Black History Month 2022 (2024)

Kirk Franklin's favorite Tiny Desk concerts

February 24, 2022 • As part of our Black History Month celebration, we asked the Grammy-winning gospel singer to tell us about his favorite performances.

Colin Kaepernick launches new initiative to offer autopsies for police-related deaths

February 24, 2022 • The new initiative will eliminate concerns from the first autopsy, ensure that it was conducted without any biases or errors.

NPR

From 'Milkshake' to veggies, Kelis and Ron Finley share their farm journeys

February 24, 2022 • Grammy-nominated recording artist and chef Kelis talks to urban gardener Ron Finley about growing your own food, the relationship between Black people and the land, and how to handle a mean rooster.

Patti LaBelle (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.

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.

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.

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.

Too $hort (Home) Concert

February 17, 2022 • The Oakland rapper delivers a dynamic, funk-laden performance that showcases his extensive contributions to West Coast hip-hop.

How a jazz legend's resting place was lost and found, 50 years after his tragic death

WBGO

February 16, 2022 • Though the trumpeter Lee Morgan was killed in 1972, his legacy was well maintained. At least it seemed so, until one fan discovered last year that Morgan's gravesite seemed to have vanished.

Catherine Russell (Home) Concert

February 11, 2022 • The celebrated jazz singer performs a selection of popular early jazz standards at the GB Juke Joint Studio.

Abraham Galloway is the Black figure from the Civil War you should know about

February 8, 2022 • Galloway escaped enslavement, became a Union spy and helped recruit thousands of Black soldiers to fight with the North, but his name has been largely left out of the Civil War narrative.

How Black activists used lynching souvenirs to expose American violence

February 8, 2022 • Christine Turner, the filmmaker behind the short documentary, Lynching Postcards: 'Token of A Great Day,' talks about her film and its present-day resonance.

El DeBarge (Home) Concert

February 4, 2022 • The torchbearer for the DeBarge family plays a few of his R&B standards from a cozy home studio.