%20(2).png)
KLRN celebrates Black History Month!
This February, we’re featuring a special lineup of programs that highlight the achievements of inspiring leaders and visionaries around the world.
Check out our featured programming and watch with us all month long – on-air and online at klrn.org/live or via the PBS Video App.
A special thanks to our supporters, Bank of America, The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, and The San Antonio Area African American Community Fund .
American Masters: Little Richard: The King and Queen of Rock and Roll | Feb. 2 | 8PM
Experience the meteoric rise and enduring legacy of Little Richard. This portrait of the “King and Queen of Rock and Roll” explores his far-reaching influence as well as his advocacy for the rights of Black artists in the music industry.
The Niagara Movement: The Early Battle for Civil Rights | Feb. 4 | 3PM
The Niagara Movement | The Early Battle for Civil Rights explores the Black elite and intellectual society at the turn of the 20th century, a class rarely presented. It examines the heated debate and conflict between W.E.B DuBois and William Monroe Trotter with Booker T. Washington on how to best uplift the race and secure equality for their community.
Pullman and the Railroad Rebellion | Feb. 4 | 4PM
In 1864, the powerful industrialist and engineer George Pullman brought luxury to train travel with his revolutionary sleeping cars, where passengers were served by an army of former slaves who became known as Pullman Porters and Maids. Pullman established a company town for employees that gave him complete authority over every aspect of their lives.
Making Black America: Through the Grapevine | Feb. 5 | 9PM
The New Series from Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Explores the Black American Experience Through Interviews with Leading Academics, Scholars, and Experts Including Charles M. Blow, Angela Davis, André Holland, Fab 5 Freddie, Jason King, Killer Mike & More
American Masters: How it Feels to Be Free | Feb. 6 | 8PM
The inspiring story of how six iconic African American female entertainers – Lena Horne, Abbey Lincoln, Nina Simone, Diahann Carroll, Cicely Tyson and Pam Grier – challenged an entertainment industry deeply complicit in perpetuating racist stereotypes, and transformed themselves and their audiences in the process.
The Dream Whisperer | Feb. 6 | 10PM
In the midst of segregation, the all-Black Tennessee A&I Tigers made history by winning three straight national championships. Captain Dick Barnett fought to secure recognition for his team. In 2019, their induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame marked the victory of his persistence. Discover their triumph over adversity and Barnett's relentless effort to preserve their legacy.
Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Movement: Awakenings | Feb. 7 | 3PM
Individual acts of courage inspire black Southerners to fight for their rights: Mose Wright testifies against the white men who murdered young Emmett Till, and Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama.
Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Movement: Fighting Back | Feb. 7 | 4PM
States' rights loyalists and federal authorities collide in the 1957 battle to integrate Little Rock's Central High School, and again in James Meredith's 1962 challenge to segregation at the University of Mississippi. Both times, a Southern governor squares off with a U.S. president, violence erupts — and integration is carried out.
Gospel Live! Presented by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. | Feb. 9 | 8PM
This special is a one-of-a-kind musical celebration that honors the legacy and influence of gospel music in America. Contemporary secular artists and renowned gospel singers perform their favorite gospel classics. The event co-hosted by Gates and Erica Campbell, and featuring John Legend, is a companion program to the four-hour PBS documentary series, “Gospel.”
Symphony Celebration: The Blind Boys of Alabama with Dr. Henry Panion III | Feb. 9 | 9PM
A SYMPHONY CELEBRATION: THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA WITH DR. HENRY PANION, III focuses on messages of humanity, peace and love. The program features the five-time Grammy-winning Blind Boys of Alabama with conductor Dr. Henry Panion, III, and a full symphony orchestra.
The Dream Whisperer | Feb. 11 | 3PM
In the midst of segregation, the all-Black Tennessee A&I Tigers were the first collegiate basketball team to win three consecutive national championships. Yet they were never duly recognized for this singular achievement. The team captain, legendary Knicks player Dick Barnett, began a nine-year quest to ensure his historic team’s immortality. His tenacity, dedication, and struggle finally paid off in 2019 when the team was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. THE DREAM WHISPERER reveals how the team from this small, historically Black college triumphed over intense adversity and shares how, 60 years later, their captain refused to let their forgotten legacy die.
Inspired Lives | Feb. 11 | 4PM
INSPIRED LIVES is an hour-long program that features in-depth conversations with FUBU founder, “Godfather of Urban Fashion” and Shark Tank investor Daymond John, and five-time Grammy Award-winner Dionne Warwick, a legendary recording artist who has sold more than 100 million records worldwide.
Gospel: The Gospel Train/The Golden Age of Gospel| Feb. 12| 8PM
Dig deep into the origin story of Black gospel music, coming out of slavery, blending with the blues tradition, and soaring to new heights during the Great Migration. From Mahalia to Kirk Franklin, in the last century, gospel music has become the dominant form of African American religious expression and provided a soundtrack of healing and uplift to those at the front lines of protest and change.
