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Contact: Amanda Curtis, 816-756-3580 ext.4244

February 2, 2007

KCPT Celebrates Black History Month

February 2007


(KANSAS CITY) — KCPT pays tribute to great African-Americans like visionary scientist Percy Julian; Duke Ellington's right hand man, Billy Strayhorn; the Catholic nuns who led voting rights marches for Dr. King; and the amazing women of Gee's Bend, Alabama, whose quilts are considered to be works of historically significant art. Tune in throughout the month of February for these great programs airing on KCPT: 

Quiltmakers of Gee's Bend

Monday, February 5 at 9 p.m.

For more than 150 years, the women of Gee's Bend, Alabama, have made quilts reflecting their history and daily lives. Over generations, they worked in isolation, continuing to inhabit the remote plantation land their parents once slaved. Today, art critics worldwide compare them to the great creative enclaves of the Italian Renaissance.

NOVA: Forgotten Genius

Tuesday, February 6 at 7 p.m.

NOVA presents the remarkable life story of Percy Julian --not only one of the great African-American scientists of the 20th century, but an industrialist, self-made millionaire, humanitarian and civil rights pioneer. The grandson of Alabama slaves, Julian won worldwide acclaim for his research in chemistry and broke the color barrier in American science more than a decade before Jackie Robinson did so in baseball. He discovered a way to turn soybeans into synthetic steroids on an industrial scale, enabling drugs like cortisone to be widely available to millions. In a special two-hour presentation, NOVA traces the vivid and moving saga of Julian's dazzling scientific achievements and sometimes stormy personal life. His largely unknown story is brought to life with vivid period re-enactments based on newly accessible family archives and interviews with dozens of colleagues and relatives. Tony Award-winning actor Ruben Santiago-Hudson stars as Julian. Courtney B. Vance narrates.

Independent Lens: Billy Strayhorn — "Lush Life"

Tuesday, February 6 at 10 p.m.

As Duke Ellington's co-composer, arranger and right-hand man, Billy Strayhorn wrote some of the greatest American music of the 20th century. But as a gay man in the '40s and '50s, Strayhorn had to lead a discreet existence, while Ellington played to thunderous applause on center stage. The program tells the story of the unheralded man who changed jazz and popular music forever, maintaining artistic and personal integrity, while challenging prejudice along the way.

Oscar Brown, Jr.: Music is My Life, Politics My Mistress

Friday, February 9 at 10 p.m.

This documentary focuses on Chicago native Oscar Brown Jr.'s work as a writer and performer for over a half a century. Starting at the tender age of 15 he was a radio performer with the network series "Secret City." He also was a key player in Richard Durham's "Destination Freedom: Black Radio Days" series from 1948-1950. Brown's musical explorations included sharing the bill with such greats as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Nancy Wilson and Cannonball Adderly. His one-man show, "Oscar Brown Jr. Entertains," led one critic to hail him as "a musical genius." In 1967, he produced the musical "Opportunity, Please Knock" in conjunction with a huge youth gang known as the Blackstone Rangers, and gained national recognition when gang members appeared on the Smothers Brothers CBS television show.

Sisters of Selma: Bearing Witness for a Change

Monday, February 12 at 10 p.m.

This program focuses on some of the unsung foot soldiers of the Selma, Alabama, voting rights marches of 1965 - the Catholic nuns who came from around the country to answer Dr. King's call to join the protests. Risking personal safety to bring change, the sisters found themselves being changed in turn. The nuns were reunited to view themselves on newfound archival footage of the protests; their recorded reactions help narrate the film.

Independent Lens: Hip Hop —"Beyond Beats and Rhymes"

Tuesday, February 20 at 10 p.m.

Independent Lens takes an in-depth look at machismo in rap music and hip-hop culture -- where creative genius, poetic beauty and mad beats collide with misogyny, violence and homophobia. "Beyond Beats and Rhymes" goes beyond the music and profiles several people who use rap as a creative and artistic expression.

KCPT is a nonprofit, community-owned television station serving Kansas City's 904,000 television households. KCPT provides life-long learning opportunities for children and adults in homes, classrooms and childcare centers across Kansas, Missouri and Illinois.   KCPT provides programming and services that entertain, educate and enrich the Kansas City community. For more information about KCPT's programs and services go to www.KCPT.org.

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