Show Previews, Arts, Film & Music, History

PBS Wisconsin celebrates African-American History Month

February 10, 2020 Susannah Brooks Leave a Comment

February is African-American History Month! PBS Wisconsin is proud to offer a variety of programs that spotlight the lives of artists, leaders and citizens seeking the American dream.

Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
7 p.m. Tuesdays

Feb. 4: Science Pioneers | Watch online!
Includes Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson.
Feb. 11: Slave Trade
Includes Ava DuVernay, S. Epatha Merkerson and Questlove.

All six seasons available online to PBS Wisconsin Passport members.

Count Basie: Through His Own Eyes
10:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 10

The pioneering musician, the first African-American to win a Grammy Award, brought blues to big bands. Rare performances and a trove of personal material illuminate his inner motivations and relationships with his wife and daughter, the “hidden core of his creative life.”

American Experience The Fight
8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11

Learn the interweaving stories of two extraordinary men, boxers Max Schmeling of Germany and American Joe Louis, culminating in what was arguably the most politicized sporting event in history: the 1938 heavyweight championship of the world.

Independent Lens Always in Season
9 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24

In 2014, African-American teenager Lennon Lacy was found hanging from a swing set. His mother believes he was lynched. Stark inconsistencies and few answers from officials drive her to lead efforts in what has become an ongoing fight for the truth.

American Masters Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25

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.

University Place

African-American Degree Attainment
African-American History in the Badger State
An African-American Life in Search of Justice
America’s Forgotten Black Pioneers
Artist Talk: Nathan Alan Davis
Artist Talk: Nathaniel Mary Quinn
Artist Talk: Sonya Clark
Artist Talk: Tyanna Buie
Beloit’s African-American History
Black Music and the Black Experience in Vietnam
Black Suffrage in Early Wisconsin
A Conversation With Gwen Ifill
Ferguson Is America: Roots of Rebellion
Freedom Riders
Historical Poetry
The Legacy of Mary Lou Williams
Policing Blackness After the Second World War
Pomp and His Circumstances
Race and Citizenship in Antebellum America
Race, Gender and Carceral Feminism
Why Is There Black Radicalism?
Wisconsin’s Underground Railroad