Plus, why Marcus Garvey still matters, and the hidden legacy of the Pointer Sisters.
by Jill Hudson
Bettmann Archive
Black History Month, founded as Negro History Week by historian Carter G. Woodson in 1926, is an annual recognition of African-American history and culture in the United States. NPR has been celebrating Black voices all this month. Here are a few recent favorites.
Decades before Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., there was Marcus Garvey. King once described Garvey as "the first man on a mass scale and level to give millions of Negroes a sense of dignity and destiny." He was a pioneer in celebrating Black nationalism, even in a Jim Crow-divided nation, and his groundbreaking message still resonates today. Click here for the latest episode of NPR's history podcast, Throughline.
Beverly Jenkins is the undisputed queen of the Black 19th century romance. She has written some 40 books that are deeply, meticulously researched, and take place during a time that was dangerous for African-descended people (not unlike today). NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates spoke to Jenkins about becoming romance royalty, what her research process is like, and what stories she wants to tell next. Listen here.
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With their musical roots in gospel and a radical spirit of resistance, The Pointer Sisters were a different kind of girl group. Reformulated as a trio for an era of self-actualization and Black power, they scored a massive run of hits along the way to becoming genre-busting pioneers of message music.
A special Tiny Desk playlist that celebrates the quest for Black freedom and justice was curated for NPR by Dwandalyn Reece, associate director of Curatorial Affairs and curator of Music at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture. Click here to see her five favorite concerts.
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The actress Cicely Tyson died last month at the age of 96. Over a career that spanned seven decades, the beloved star brought grace, grit and gravitas to any role she played. She'd just released a memoir, Just As I Am, and had been making the rounds, doing a slew of interviews in which her intelligence, wisdom and dignity shone through. The hosts of the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast looked back at their favorite performances by Cicely Tyson and what set them apart.
Why does Whitney Houston's 1991 Super Bowl national anthem still resonate 30 years later?Listen to NPR's Sam Sanders as he unpacks that particular moment of Black history and what it says about race, patriotism and pop culture.
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