Black History Month 2022 February is Black History Month in the U.S., and this year's theme is Black Health and Wellness. NPR has compiled a list of stories, music performances, podcasts and other content that chronicles the Black American experience.
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February is Black History Month in the U.S., and this year's theme is Black Health and Wellness. NPR has compiled a list of stories, music performances, podcasts and other content that chronicles the Black American experience.
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Curtis creator Ray Billingsley works in his home studio in Stamford, Conn. Ray Billingsley hide caption
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Ray Billingsley
For decades, cartoonist Ray Billingsley has depicted Black family life in 'Curtis'
February 27, 2022 He got past obstacles in the industry to bring a mostly Black cast of characters to newspapers and digital platforms across the country.
Post racist attack in 1921 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. American National Red Cross Photograph Collection. GHI/Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images hide caption
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GHI/Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Why does Black History Month matter?
February 26, 2022 There is an ongoing debate as to whether U.S. history segregates Black history in February or whether Black History Month brings forward necessary untold stories.
Why does Black History Month matter?
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Left to right: Xyenz Fyxion, Asante Amin, and Aidah Z. M. Laylah Amatullah Barrayn hide caption
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Laylah Amatullah Barrayn
The Picture Show
Reflecting on the power of affirmations for Black History Month
February 26, 2022 Daily affirmations can highlight traits we already possess or summon who or what we aspire to be. Photographer Laylah Amatullah Barrayn says they're an important part of a larger self-care routine.
Niecy Nash and Jessica Betts are the first same-sex couple to be featured on the cover of Essence. Emma McIntyre/Getty Images hide caption
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Emma McIntyre/Getty Images
Niecy Nash and Jessica Betts are the 1st same-sex couple on the cover of Essence
February 25, 2022 In the interview with the magazine, they opened up about their love story and how their relationship blossomed into marriage. The duo tied the knot in 2020.
People hold up signs and bags of Skittles candy during a rally in support of Trayvon Martin at Freedom Plaza in Washington, on Saturday, March 24, 2012. Jacquelyn Martin/AP hide caption
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Jacquelyn Martin/AP
It's Been a Minute
Trayvon, ten years later
February 25, 2022 Before George Floyd and Michael Brown, there was Trayvon Martin. And this weekend marks ten years since the watershed moment that planted the seed for the Black Lives Matter movement we know today. A decade later, Sam is joined by Nailah Summers-Polite, co-director of the Dream Defenders, and Georgetown law professor, Paul Butler to discuss their feelings ten years ago and how their activism has evolved along with the movement.
Trayvon, ten years later
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Shirley Caesar performs a Tiny Desk (home) concert. Shirley Caesar hide caption
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Shirley Caesar
Tiny Desk
Pastor Shirley Caesar: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
February 25, 2022 The "First Lady of Gospel Music" delivers a sampling of her vast music ministry in this Tiny Desk home Concert.
Robin D. G. Kelley Simon & Schuster hide caption
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Simon & Schuster
Perspective
Throughline
There Are No Utopias
February 24, 2022 It may seem bleak, but Robin D.G Kelley's view of the world says there is no promise of liberation, only struggle. Kelley has spent his career bringing to life the stories of the Black labor organizers and anti-capitalists who are often left out of history books, from radical farmers in the South to Black unions during the Gilded Age. And he's come to a provocative conclusion: that the secret to capitalism's survival is racism. His scholarship uses historical connections between race and labor to directly challenge the premise that there can be any justice within America's current economic system — and to ask what that means for the people who seek it. This week on Throughline, a view of Black history you don't often hear in February.
There Are No Utopias
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Authors Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson say it's important to be honest with children about the history of race and slavery in America. Penguin Young Readers hide caption
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Penguin Young Readers
'Born on the Water' gives Black children in America their origin story
February 24, 2022 Authors Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson discuss the importance of teaching young people about the history of slavery and racism in America with honesty and respect.
'Born on the Water' gives Black children in America their origin story
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National African American History Museum curator on George Floyd protest photo
February 23, 2022 Aaron Bryant curates photography at the National Museum of African American History and Culture Smithsonian's collection. He spoke with NPR about the collection and a 2020 photo he believes is iconic.
National African American History Museum curator on George Floyd protest photo
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Patti LaBelle performs a Tiny Desk (home) concert. Patti LaBelle hide caption
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Patti LaBelle
Tiny Desk
Patti LaBelle: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
February 23, 2022 From a backstage corner of a concert hall in Austin, Texas, the Godmother of Soul performs hits from across the many chapters of her fabulous career.
Physicist Desiré Whitmore teaches workshops to help teachers better communicate science. As part of that, Desiré uses optical illusions to explain how social blind spots come into play in the classroom. Boris SV/Getty Images hide caption
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Boris SV/Getty Images
Short Wave
Do You See What I See?
