Celebrating Black Excellence
Black History Month on WHYY-TV 12 & WHYY-FM 90.9
From before Jim Crow America to modern mass incarceration, Black Americans have stood tall and marched against a world’s efforts to keep them still. This month WHYY is featuring stories about incredible Black activists and artists who refused to stay silent, like NAACP president Walter White, jazz musician Hazel Scott and more. Don’t miss out on the new docuseries from Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and take a leap into Philadelphian history with WHYY’s special on the extraordinary Uptown Theater.
We’re excited for you to join us in celebrating the Black Americans who have sculpted American art, culture and politics and serve as models of resilience and strength for us today. Catch these remarkable programs and others like them all year long on WHYY-TV 12 and video.whyy.org and PBS Passport..
And that’s not all. If you’re a parent, an educator or you just have a young person in your life you want to start a conversation with, make sure to check out PBS LearningMedia for inspiring stories of Black innovators in literature to STEM and PBS Kids for kid-friendly resources on learning about Black history. And stop by the block party PBS is throwing here for digital content all month long!
WHYY-TV 12
Major Taylor: Champion of the Race
Saturday, 2.1.25 | 7 PM
The Cyclone. The Whirlwind. The Comet. He earned the respect of civil rights pioneer Booker T. Washington and shook the hand of President Theodore Roosevelt, who sought out the great champion to congratulate him. Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor was the world’s first Black sports superstar. Reporters simply called him “The Fastest Man in the World.” MAJOR TAYLOR: CHAMPION OF THE RACE retraces the life and legacy of an American civil rights pioneer who set more than 20 world records in speed cycling during the heart of Jim Crow America.
Independent Lens: “The Strike”
Monday, 2.3.25 | 10 PM
Follow the survivors who fought to abolish indefinite isolation at a mass-scale solitary confinement prison. California’s Pelican Bay prison ignited a statewide hunger strike as a feat of unity by 30,000 incarcerated people.
Great Migrations: A People on the Move
Tuesdays at 9 PM & Sundays at 4 PM
“Exodus” | “Streets Paved with Gold” | “One Way Ticket Back” | “Coming to America”
Coming from Henry Louis Gates Jr. in four parts, Great Migrations explores the transformative impact of Black migration on American culture and society. From the waves of Black Americans to the North–and back South—over the last century to the growing number of immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean today, this docuseries shows how movement is a defining feature of the Black experience.
Chautauqua at 150: Wynton Marsalis’ All Rise
Tuesday, 2.11.25 | 10 PM
This celebration of Chautauqua’s sesquicentennial features the institution’s inspiring stories of faith and democracy. Marsalis’ orchestral masterpiece, performed there in 2024, anchors the film.
American Masters: “The Disappearance of Miss Scott”
Friday, 2.21.25 | 9 PM
This documentary spotlights Hazel Scott, the most famous jazz virtuoso of her time and the first African American to have her own television show. A champion for racial equality before what we now consider to be the civil rights movement, Scott’s bright star dimmed when she was caught up in the Red Scare of the 1950s and refused to back down, testifying in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee to defend herself and her colleagues, and was blacklisted as a result.
The Uptown Theater: Movies, Music, & Memories
Friday, 2.21.25 | 10:30 PM
The Uptown opened in 1929 as a motion picture palace, lauded for its architectural and engineering designs. Later it was popular on the vaudeville circuit and became an important venue on the Chitlin Circuit, second only to NY’s Apollo Theater, and nurtured the careers of many famous African American entertainers. Experience it all with historians, former concertgoers, and performers.
Independent Lens: “Bike Vessel”
Monday, 2.24.25 | 10 PM
After several health crises, a 70-year-old man embarks on a transformative long-distance cycling trip with his son.
American Experience: “Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP”
Tuesday, 2.25.25 | 9 PM
The story of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the most powerful civil rights organization ever created, through the key figures who shaped it. One of the most important but least understood figures in civil rights history, Walter White was the NAACP’s longest reigning president. White clung to the belief that, for all its flaws, America held the seeds of its own redemption. When White took over the NAACP in 1929, Black Americans were socially and politically marginalized. By the time he died in 1955, they were a crucial segment of the electorate and on the brink of the landmark legal and legislative victories that would forever reshape the country.
WHYY-FM 90.9
The Lost Cause
Sunday, 2.9.2025 | 6 PM
Are we still living with the racial divide left over from the Civil War? We explore the enduring myth of The Lost Cause, a revisionist history contrived right after the Civil War. It cast the Confederacy’s humiliating defeat in a treasonous war for slavery as the embodiment of the framers’ true vision for America and pushed the idea that the Civil War was not actually about slavery.
On this program you’ll hear former U.S. Senator Doug Jones (Alabama), as well as a Pulitzer-winning author and other leading American historians, explain the ideology that came to be known as The Lost Cause. Written and produced by David Freudberg in association with GBH/Boston.
The Breakthrough of ’48: When Civil Rights Won the White House
Sunday, 2.16.2025 | 6 PM
In 1948, Minneapolis Mayor Hubert Humphrey called on the Democratic party to “walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights.” This led to a series of dramatic political events eventually leading to the landmark civil rights laws of the 1960s.
Based on Samuel Freedman’s book “Into the Bright Sunshine,” this documentary features compelling interviews and archival audio to recall pivotal moments in American history that remain relevant and revealing today. Hosted by Angela Davis of Minnesota Public Radio News.
Haitian Voices: Exodus, Community, and the Vital Role of Music
Sunday, 2.23.2025 | 6 PM
We hear so many stories about Haiti and Haitians—difficult stories. But if we listen more closely, there is another story, one told through music that reflects the real story of this exceptional island nation.
Co-hosted by Haitian sisters and journalists Nathalie (Talie) and Mélodie Cerin, this documentary weaves together the voices of Haitian artists and activists in dialogue with historical audio. They chronicle how Haitians have always used song as the preeminent tool for preserving their shared memory of oppression and injustice—and for mapping a hopeful vision for their future.