Saluting Black History Month on WJFF

Friday, Feb. 14 – 9am  & 7pm– Frederick Douglass’ Birthday
Hear Douglass tell his story in his own words on his chosen birthday. Actor & Sullivan County resident Oliver King performs excerpts from Frederick Douglass’ Autobiography, focusing on his enslavement and how he escaped it. We’re playing it twice – once in the morning, once in the evening – to make sure everyone gets to hear it. Friday morning at 9am and again at 7 pm.

Sunday, Feb. 16 3pm – Earnest Struggle: Frederick’s Violin
We continue this special series on Frederick Douglass in the Sunday Wild Card time slot with “Frederick’s Violin,” a look at Douglass the musician. How did he learn to play the violin while still a fugitive? Why would songs associated with blackface minstrelsy have been among his favorites? A search for answers explores the violin as an instrument of upward mobility and the long history of cultural appropriation in popular music.

Monday, Feb. 17  Noon – Black, Brown, and Beige
In 1943, Duke Ellington debuted a landmark 43-minute musical portrayal of the African-American experience at Carnegie Hall. This feature includes interviews with Wynton Marsalis, Ellington biographer Harvey Cohen, and Duke Ellington himself.  – Black, Brown and Beige: Duke Ellington’s Historic Jazz Symphony, from Night Lights Classic Jazz.

Wednesday, Feb. 19 – 7pm – The Second Battle of Selma
“You are there,” in the heart of the movement as Dr. Martin Luther King, civil rights leaders, and busloads of activists plan their next move after the “Bloody Sunday” Edmunds Pettus Bridge attacks as they continue to march to Montgomery.  – From the Pacifica Archives.

Sunday, Feb. 23 – 3pm – A Celebration of Black Composers
WJFF’s Kit, host of Something Old Something New, brings you two hours of classical music composed by a wide range of the world’s black composers from over the centuries.

Wednesday, Feb. 26 – 7pm – Janus Adams Show: Janet Dwart Bell
You may know the names of history-making African Americans like Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and George Washington Carver – but what about Kathleen Cleaver, Diane Nash, or Gloria Richardson? WJFF’s Janus Adams speaks with Janet Dewart Bell, author of Lighting The Fires of Freedom: African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement. Hear the stories of some truly unsung sheroes of the 20th century.

Also, WJFF’s own Kusar Grace is dedicating his weekly Music Emporium program to Black History Month every Tuesday night in February beginning at 7pm.