Amen! Music of the Black Church| Feb. 12| 10PM
Dig deep into the origin story of Black gospel music, coming out of slavery, blending with the blues tradition, and soaring to new heights during the Great Migration. From Mahalia to Kirk Franklin, in the last century, gospel music has become the dominant form of African American religious expression and provided a soundtrack of healing and uplift to those at the front lines of protest and change.
Finding Your Roots: The Brick Wall Falls | Feb. 13 | 7PM
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. helps musician Dionne Warwick & actor Danielle Brooks break down barriers imposed by the slave system to learn the names of their ancestors who endured unimaginable ordeals—but emerged to forge families that thrived.
Gospel: Take the Message Everywhere/Gospel's Second Century| Feb. 13 | 8PM
Dig deep into the origin story of Black gospel music, coming out of slavery, blending with the blues tradition, and soaring to new heights during the Great Migration. From Mahalia to Kirk Franklin, in the last century, gospel music has become the dominant form of African American religious expression and provided a soundtrack of healing and uplift to those at the front lines of protest and change.
Symphony Celebration: The Blind Boys of Alabama with Dr. Henry Panion III | Feb. 13 | 10PM
A SYMPHONY CELEBRATION: THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA WITH DR. HENRY PANION, III focuses on messages of humanity, peace and love. The program features the five-time Grammy-winning Blind Boys of Alabama with conductor Dr. Henry Panion, III, and a full symphony orchestra.
Finding Your Roots: The Brick Wall Falls | Feb. 14 | 2PM
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. helps musician Dionne Warwick & actor Danielle Brooks break down barriers imposed by the slave system to learn the names of their ancestors who endured unimaginable ordeals—but emerged to forge families that thrived.
Eyes on the Prize: Aint Scared of Your Jails| Feb. 14 | 3PM
Black college students take a leadership role in the civil rights movement as lunch counter sit-ins spread across the South. "Freedom Riders" also try to desegregate interstate buses, but they are brutally attacked as they travel.
Eyes on the Prize: No Easy Walk| Feb. 14 | 4PM
The civil rights movement discovers the power of mass demonstrations as the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. emerges as its most visible leader. Some demonstrations succeed; others fail. But the triumphant March on Washington, D.C., under King's leadership, shows a mounting national support for civil rights. President John F. Kennedy proposes the Civil Rights Act.
Secrets of the Dead: The Woman in the Iron Coffin | Feb. 14 | 9PM
Follow a team of forensic experts as they investigate the preserved remains of a young African American woman from 19th century New York and reveal the little-known story of early America’s free Black communities.
Secrets of the Dead: The Woman in the Iron Coffin | Feb. 16 | 4PM
Follow a team of forensic experts as they investigate the preserved remains of a young African American woman from 19th century New York and reveal the little-known story of early America’s free Black communities
Beyond the Baton: A Conductor's Story | Feb. 16 | 9:30PM
Born to a single mother on welfare, Thomas Wilkins grew up to become one of the few remarkable African American conductors leading a major orchestra — the celebrated Omaha Symphony. BEYOND THE BATON: A CONDUCTOR'S JOURNEY is an hour-long film that documents Wilkins’ experience as a Black conductor and his larger impact on the musical world.
Gospel: The Golden Age Train/The Golden Age of Gospel| Feb. 18 | 12PM
Dig deep into the origin story of Black gospel music, coming out of slavery, blending with the blues tradition, and soaring to new heights during the Great Migration. From Mahalia to Kirk Franklin, in the last century, gospel music has become the dominant form of African American religious expression and provided a soundtrack of healing and uplift to those at the front lines of protest and change.
Gospel: Take the Message Everywhere/Gospel's Second Century| Feb. 18 | 2:30PM
Dig deep into the origin story of Black gospel music, coming out of slavery, blending with the blues tradition, and soaring to new heights during the Great Migration. From Mahalia to Kirk Franklin, in the last century, gospel music has become the dominant form of African American religious expression and provided a soundtrack of healing and uplift to those at the front lines of protest and change.
Shuttlesworth | Feb. 19 | 10:30PM
Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth was raised in the crucible of segregated Birmingham but he was forged by its attempt to kill him. When the KKK planted a bomb underneath his bed and he emerged unharmed, he was sure he was saved by God to lead a Movement. His work not only ended legal segregation but lead directly to the Civil and Voting Rights Acts - and inspired freedom movements around the world.
Eyes on the Prize: Mississippi: Is this America? | Feb. 21 | 3PM
Mississippi's grass-roots civil rights movement becomes an American concern when college students travel south to help register black voters and three activists are murdered. The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party challenges the regular Mississippi delegation at the Democratic Convention in Atlantic City.
Eyes on the Prize: Bridge to Freedom | Feb. 21 | 4PM
A decade of lessons is applied in the climactic and bloody march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. A major victory is won when the federal Voting Rights Bill passes, but civil rights leaders know they have new challenges ahead.
