WETA Television proudly celebrates Black HistoryMonth with a special lineup that highlights therich culture and history of African Americans onWETA TV 26. Throughout the broadcast year,the station is committed to presenting programsreflecting the diversity of our community. Visitweta.org for the complete program schedule.

Wednesday, February 3 • 2:00 p.m. UNFORGIVABLE BLACKNESS: THE RISE ANDFALL OF JACK JOHNSON — A film directed byKen Burns and co-produced by WETA chronicles

the life and career of the first African-American heavyweight boxing champion, who suffered racially

motivated persecution bythe U.S. government.

Part 1 of 2. Johnsonenters the world of

professional

boxing and in 1908captures the heavy-weight title, settingin motion a world-wide search for a“white hope” todefeat him. In the1910 “Battle of theCentury” thatresults, Johnsonfights ex-title holder Jim Jeffries.{DVI}

Thursday, February 11 • 8:00 p.m. IN PERFORMANCE AT THE WHITE HOUSE: ACELEBRATION OF MUSIC FROM THE CIVILRIGHTS MOVEMENT — The WETA production,created in association with the National BlackProgramming Consortium, features Presidentand Mrs. Obama hosting a February 10 concertin the White House East Room that celebratessongs from the Civil Rights Movement per-formed by an array of top musical artists fromthat era along with contemporary pop luminaries.Onstage performers include Bob Dylan, SmokeyRobinson, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend andThe Blind Boys of Alabama. Repeats Fri. 2/12, 1:30 p.m.

Sunday, February 14 • 2:00 p.m. AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES — HarvardAfrican-American Studies scholar Henry LouisGates Jr. uses genealogy and DNA science to tellthe story of eight accomplished AfricanAmericans — including Oprah Winfrey andQuincy Jones — tracing their roots throughAmerican history and back to Africa. Episode 2 of 2. Searching for Our Names/Beyond the MiddlePassage. Dr. Gates finds genealogical researchmore challenging as he works back from theCivil War through the Colonial period ofAmerican history, searching war records andproperty inventories; exhausting the paper trail,Gates visits West Africa after consulting with scientists who areusing DNA analysisto trace ancestralroots. {DVI}

Monday, February15 • 10:00 p.m. A RIPPLE OF HOPE— On the night of Dr. Martin LutherKing’s murder in1968, Robert F.Kennedy was scheduled to make

Wednesday, February 3 • 4:00 p.m. AN EVENING WITH QUINCY JONES — Anhour-long interview taped in Washington, D.C.,with a live audience offers a rare look into the lifeof music mogul Quincy Jones. WETA’s Gwen Ifillinterviews Jones and hosts the star-studded evening,which features live performances by Lesley Gore,BeBe Winans, James Ingram, Bobby McFerrin and Herbie Hancock.

Friday, February 5 • 10:00 p.m. AN EVENING WITH SMOKEY ROBINSON—WETA’s Gwen Ifill talks with Smokey Robinson,giving viewers an insider’s look at the life andcareer of the Motown legend. The program, tapedin 2009 before an audience at NorthwesternUniversity Thorne Auditorium, features formerMotown executive and film producer Suzanne de Passe as mistress of ceremonies, with musicaltributes from Grammy-nominated artists such asTeena Marie, Howard Hewett and MusiqSoulchild. Repeats Sun. 2/7, 4 p.m.

Saturday, February 6 • 11:00 p.m. INDEPENDENT LENS: HERSKOVITS AT THEHEART OF BLACKNESS— Using photomontagere-creations, interviews, animation, original fieldfootage and recordings, this film examines theforgotten legacy of Melville Herskovits. The con-troversial Jewish anthropologist’s writings in the40s and 50s challenged widely held assumptionsabout race and culture by insisting that we look atthe world through each other’s lives and histories.

Sunday, February 7 • 2:00 p.m. AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES — Harvard African-American Studies scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr.uses genealogy and DNA science to tell the storyof eight accomplished African Americans —including Oprah Winfrey and Quincy Jones —tracing their roots through American history andback to Africa. Episode 1 of 2. Discovering Roots/The Promise of Freedom. In exploring the familyhistories of the program participants, Gatesexplores the post-World War I “Great Migration”of African-American families to northern cities andexamines Jim Crow segregation in the South; inthe second hour, Gates explores how AfricanAmericans defined their freedom after slavery. {DVI}

Wednesday, February 10 • 2:00 p.m. UNFORGIVABLE BLACKNESS: THE RISE ANDFALL OF JACK JOHNSON — Part 2 of 2.Johnson’s defeat of Jeffries leaves him on top ofthe boxing world, but the U.S. government setsout to destroy him in the courts, using his some-times-troubled relationships with white women as an excuse to prosecute him. {DVI}

Wednesday, February 10 • 4:00 p.m. AN EVENING WITH EARTHA KITT — In a livelyand playful interview, WETA’s Gwen Ifill talks withlegendary performer Eartha Kitt about her stage,dance and acting career. Kitt closes the program bysinging “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” “La Vie En Rose” and“Here’s to Life.”

an appearance in an African-American neighbor-hood in Indianapolis as part of his run for thedemocratic presidential nomination. This documentary explores how, upon hearing thetragic news, Kennedy kept his promise to speak inIndianapolis and was able to help that city avertthe violence that swept the rest of the countryand make a profound statement about Americanrace relations.

