Witness: Black History Month
A special hour-long edition of Witness History from the BBC World Service, bringing together some incredible interviews looking at the African-American experience. Told by people who were there, we hear stories that are inspiring, harrowing, and rich.
Civil rights – The Murder of Emmett Till
In August 1955 two white men kidnapped and lynched a 14 year African-American boy, Emmett Till. The teenager was visiting relatives in the state of Mississippi when he was killed. His murder galvanised the civil rights movement in the US. Farhana Haider reports.
The Black Power Salute
In October 1968, two American sprinters, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, staged one of the most iconic protests in sport at the Mexico City Olympics. The two athletes raised their gloved fists in the air at the medal ceremony for the 200 metres as a way of protesting against racism. Simon Watts reports.
Nina Simone in Africa
In 1974 African-American singer Nina Simone decided to make her home in Liberia in West Africa. Lucy Burns spoke to James C Dennis Sr, a friend of Nina Simone's in the Liberian capital Monrovia.
Algeria
Today we are going back to the 1960s when newly independent Algeria gave sanctuary to a number of radical groups from across the globe, among them, America's Black Panthers party. One of its leaders, Eldridge Cleaver, spent almost four years in exile in the north African nation. Mike Lanchin has been hearing from someone who worked with him there.
Photos of the King Family
In 1969 photo journalist Moneta Sleet became the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for journalism. He won for the black and white image of Coretta Scott King the widow of Martin Luther King taken at the funeral of the murdered civil rights leader. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Moneta Sleet's son Gregory Sleet about his father's remarkable career capturing many of the images that defined the struggle for racial equality in America.
Airs Thursday, February 20 at 8 pm on 93.9 FM and AM 820.
Learn more about WNYC's Black History Month programming.
Additionally, the New York Public Radio Archives is sharing some of the department's leading preservation work, series and sonic artifacts concerning African-American history. You can explore it here.
