Morehead State Public Radio will offer a variety of programming to celebrate Black History Month in February 2025.
Among the specials are:
A Rich Tradition
Airs everyday throughout the month of February
A Rich Tradition is an audio series encapsulating the philosophies and adept use of language by celebrated African-American writers, artists, satirists, athletes and leaders. The series is hosted by Dr. Josef Sorett, from Columbia University's faculty of Religion and African-American Studies, and produced by Peabody Award winner, Jim Luce.
African American Storytellers
February 2nd @ 3:00pm
Carolyn Franzini hosts an hour of stories and songs featuring Chic Street Man, Dr. Rex M. Ellis, Diane Ferlatte, Rhiannon Giddens, and Anthony Griffin.
Jump for Joy - Duke Ellington's Celebratory Musical
February 2nd @ 8:00pm
In the summer of 1941, as Americans warily regarded a world war that seemed to be edging ever closer to their shores, Duke Ellington staged what he would later call "the first 'social significance' show," Jump for Joy. Jump for Joy was an all-black musical revue that Ellington said "would take Uncle Tom out of the theater...and say things that would make the audience think."
Barrett Strong: Motown's Money Man (A Tribute)
Friday, February 7th @ 8:00pm / Saturday, February 8th @ 3:00pm
In this special hour - Barret Strong, Motown’s "Money" Man - you’ll hear some of the songs Motown songwriter and performer Barrett Strong had a hand in. They were some of the biggest hits of the 1960’s and 1970’s. Songs like "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone", "Just My Imagination", "Cloud Nine", "I Heard It Through The Grapevine", "I Can't Get Next to You", and the song he sang that became the label's very first national hit "Money (That's What I Want)".
Ida B. Wells' Battle to Uncover the Truth
February 9th @ 3:00pm
Born to enslaved parents on a Mississippi plantation during the Civil War, Ida B. Wells emerged as a powerful investigative journalist. She overcame death threats and published widely in her quest to document the domestic terrorism against African Americans that came to be known as lynching. Ida Wells published the first major study of that crime. A close associate of Frederick Douglass, she helped to found the NAACP and advocated the right to vote for women and black Americans. Her amazing life story is finally gaining recognition, nearly 90 years after her death.
It's Time! Max Roach In The 1960s
February 9th @ 8:00pm
A centennial tribute to Max Roach, who set the pace for modern jazz drumming and became an outspoken activist for civil rights.
Four Pillars of Rock 'n' Roll
Friday, February 14th @ 8:00pm / Saturday, February 15th @ 3:00pm
Over a period of 8 months in 1955, from April to September, 4 African-American performers tossed records onto the American pop and R&B charts that would establish them as rock and roll pioneer icons for all times. They were all among the earliest inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Each a revered and imitated talent that shaped music for decades and still today.
King Stories: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
February 16th @ 3:00pm
Host Julian Bond, along with insiders—Ralph Abernathy, David Garrow, Dick Gregory, Mark Lane and Larry Williams—share rarely documented stories about the personal and private sides of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Crusin' with Smokey Robinson: An Appreciation
February 16th @ 8:00pm
Hosted by music specials producer Paul Ingles who is joined by three top music writers and educators to lay out an exhibition of just some of the Motown great Smokey Robinson’s top tracks, as a performer and as a writer.
Whispers in Wilmington
February 23rd @ 3:00pm
We’re used to recognizing someone powerful with a statue. But what happens when there’s no statue or memorial to a traumatic event? Whoever lives with the impact of that painful history has to confront the kind of power it takes to keep it hidden for so long. In this episode, we uncover the story of the only successful coup d’etat ever to happen on American soil. This act of racial violence was designed to eliminate all memory of a highly successful Black community in Wilmington, North Carolina back in 1898.