MSPR to air Black History Month specials

Morehead State Public Radio will offer a variety of programming to celebrate Black History Month in February.
Among the specials are:

• “Moments of the Movement” will be aired daily. The program is recordings of the personal histories and testimonials of foot soldiers from the Civil Rights Movement. Some of the stories are harrowing, others are uplifting, but they all convey our collective journey as a nation toward new heights of equality.
• Sunday, Feb. 5, 3 p.m. - “A Time For Tales” - African-American Storytellers: Stories by Jackie Torrence, Len Cabral, Bobby Norfolk and Mary Carter Smith
• Monday, Feb. 6, 9:30 a.m. - “The Power of Dreams” - The program features African-American spirituals like "Peace Like a River," “I'm Runnin' On,” "I Want Jesus to Walk with Me" and more. This programs shares a message that reminds us to embrace one another as equal persons and citizens of this great land.
• Monday, Feb. 6, 10 a.m. - “The Power of Nonviolence: The Spirituality of Peacemaking” - How do we break the vicious cycle of violence now so relentless at home and abroad? From a mass shooting in a S. Carolina church to the barbarism of ISIS, how can we stop this epidemic? People of conscience everywhere are heartsick and looking for answers. As Rev. Martin Luther King declared, "There is another way." 'The Power of Nonviolence,' a timely new public radio project by David Freudberg from Humankind, seeks deep solutions to this vexing problem. We turn to wisdom teachings across our great spiritual traditions for guidance — and inspiration — on how the lasting wounds can be healed. And we hear from peacemakers from different backgrounds. Some of their stories are vivid and quite uplifting. Their insights may even be life-changing.
• Monday, Feb. 6, 11 a.m. - “Raw Truth! An MLK Tribute with the Boston Children’s Chorus” - The Boston Children’s Chorus is back with a new Martin Luther King Jr. tribute concert — available to PRI affiliates. The BBC’s top three choirs join voices with Grammy-winning artist Roomful of Teeth in songs linking the past to the present, rage to activism, and injustice to truth.
• Monday, Feb. 13, 9:30 a.m. - “Right Man for the Time - A Tribute to Jackie Robinson” - The Mormon Tabernacle Choir pays tribute to Robinson. Music for the show includes "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," "I'm Runnin' On," "Down to the River to Pray" and more.
• Monday, Feb. 13, 10 a.m. - “The Legacy of Massive Resistance” - When faced with a court order to integrate, Prince Edward County in Virginia closed its entire school system in 1959 rather than integrate. Now, former students are telling their story.
• Monday, Feb. 13, 11 a.m. - “Civil Rights in America: Seneca Falls, Selma, Stonewall and Beyond” - Hosted by Charles Dutton, this one-hour special examines the relevance and meaning of civil rights in the 21st century and the relationship between the Civil Rights Movement and the efforts of women, other people of color, and the LGBT community to expand our traditional definitions of equality.
• Sunday, Feb. 19, 3 p.m. - “A Time For Tales” - African-Americans Tell Stories: Stories by Charlotte Blake Alston, Rocky Zimmerman and Anthony Griffith. Songs by Sweet Honey in the Rock and Eric Bibb.
• Monday, Feb. 20, 9:30 a.m. - “Messenger of Peace - Tribute to Nelson Mandela” - This Heritage show contains a Spoken Word tribute to Nelson Mandela, the great leader who inspired and healed a nation. Its music captures the heart with spirituals born of America′s own apartheid struggles: “The Gospel Train;” “When the Saints Go Marching In;” “Deep River;” and “Down By the Riverside.”
• Monday, Feb. 20, at 10 a.m. -“Furious Flower: Rita Dove and Sonia Sanchez” -  The most celebrated African American poets in America pay homage to the life’s work of former Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Rita Dove. With Good Reason interviews Rita Dove and features readings from Dove, as well as readings by renowned poets Elizabeth Alexander and Ishmael Reed.
• Award-winning poet Sonia Sanchez is a pioneer in founding black studies in academia. In a literary career that spans more than 42 years, Sonia is most often associated with The Black Arts Movement. She is the author of more than a dozen books of poetry, as well as numerous plays and books for children. We also speak with Dr. Brenda M. Greene, who has followed Sonia’s career for more than 40 years.
• Monday, Feb. 20, at 11 a.m. - “Under Her Skin: Living With Breast Cancer” - A series that follows three African-American women coping with breast cancer. Over the course of six months, these women share their thoughts and fears, their struggles and triumphs, as their audio diaries capture the realities of a disease that will afflict more than 12 percent of American women at some point in their lives.
• Monday, Feb. 27, 9:30 a.m. - “A Legacy of Home” -  Pam Laws joins the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for this Music and the Spoken Word Heritage special. Music includes "The Gospel Train,” "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" and more.
• Monday, Feb. 27, 10 a.m. - “Stars for Freedom” - The little-known story of how black actors and entertainers in Hollywood contributed their money, connections, and fame to aid the civil rights movement.
• D.W. Griffith’s Civil War epic Birth of a Nation is notorious for its racist scenes. A new conference celebrates creative African American responses to the film. The civil rights leader Julian Bond, passed away on Aug. 15, 2015. In a 2004 interview, Bond, whose grandfather was born into slavery, talks candidly about race in America 50 years after the Brown v. Board decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Morehead State Public Radio broadcasts 24-hours a day from the MSU campus. WMKY (90.3 FM) serves as the flagship station for the network. MSPR serves more than 20 counties in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia.
Additional information is available on MSPR's website or from Paul Hitchcock, general manager, at wmky@moreheadstate.edu or call 606-783-2001.