MPT Celebrates Black History Month With Compelling Programs

Maryland Public Television (MPT) celebrates Black History Month throughout February with a full slate of programs highlighting African-Americans who have made an impact across Maryland and our nation. Throughout the month, MPT will provide audiences with original programs, special episodes of PBS series, and encore presentations of popular public television programs.

On Sunday, February 3, MPT will broadcast Voices of Baltimore: Life Under Segregation at 6 p.m. on MPT-HD. Produced by faculty members in Towson University’s College of Education, the one-hour film examines the legacy of segregation in Baltimore through the oral histories of seven prominent African-Americans – Chief Judge Robert Bell, Evelyn Chatmon, Louis Diggs, Elizabeth Frances Nichols Gill, Dr. Walter Arthur Harris Gill, Treopia Green Washington, and Dr. Patricia Welch – who attended segregated schools or experienced desegregation after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling.

On Tuesday, February 5, MPT will broadcast the premiere of Redeeming Uncle Tom: The Josiah Henson Story at 8 p.m. on MPT-HD. Redeeming Uncle Tom tells the story of Josiah Henson (voiced by actor Danny Glover), the real-life inspiration for the character Uncle Tom in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s classic 1852 novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, recognized as one of the sparks that helped ignite the Civil War. The program is produced by Boom Documentaries and presented by Maryland Public Television.

Josiah Henson was born into slavery near Port Tobacco, Maryland around 1789. As a child, he was sold to Isaac Riley, who later appointed him superintendent of the farm at a young age because of Henson's strength and intelligence. Riley entrusted Henson with exceptional responsibilities and permitted him to become a preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church. However, when Henson attempted to buy his freedom, Riley cheated him and made plans to sell him. Fearing separation from his family, Henson fled north with his wife and children in 1830. After escaping through Ohio and New York, they eventually settled in Ontario, Canada. Redeeming Uncle Tom: The Josiah Henson Story traces Henson’s harrowing journey from slavery in Maryland to freedom in Canada and his life story in the decades that followed.

MPT will also present the premiere of Backs Against the Wall: The Howard Thurman Story during the final week of the month on Monday, February 25 at 9 p.m. on MPT-HD. The documentary chronicles the extraordinary life of Howard Thurman, a theologian, preacher, writer, and civil rights leader who used religious expression to help ignite sweeping social change.

Thurman was born the grandson of slaves in segregated Daytona, Florida. Despite the circumstances of his upbringing, he went on to become one of the great spiritual and religious pioneers of the 20th century, whose words and influence continue to echo today. His landmark book, Jesus and the Disinherited, was the first to state that Jesus Christ — who was born in poverty as part of a powerless minority — lived a life that spoke directly to black Americans. Written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Martin Doblmeier, the one-hour film is a presentation of Maryland Public Television.

Like all programs produced or presented by MPT, Voices of Baltimore: Life Under Segregation, Redeeming Uncle Tom: The Josiah Henson Story, and Backs Against the Wall: The Howard Thurman Story will also be available for viewing online at video.mpt.tv or on mobile devices via the MPT app.

Maryland Public Television’s lineup of Black History Month premieres also includes:

Antiques Roadshow – “Celebrating Black Americana”
Monday, February 4, 9 p.m. – 10 p.m. on MPT-HD
Antiques Roadshow honors Black History Month with a special episode featuring a trip with host Mark L. Walberg and appraiser Leila Dunbar to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.

Independent Lens – Black Memorabilia
Monday, February 4, 10 p.m. – 11 p.m. on MPT-HD
This film follows the propagation of demeaning representations of African Americans – black memorabilia. Meet the people who reproduce, consume, and reclaim these racially charged objects.

Pipeline: Live from Lincoln Center
Friday., February 8, 9:30 p.m. – 11 p.m. on MPT-HD
Meet Nya, an inner-city teacher desperate to save her son, in Dominique Morisseau’s new play. When her son gets in trouble at school, Nya must try to reach him before he gets pulled away forever.

American Masters – Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me
Tuesday, February 19 9 p.m. – 11 p.m. on MPT-HD
Explore the entertainer’s vast talent and journey for identity through the shifting tides of civil rights and racial progress during 20th-century America.

American Masters – Charley Pride: I’m Just Me
Friday, February 22 9:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. on MPT-HD
Explore the complicated history of the American South through the life of country star Charley Pride.

For MPT’s full program lineup, visit mpt.org/schedule/.