Commemorate Black History Month With Specials on CMU Public Television
This month, tune in to CMU Public Television for specials that celebrate
African American history and culture.

Underground Railroad: The William Still Story
Friday, February 15 at 10 p.m.

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.” This documentary reveals some of the dramatic, lesser-known stories behind this humanitarian enterprise, and explores key Canadian connections, including the surprising fate of former slaves who crossed the border to “Freedom’s Land.”

Independent Lens “The Powerbroker: Whitney Young’s Fight for Civil Rights”
Monday, February 18 at 10 p.m

Whitney M. Young, Jr. was one of the most celebrated — and controversial — leaders of the civil rights era. Follow his journey from segregated Kentucky to head of the National Urban League. Unique among black leaders, he took the fight directly to the powerful white elite, gaining allies in business and government, including three presidents.

American Masters “Sister Rosetta Tharpe: The Godmother of Rock and Roll”
Friday, February 22 at 9 p.m.

Discover the life, music and influence of African-American gospel singer and guitar virtuoso Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1915-1973). Southern-born, Chicago-raised and New York-made, “She could play the guitar like nobody else … nobody.” During the 1940s-60s, Sister Rosetta introduced the spiritual passion of her gospel music into the secular world of rock ’n’ roll, inspiring the male icons of the genre. The flamboyant superstar, with her spectacular playing on the newly electrified guitar, had a major influence on Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Isaac Hayes and Etta James, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.

Slavery by Another Name
Friday, February 22 at 10 p.m.

A Sundance Film Festival selection for 2012, this documentary, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Wall Street Journal senior writer Douglas A. Blackmon, explores the little-known story of the post-Emancipation era and the labor practices and laws that effectively created a new form of slavery in the South that persisted well into the 20th century.