Town Square with Ernie Manouse

Town Square with Ernie Manouse is a gathering space for the community to come together and discuss the day’s most important and pressing issues.

What exactly is Critical Race Theory and why is it being banned?

We define, explain, and take listeners’ questions about Critical Race Theory.

 

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and The Future of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Experts discuss HIV/AIDS developments, treatments, and the impact on Black Americans. Plus, a local epidemiologist ponders the changing tides of COVID-19.

 

More Episodes

COVID and Mental Health in Black, Latino Communities

Experts discuss the increase in the need for mental health services since the pandemic and how to provide better outreach to communities of color.

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Black, Hispanic and Asian populations are at higher risk for COVID-19 and ICU admission, according to a new study

We’re trying to better understand COVID, race and health disparities.

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The life, career, and causes of U.S. Congressman Al Green

We spend the hour with longtime U.S. Congressman Al Green about his career, advocacy, and the issues that we face locally and nationally.

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What is the origin of Black History Month?

Experts talk about how and why Black History Month came to be and the importance of acknowledging achievement of African Americans at every opportunity possible.

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Houston Matters with Craig Cohen

Houston Matters is the region’s essential daily guide to the people, places, issues, and ideas that define Greater Houston.

Maya Washington of Through the Banks of the Red Cedar (Jan. 31, 2022)

Interview with Maya Washington, writer, director and producer of Through the Banks of the Red Cedar, and daughter of former NFL wide receiver Gene Washington who helped fully integrate college football. (Interview begins at 21:48)

 

Houston artist Ted Ellis has made a career out of documenting Black history and culture

Ellis’ paintings anchor a new art installation in Galveston, and he tells Houston Matters about his work and why it’s important.

 

TV 8 Programming

Houston Public Media is proud offer a variety of engaging stories, films, and voices centered around Black history and culture.

Please see our TV 8 Programming Guide for additional airings of selected programs

News 88.7 Programming

Special programming celebrating Black History Month on News 88.7, your NPR station.

 

BBC BHM Special: The Great Black Music Symposium   Sunday, January 30 | 9pm

Hosts Angel Bat Dawid, Qur’an Shaheed, Dr Adam Zanolini and Ben LaMar Gay discuss the importance of not conforming and recognizing what your gifts are.

 

With Good Reason BHM Special: New Voices at the Table   Sunday, February 6 | 8pm

In 2016, Lashrecse Aird made history as the youngest woman ever elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. She says her unique perspective — shaped by a childhood of adversity and hardship — allows her to better serve the full range of experiences within her constituency.

 

Humankind BHM Special: Ida B. Wells Battle to Uncover the Truth   Sunday, February 6 | 9pm

Born to enslaved parents on a Mississippi plantation during the Civil War, Ida B. Wells emerged as a powerful investigative journalist. She overcame death threats and went on to publish widely in her quest to document the domestic terrorism against African Americans that came to be known as lynching. Ida Wells published the first major study of that crime, whose victims eventually numbered in the thousands.

 

With Good Reason BHM Special: Outdoor Archives   Sunday, February 13 | 8pm

We often think of cemeteries as separate worlds unto themselves. But those buried at Confederate graveyards were surely connected to those at the African burial grounds, and the cemetery reveals the intimacy of their connections.

 

Humankind BHM Special: The Freed People   Sunday, February 13 | 9pm

The United States faced an unprecedented refugee crisis a century and a half ago: 4 million enslaved human beings were emancipated, primarily from plantations where they’d been held captive. Most possessed no more than the clothes on their backs and were now suddenly homeless and jobless.

 

With Good Reason BHM Special: Separate and Unequal   Sunday, February 20 | 8pm

In 1970, Philicia Jefferson was forced to integrate into all-white, E.C. Glass High School in Lynchburg, Virginia. 40 years later, she finally attended her first class reunion. She says it was a profoundly healing experience.

 

APM Selected Shorts BHM Special: Celebrating Toni Morrison   Sunday, February 20 | 9pm

Host Tayari Jones helps us to celebrate Toni Morrison, the American master who died in 2019. Morrison’s novels, including Beloved, Jazz, and Song of Solomon, have become an indelible part of the American canon. Her fierce, poetic visions earned her the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She was also an editor, advocate, teacher, and mother.

 

Peace Talks Radio BHM Special: John Lewis — Profiles in Peace   Sunday, February 27 | 8pm

The late 17-term Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis is remembered in a special that includes the memorial ceremonies at the U.S. Capitol when his body laid in state in the Rotunda, a week after his death July 17, 2020. Also included are other tributes, and archival tapes of John Lewis speeches and interviews.

 

Peace Talks Radio BHM Special: MLK Three Landmark Speeches   Sunday, February 27 | 9pm

Three key speeches of American civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Laureate Dr. Martin Luther King Junior are excerpted and commented on by two leading King scholars.

 

Paul Ingles Music Archives Showcase (Airs Saturdays at 7pm)

Radio documentarian Paul Ingles takes a look at the lives, careers, and legacy of two influential musicians: Otis Redding and Mavis Staples.

• Saturday, February 5 | The Emergence of Otis Redding, Part 1
• Saturday, February 12 | The Emergence of Otis Redding, Part 2
• Saturday, February 19 | The Emergence of Mavis Staples, Part 1
• Saturday, February 26 | The Emergence of Mavis Staples, Part 2

Available in the PBS App

Download the app to watch more incredible series available now!

I’m Free, Now You Are Free

A story about the reunion and repair between Mike Africa Jr and his mother Debbie Africa — a formerly incarcerated political prisoner of the MOVE9.

 

Unapologetic

Meet Janaé and Bella, two fierce abolitionists in Chicago whose upbringing and experiences shape their activism and views on Black liberation.

 

Homegoings

An up-close look at the rarely seen world of undertaking in the black community and a man who sends loved ones “home.”

 

A Look Back

Legacies

As more and more of our nation’s leaders are educated and shaped by historically Black colleges and universities, Houston Public Media highlights the legacies and impact of two HBCUs in our community: Texas Southern University and Prairie View A&M University.

Houston in Black & White

In 2017, Houston Public Media’s Ernie Manouse and Eddie Robinson sat down with four Houston civil rights activists, discussing topics ranging from racism and Affirmative Action to police and the media. Click here to watch the full show.

The State of Black Texas

The State of Black Texas is a virtual event collaboration between the Houston Defender Network and Houston Public Media, featuring special guests Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, Texas State Senator Borris Miles (Houston), and Texas State Senator Royce West (Dallas). The program, hosted by Defender CEO Sonny Messiah Jiles and featuring questions from Houston Public Media’s Statewide Newscaster Sascha Cordner, will address issues impacting our Black community, including health and economic issues as related to COVID-19, criminal justice, redistricting, and more.