February 23, 2022 Everyone sees the world differently. Exactly which colors you see and which of your eyes is doing more work than the other as you read this text is different for everyone. Also different? Our blind spots – both physical and social. As we continue celebrating Black History Month, today we're featuring Exploratorium Staff Physicist Educator Desiré Whitmore. She shines a light on human eyesight – how it affects perception and how understanding another person's view of the world can offer us a fuller, better picture of life.
Do You See What I See?
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Tintype of a Civil War soldier, 1861 - 1865 Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift from the Liljenquist Family Collection hide caption
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Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift from the Liljenquist Family Collection
A picture of U.S. democracy in action: Black people at work, rest and play
February 22, 2022 A mantra for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture is to explore American history through an African American lens.
Photo of entertainer Josephine Baker is one to appreciate at the Smithsonian
February 22, 2022 Curator Aaron Bryant recently spoke to NPR about some favorite Black photographic subjects in the Smithsonian's collection. He remembers a photo of Josephine Baker in France from the 1920s.
Photo of entertainer Josephine Baker is one to appreciate at the Smithsonian
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People pledge allegiance to America as they receive U.S. citizenship at a naturalization ceremony for immigrants in Los Angeles in 2017. Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
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Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images
1 in 10 Black people in the U.S. are migrants. Here's what's driving that shift
February 20, 2022 The breadth of what it means to be a Black American is widening, according to new analysis of the latest migration statistics.
1 in 10 Black people in the U.S. are migrants. Here's what's driving that shift
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Therrious Davis for NPR
Lawmakers want to ban discomfort in school. But Black history isn't always comfortable
February 19, 2022 Scores of state bills aim to limit what schools can teach about race, politics, American history and more. For some educators, that's made teaching about Black History Month especially fraught.
Lawmakers want to ban discomfort in school. But Black history isn't always comfortable
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Tenor Curtis Bannister sings the role of Stan in Beethoven's Fidelio, in a dress rehearsal. Russ Rowland/Courtesy of Heartbeat Opera hide caption
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Russ Rowland/Courtesy of Heartbeat Opera
Deceptive Cadence
Prison choirs sing in a reboot of Beethoven's opera about unjust incarceration
February 19, 2022 A New York City opera company created an updated version of Fidelio for the Black Lives Matter era. The performance features singers who are incarcerated in real life.
Prison choirs sing in a reboot of Beethoven's opera about unjust incarceration
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Big Rodeo Project, Greenville, Miss. Justin Hardiman hide caption
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Justin Hardiman
The Picture Show
Not their first rodeo: How Black riders are reclaiming their place in cowboy culture
February 19, 2022 Black cowboys are often missing in pop culture depictions of cowboy culture. In reality, they have been a big part of cowboy history, as some estimates suggest as many as 1 in 4 cowboys were Black.
Nina Simone, in performance in 1964. Getty Images/Getty Images hide caption
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NPR Music Playlists
Black Voices in American Music: The Playlist
February 19, 2022 Some of the first truly American music was created by Black voices. In this playlist, pianist Lara Downes offers a broad range of songs that speak to the irrepressible, irresistible sound of hope.
David Harris became the first Black man to fly a commercial airliner when he was hired by American Airlines. Courtesy of David Harris/National Geographic hide caption
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Courtesy of David Harris/National Geographic
'Segregated Skies' tells the story of the first Black pilot for a commercial airline
February 18, 2022 When American Airlines hired David Harris in 1964, he became the first African American pilot to fly for a commercial airline. Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Cottman's Segregated Skies tells his story.
'Segregated Skies' tells the story of the first Black pilot for a commercial airline
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Mary Stepp Burnette Hayden, pictured around 1942, with her granddaughter, Mary Othella Burnette, and two of Hayden's great-grandchildren. Mary O. Burnette hide caption
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Mary O. Burnette
A granddaughter passes on the legacy of 'Granny Hayden,' a midwife born into slavery
February 18, 2022 "If somebody needed help — Granny was going. Black and whites alike, it made no difference to her," Mary Othella Burnette says of her late grandmother, a second-generation midwife in Black Appalachia.
A granddaughter passes on the legacy of 'Granny Hayden,' a midwife born into slavery
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A forensic police officer works on a crime scene. Valery Hache/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
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Short Wave
The Good and the Bad of TV Forensics
February 18, 2022 Raychelle Burks is a forensic chemist and an associate professor at American University. She's also a big fan of murder mysteries. Today, we talk pop culture forensics with Raychelle and what signs to look for to know whether or not a tv crime show is getting the science right. (ENCORE)
The Good and the Bad of TV Forensics
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Docuseries offers a more complete history of Lincoln's journey to end slavery
February 17, 2022 NPR's Leila Fadel talks to directors Jacqueline Olive and Barak Goodman about the Apple TV+ docuseries, Lincoln's Dilemma, and how the fight for emancipation was larger than one man.
Docuseries offers a more complete history of Lincoln's journey to end slavery
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