KENT, Ohio — Jan. 19, 2012 — Western Reserve PBS (WNEO 45.1/WEAO 49.1) celebrates Black History Month in February with programming that emphasizes the resilience of the African-American spirit. Shows airing for the first time are marked with an asterisk (*). Additional air dates for these programs on Western Reserve PBS and Fusion (WNEO.2/WEAO.2) can be found at www.WesternReservePBS.org.

Friday, Feb. 3, 2012
	10 p.m.  *Red Tail Reborn: Special Edition In 2007, Red Tail Reborn, winner of three regional Emmy awards, brought the story of the Tuskegee Airmen and of the efforts of volunteers who strove to bring the Airmen’s tale to light. Now the full story is finally available.
Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012
	11 p.m.  *Independent Lens, Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock As a black woman who was a feminist before the term was invented, Daisy Bates refused to accept her assigned place in society.
Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012
	4 p.m.  DuSable to Obama: Chicago’s Black Metropolis Explore the essential contributions of African Americans to the city’s growth and vitality.
	6 p.m.  *NCRM Freedom Award The Freedom Award is an annual event for the National Civil Rights Museum. Held each year in the fall, it honors individuals who have made significant contributions in civil rights and who have laid the foundation for present and future leaders in the battle for human rights.
	10 p.m.  *Colored Frames Reflects on the last 50 years in African American art by exploring the influences, inspirations and experiences of black artists.
	11 p.m.  *The Unforgettable Hampton Family Deacon Clark Hampton, a son of slaves and man with almost no formal education, taught himself to read the works of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, to paint and to play numerous musical instruments.
Monday, Feb. 6, 2012
	1 a.m.  Gospel Meets Symphony: Celebrating 16 Years! The Akron Symphony Orchestra and a 200-member all-volunteer choir celebrate 16 years of making beautiful music together in this Western Reserve Public Media production.
	10 p.m.  *Underground Railroad: The William Still Story Extraordinary people risked their lives to help fugitive slaves escape via the clandestine Underground Railroad. Among them was William Still of Philadelphia, a free black man who accepted delivery of transported crates containing human “cargo.”
Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012
	8 p.m.  Freedom Songs: Music of the Civil Rights Movement Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield and others musicians composed a soundtrack for a turbulent time.
	10 p.m.  Freedom Riders: American Experience Chronicles the journey of the courageous band of civil-rights activists in the Deep South in 1961.
Wednesdays, Feb. 8, 15 & 29
	2 a.m.  Black in Latin America Produced by renowned Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., this series uncovers Latin America’s African roots.
Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012
	11 p.m.  *Independent Lens, The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 Combining startlingly fresh and candid 16mm footage with contemporary audio interviews, Mixtape looks at the people, society, culture and style that fueled an era of convulsive change.
Monday, Feb. 13, 2012
	9 p.m. *Slavery by Another Name A Sundance Film Festival selection for 2012, this new documentary challenges one of Americans’ most cherished assumptions: the belief that slavery in this country ended with the Emancipation Proclamation.
Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012
	11 p.m.  *Independent Lens, More Than a Month Shukree Hassan Tilghman, a 29-year-old African-American filmmaker, is on a cross-country campaign to end Black History Month. Through this tongue-in-cheek journey, More Than a Month investigates what the treatment of history tells us about race and equality in a “post-racial” America.
Friday, Feb. 24, 2012
	9 p.m.  *Great Performances, Memphis Winner of the 2010 Tony Award for Best New Musical, Memphis turns the radio dial back to the 1950s to tell the story of a white deejay, Huey Calhoun (Chad Kimball), whose love of music transcends race lines and airwaves.
Monday, Feb. 27, 2012
	9 p.m.  Blues: In Performance at the White House Leading popular artists’ performances pay homage to the great figures of the blues genre and the songs they made famous.
	10 p.m.  *American Masters, Cab Calloway: Sketches The singer was at the top of his game in the jazz and swing era and was rediscovered in the 1980s.

Local funding for Black History Month programming provided by

 

 

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About Western Reserve Public Media
Western Reserve Public Media serves the largest population among Ohio’s eight PBS member stations. Its broadcast channels — Western Reserve PBS, Fusion, MHz Worldview and V-me — are available to 4.9 million viewers. Over 1 million viewers watch Western Reserve PBS each month. The organization not only embraces regionalism, it is regionalism: Western Reserve PBS is the only broadcast television service in the area that links together the entire Northeast Ohio area.

Western Reserve Public Media (formerly PBS 45 & 49) is owned and operated by Northeastern Educational Television of Ohio, Inc., a private, nonprofit corporation and consortium of Kent State University, The University of Akron and Youngstown State University. A trusted community resource, Western Reserve Public Media uses the power of commercial-free television and related services to enrich the lives of people through high-quality programming and educational services that teach, illuminate and inspire.

Western Reserve PBS (WNEO 45.1/WEAO 49.1), a service of the organization, is the only broadcast television service that reaches all of Northeast Ohio. The organization also operates three standard definition channels, Fusion (WNEO 45.2/WEAO 49.2), MHz Worldview (WNEO 45.3/WEAO 49.3) and V-me (WNEO 45.4/WEAO 49.4).

Through funding from eTech Ohio, Western Reserve Public Media provides K-12 educational technology training and instructional television programming to 21,500 educators and 256,700 students in eight Ohio counties. For more information about the organization, visit www.WesternReservePublicMedia.org or call 1-800-554-4549.