Wednesday, February 17 • 3:00 p.m. AMERICAN MASTERS: ZORA NEALE HURSTON:JUMP AT THE SUN— The biography series spotlights authorZora NealeHurston, one of the most celebrated— and most controversial — figures of the Harlem Renaissance. An African-American writer,cultural anthropologist, chronicler of folkroots, and daughterof former slaves, Hurston attained success but ulti-mately died a pauper’s death in total obscurity. Herworks were resurrected by author Alice Walker.

Thursday, February 18 • 10:40 p.m. AMERICAN MASTERS: MARVIN GAYE: WHAT’SGOING ON— The biography series profiles theenormously talented and equally complicatedMotown recording artist and soul/pop music performer. The film features performance footageand insights from Gaye’s peers in the music business. Repeats Tue. 2/23, 4 p.m.

Friday, February 19 • 10:00 p.m. AMERICAN MASTERS: THE WORLD OF NATKING COLE — A biography of the performerfocuses not just on Cole’s celebrity, but on theCivil Rights movement and how the singer of

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Robert F. Kennedy

Eartha Kitt and journalist Gwen Ifill.

Program host/interviewer Gwen Ifill and Smokey Robinson

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson.

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Soul, Sam Cooke put the spirit of the blackchurch into popular music, creating a newAmerican sound. American Masters explores hislife and music. Repeats Fri. 2/26 2:30 p.m.

Wednesday, February 24 • 3:00 p.m. FAUBOURG TREMÉ: THE UNTOLD STORY OFBLACK NEW ORLEANS— Lolis Eric Elie, a NewOrleans newspaperman, takes viewers on a tourof the city in what becomes a reflection on therelevance of history folded into a love letter to hisstoried neighborhood, Faubourg Tremé. Arguablythe oldest black neighborhood in America andthe birthplace of jazz, Faubourg Tremé was hometo the largest community of free black people inthe Deep South during slavery and a hotbed ofpolitical ferment. Here, black and white, free andenslaved, rich and poor cohabitated, collaboratedand clashed to create America’s first civil rightsmovement and a unique American culture.

Sunday, February 28 • 12:30 a.m. INDEPENDENT LENS: BEHIND THE RAINBOW — Over two tumultuous decades,South Africa has arrived on its own bumpy road to democracy. With the 2009 presidentialelection looming as a historical turning point, the documentary film Behind the Rainbow is a previously untold account of the country’s political problems, struggles and realities.

such popular songs as “Mona Lisa,” “Too Young”and “Pretend” broke through major racial barriersin the entertainment industry as the first blackAmerican to have his own national radio showand the first black American to have his own television show. Repeats Fri. 2/26, 3:30 p.m.

Sunday, February 21 • 2:00 p.m. AMERICA BEYOND THE COLOR LINE WITHHENRY LOUIS GATES, JR. — The Harvard scholarof African-American Studies travels around theUnited States to examine the state of black

America. Episode 1 of 2.South: The Black Belt/Chicago: Streets of Heaven.Gates travels to Memphis,Birmingham and Atlanta to find out how muchthese cities have changedsince the era of legal segregation; Gates visitshousing projects ofChicago’s South Side tofind out what life is like

for America’s underclass.

Sunday, February 21 & 28 • 4:00 p.m. FOR LOVE OF LIBERTY: THE STORY OF AMERICA’S BLACK PATRIOTS— Parts 1 & 2 of 2.Introduced by Colin Powell, hosted by HalleBerry and narrated by Avery Brooks, a two-partfilm uses letters, diaries, speeches, journalisticaccounts, historical texts and military records todocument the sacrifices and contributions ofAfrican-American servicemen and women. Theprogram examines why, despite injustice, thesemen and women fought valiantly for freedomsthey themselves did not enjoy. Dramatic first-hand accounts are read by an array of America’stop actors and performers.

Sunday, February 21 • 10:30 p.m. AMERICAN MASTERS: SAM COOKE: CROSSINGOVER — Before Otis Redding, before Motown,before Aretha Franklin became the Queen of

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Sunday, February 28 • 2:00 p.m. AMERICA BEYOND THE COLOR LINEWITH HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR. — TheHarvard scholar of African-American Studiestravels around the United States to examinethe state of black America. Episode 2 of 2. East Coast: Ebony Towers/Los Angeles: BlackHollywood. Gates travels to Washington, D.C.and New York to determine whether the suc-cess of the new black power elite representsgenuine progress for black America as awhole; the professor visits Hollywood to findout if the entertainment industry is growingcolorblind in pursuit of box office success.

BLACKHISTORY MONTH

WETA TV26Celebrates

Program Guide 2010

Cover photo: Marvin Gaye, circa 1980.

Jim Britt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Muhammad Ali (left) and Sam Cooke (right).

Independent Lens: Behind the Rainbow. Thabo Mbeki campaigning

in South Africa.

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