 and HD, Feb. 16 at 9 p.m.; Feb. 17 at 2 a.m. PBS World, Feb. 20 at 6 a.m., 12 p.m., 5 p.m. and 10 p.m.
AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2 Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. guides a group — including poet Maya Angelou, actors Don Cheadle and Morgan Freeman, radio host Tom Joyner, comedian Chris Rock and rock-n-roll legend Tina Turner — on a journey to discover their ancestry. The four-part series draws on DNA analysis, genealogical research and family oral tradition to trace the lineages of the participants down through U.S. history and back to Africa. The Promise of Freedom KUAT6 and HD, Feb. 10 at 10 p.m. and Feb. 11 at 3 a.m. Searching for our Names KUAT6 and HD, Feb. 17 at 10 p.m. and Feb. 18 at 3 a.m. Beyond the Middle Passage KUAT6 and HD, 2/24/2009 10 p.m. and Feb. 25 at 3 a.m.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: EYES ON THE PRIZE. The definitive story of the civil rights era from the point of view of the ordinary men and women whose extraordinary actions launched a movement that changed the fabric of American life, and embodied a struggle whose reverberations continue to be felt today. Awakenings/Fighting Back KUAT6 and HD, Feb. 20 at 11 p.m. and Feb 21 at 3 a.m. Ain't Scared of Your Jails/No Easy Walks KUAT6 and HD, Feb. 27 at 11 p.m. and Feb 28 at 3 a.m.
INDEPENDENT LENS “Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life” Duke Ellington’s co-composer, arranger and right-hand man, Billy Strayhorn, a gay man, had to lead a discreet existence. An Emmy® and Peabody Award winner. KUAT6 HD, Feb 17 at 11 p.m. PBS World, Feb. 18 at 6:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m. and Feb. 22 at 10 a.m. UA Channel, Feb 22 at 8:30 PM
MEET MARY PLEASANT. A look at the 19th-century African American woman called the Mother of Civil Rights in California. KUAT6 and HD, Feb 25 at 11 p.m. and Feb 26 at 4 a.m. UA Channel, Feb 26 at 8 p.m. and Feb 27 at 1 a.m.
OPRAH'S ROOTS: AN AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES SPECIAL. The quest to discover the struggles and accomplishments of Ms. Winfrey's ancestors. KUAT6 and HD, Feb. 11 at 10 p.m., Feb. 12 at 3 a.m. and Feb 15 at 3 p.m.
THE SPIRITUALS. A documentary by local producers Eren McGinnis and Ari Palos that eloquently recounts the bitter history from which the art form arose, and follows the American Spiritual Ensemble as they attempt to preserve the vanishing folksongs of the slaves. KUAT6 and HD, Feb 18 at 11 p.m. and Feb 19 at 4 p.m. UA Channel, Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. and Feb 25 at 1 a.m.
SIGNPOST TO FREEDOM: THE 1953 BATON ROUGE BUS BOYCOTT This documentary tells the story of the nation’s first large-scale boycott challenging segregation in Louisiana. KUAT6 and HD, Feb. 23 at 11 p.m. and Feb. 24 at 4 a.m. PBS World, Feb. 25 at 6 a.m., 12 p.m., 5 p.m. and 10 p.m.
SISTERS OF SELMA: BEARING WITNESS FOR CHANGE This program is an unabashedly spiritual take on the Selma, Alabama, voting rights marches of 1965 from some of its unsung foot soldiers — Catholic nuns. PBS World, Feb. 24 at 7 a.m., 1 p.m., 6 p.m., and 11 p.m.; Feb. 27 at 3 a.m. and 9 a.m.; and March 1 at 3 a.m.
TAVIS SMILEY Tavis Smiley, the first African American to have his own signature talk show on NPR, hosts a new late-night television talk show -- a hybrid of news, issues and entertainment, featuring interviews with newsmakers, politicians, celebrities and real people. PBS World, Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 2 a.m.
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