CBS NEWS AND STATIONS MARK BLACK HISTORY MONTH WITH ORIGINAL REPORTING ON THE EXPERIENCES AND VOICES OF BLACK AMERICANS

  

 

The CBS News and BET Newsmagazine “America in Black” Premieres Feb. 19

 

CBS News Will Also Debut the New Documentary “Black Twitter: Inside the Twitterverse That Changed a Generation” on Feb. 23

 

CBS Stations Will Spotlight Significant People, Places and Events

in Black History in the Local Communities They Serve

 

CBS News and Stations will mark Black History Month throughout February with original reporting to showcase the experiences and voices of Black Americans. The multiplatform content will span local and national reporting and build on the Network and Stations’ ongoing coverage of important issues facing African Americans, from politics to culture to the economy. The coverage, led by the CBS News Race & Culture Unit, will include longform journalism initiatives debuting this month, including AMERICA IN BLACK, premiering Sunday, Feb. 19 on BET, and a new CBS REPORTS documentary on Black Twitter debuting Thursday, Feb. 23.

 

CBS News’ coverage of the Tyre Nichols tragedy will continue to be explored across all of our platforms. In addition, the following stories will air for Black History Month on CBS News and Stations:

 

• CBS NEWS STREAMING will stream the new CBS REPORTS documentary BLACK TWITTER: INSIDE THE TWITTERVERSE THAT CHANGED A GENERATION. The hour-long special is anchored by Jericka Duncan. You may know the hashtags and the groundbreaking movements – #BlackLivesMatter, #OscarsSoWhite, #SayHerName – but now you’ll get an inside look at where they were born: Black Twitter. Black Twitter is the barbershop or beauty salon of social media that has made massive waves across America and the world. CBS REPORTS interviews celebrities, influencers and thought leaders to chronicle the history of Black Twitter, how it has spread to other platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok, and explore the social sphere where Black people started a community and ended up creating a pop culture juggernaut and driver of social justice.

 

• CBS MORNINGS (7:00-9:00 AM, ET) and co-hosts Gayle King, Tony Dokoupil and Nate Burleson will report on stories that celebrate Black history, including installments of the “Changing the Game” series, which will spotlight Black creators and businesses. CBS SATURDAY MORNING co-host Michelle Miller will sit down with the artistic director and a founding member of the legendary Dance Theater of Harlem, Virginia Johnson, to reflect on her life and career ahead of her retirement. In November 1960, Leona Tate, Tessie Prevost and Gail Etienne walked into the all-white McDonogh 19 Elementary School amid angry mobs of white protestors, marking the first steps of the desegregation process in New Orleans. CBS News’ Jamie Wax will sit down with three members of the “New Orleans Four” inside the school where they made history. CBS MORNINGS will also explore one of the largest reparations efforts in the nation taking place in California and speak to a woman who is fighting to have her family’s story heard.

 

• CBS SATURDAY MORNING (7:00-9:00 AM/check local listings) co-host Michelle Miller will profile Toya Boudy, New Orleans chef and author of Cooking for the Culture, for The Dish, and congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane will visit a Maryland church that is reckoning with its role in slavery. Additionally, CBS SATURDAY MORNING will feature a profile on author and illustrator Vashti Harrison.

 

• CBS EVENING NEWS WITH NORAH O’DONNELL (6:30-7:00 PM, ET) will feature a report on heart health among Black people in the United States and the push for more Black cardiologists to combat inequities in health care and the disproportionate toll of heart disease in the community. Scott McFarlane will report on the Congressional Gold Medal awarded posthumously to Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley.

 

• CBS SUNDAY MORNING (9:00-10:30 AM, ET) will feature Tracy Smith’s interview with legendary singer Smokey Robinson, who is being honored as a 2023 MusiCares Person of the Year with Motown founder Berry Gordy, on the Sunday, Feb. 5 broadcast. . The program will also include Mark Whitaker’s essay about the use and rise of the slogan “Black power.” And to mark the 75^th anniversary of Harry Truman’s executive order ending segregation in the U.S. military, David Martin reports on the years-long struggle of Black Americans in uniform on the Sunday, Feb. 12 broadcast.

 

• CBS NEWS RADIO correspondent Allison Keyes will do a report on the recent memoir by famed Black director Shelton Epps, My Own Directions, on his journey in the American theater. Keyes will also speak with a group called Florida Rising to discuss how the state can deal with climate change without hurting housing in Black and Brown neighborhoods.

 

CBS Stations across the country will also produce stories about significant people, places and events in Black history, as well as individuals and organizations making a difference in their communities today, for their broadcast, streaming and digital platforms. These will include:

 

 

• CBS NEWSPATH will provide coverage during Black History Month to 200+ CBS affiliates nationwide and to broadcasters around the world with the following stories: Cristian Benavides will report on a “Teach the Truth” tour with a Florida professor protesting school restrictions on race lessons; Jarred Hill will report on the racial disparities when it comes to getting a good night’s sleep; Danya Bacchus will report on a TikTok influencer who is inspiring young children to read.

 

• WCBS in New York will air a profile of Emlen Tunnel, the first Black player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

 

• KCBS/KCAL in Los Angeles will report on The Hidden Genius Project, which trains and mentors Black male youth in technology creation, entrepreneurship and leadership skills.

 

• WBBM in Chicago will explore the Bronzeville community, which was recently established as a National Heritage Area.

 

• KYW in Philadelphia will feature Mae Jemison, the first Black woman in space.

 

• KTVT in Dallas will interview the first Black mayor of Dallas, Ron Kirk.

 

• KPIX in San Francisco will air a profile of San Francisco’s eighth Poet Laureate, Tongo Eisen-Martin.

 

• WBZ in Boston will interview sculptor Hank Willis Thomas, creator of “The Embrace,” depicting Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King.

 

• WCCO in Minneapolis will air conversations with Black leaders who demonstrate how to create boundaries and a culture of self-care.

 

• WWJ in Detroit will feature the Second Baptist Church of Detroit, which served as a stop on the Underground Railroad.

 

• KCNC in Denver will air a story on the Dearfield Homestead, the largest Black homestead in Colorado.

 

• WFOR in Miami will explore Fort Dallas, where former slave quarters still stand.

 

• KOVR in Sacramento will report on Safe Black Space, an organization which offers mental health resources for Black adults.

 

• KDKA in Pittsburgh will air a profile of abolitionist and newspaper editor Martin Delany.

 

• WJZ in Baltimore will showcase students participating in the WJZ Black History Oratory Competition.

 

• Vignettes celebrating significant people in Black history will air on CBS Stations’ independent and CW-affiliated stations, including WLNY in New York, WPSG in Philadelphia, KTXA in Dallas-Fort Worth, KBCW in San Francisco, WUPA in Atlanta, WSBK in Boston, KSTW in Seattle, WTOG in Tampa, WKBD in Detroit and WBFS in Miami.