Celebrating Black History Month
Join us in celebrating Black History Month by tuning-in or watching on-demand.
Tune-In
Independent Lens – The First Rainbow Coalition
In 1969, Chicago community-based groups formed alliances across lines of race and ethnicity to confront issues like police brutality and substandard housing. Hear the movement’s little-known story through archival footage and interviews with members.
KET Monday, Jan. 27 • 10/9 pm
Independent Lens – Cooked: Survival By Zip Code
Learn the story of a heat wave that overtook Chicago in July 1995, killing 739 residents, most of them poor, elderly and African American. The heat wave revealed a long-term crisis of poverty, racism, and economic and social isolation in the city.
KET Monday, Feb. 3 • 10/9 pm
With Infinite Hope: MLK and the Civil Rights Movement
A look back at the life, leadership, and legacy of the The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The program follows King’s career from his hiring at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church through his death on April 4, 1968 in Memphis.
KET2 Monday, Feb. 3 • 10/9 pm
Finding Your Roots
Henry Louis Gates, Jr explores the ancestry of film director Ava DuVernay, actor S. Epatha Merkerson, and musician Questlove, traveling to the unexpected places where their ancestors were scattered by slavery, upending their notions of African American history.
KET Tuesday, Feb. 11 • 8/7 pm
KET2 Thursday, Feb. 13 • 9/8 pm
American Experience – The Fight
Tells the intertwined stories of boxers Max Schmeling of Germany and Joe Louis of the United States, culminating in what was arguably the most politicized sporting event in history: the 1938 heavyweight championship of the world.
KET Tuesday, Feb. 11 • 9/8 pm
KET2 Monday, Feb. 17 • 9/8 pm
Movie Classics – Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
A couple’s attitudes are challenged when their daughter introduces them to her African-American fiance. Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier, and Katharine Hepburn star (1967).
KET Saturday, Feb. 15 • 9/8 pm
KET2 Friday, Feb. 28 • 9/8 pm
Independent Lens – Always in Season
In 2014, African American teenager Lennon Lacy was found hanging from a swing set. His mother believes he was lynched. Stark inconsistencies and few answers from officials drive her to lead efforts in what has become an ongoing fight for the truth.
KET Monday, Feb. 24 • 10/9 pm
American Masters – Miles Davis
Discover the man behind the legend with never-before-seen footage, rare photos and new interviews. Quincy Jones, Carlos Santana, Clive Davis, Wayne Shorter, Marcus Miller, Ron Carter, family members and others discuss the life and career of the cultural icon.
KET Tuesday, Feb. 25 • 9/8 pm
Watch On-Demand
Lexington’s African American History Trail
“The beauty of this project is that it not only gives you a broader aspect of Lexington’s history, particularly African-American history, but also introduces you to individuals and situations that may not ever have crossed anyone’s purview,” says historian Yvonne Giles, referring to the new African American History Trail in downtown Lexington, Kentucky.
Learn more about it in this 2019 segment from Kentucky Life.
American Spiritual Ensemble
Led by Founder and Music Director Everett McCorvey, the American Spiritual Ensemble performs “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho,” “This Little Light of Mine,” “Balm of Gilead,” and other gospel songs at First Presbyterian Church in Lexington, Kentucky.
Finding Your Roots
Since the premiere of his groundbreaking series, African American Lives, in 2006 through the first two seasons of Finding Your Roots, noted Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has unearthed the family histories of influential people helping shape our national identity.
Wilbur Hackett Jr. and Paul Karem
In this episode of KET’s Conversation with Champions, host Billy Reed speaks with Wilbur Hackett Jr. and Paul Karem, former University of Kentucky football players. Wilbur Hackett Jr. is one of the players featured on the new statues at Commonwealth Stadium honoring racial pioneers in football. Paul Karem was active in getting the statues in place.