Wyoming Public Radio Black History Month Specials

Friday Feb 6 at 11am-Sound Opinions Presents: Music of the Civil Rights Era.

From Bob Dylan to Odetta to the Staples Singers, hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot remark upon the impact music made on the fight for civil rights in the 1960s.

Tues Feb 10 at 8pm-The Choral Hour

Join host Kathlene Ritch as she celebrates Black History Month! Featuring music of African American composers William Dawson and Moses Hogan. Kathlene chats with composer and conductor Dr. Andre Thomas, as they discuss how concert spirituals and their performance practice have evolved over the 20th century through the present day.

Fri Feb 13 at 3pm-From Humankind: The Lost Cause-the Civil War, then and now. (repeats Sunday Feb 15 at 12pm)

Are we still living with the racial divide left over from the Civil War? This provocative audio documentary explores the history of a conflict that nearly tore America apart. Has it resurfaced today in the anti-immigrant sentiment expressed in the 2024 election and the pushback against DEI and a more inclusive telling of American history, as well as the Confederate flags brought into the Capitol during the insurrection on January 6, 2021?

Sat Feb 21 at 8pm-Black, Brown and Beige: Duke Ellington’s Historic Jazz Symphony.

In January 1943 at Carnegie Hall, Duke Ellington debuted a landmark 43-minute musical portrayal of the African-American experience. We'll hear music from it as well as commentary from Wynton Marsalis, Ellington biographer Harvey Cohen, and Ellington himself.