Black Heritage and Culture

Explore the WXXI Black Heritage and Culture site: Your resource and guide to the films, stories, and voices centered around Black history and culture, current events, and issues. And be sure to visit WXXINews.org for coverage of community events and issues that are important to Rochester and beyond. Explore. Watch. Connect!

Featured Programming

WXXI Celebrates African-American Contributions

Monday, February 1, 2021 - 6:00am

Learn more about the amazing contributions these 40 individuals have made.

Finding Your Roots: On Broadway On-Demand

Tuesday, April 27, 2021 - 9:00pm

Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr: On Broadway streaming on-demand through 5/25/2021.

Jazz: Risk (1945-1955)

Saturday, May 8, 2021 - 4:00pm

on WXXI-TV

Jazz splinters into different camps: white and black, cool and hot, East and West, traditional and modern.

POV: Through the Night

Monday, May 10, 2021 - 10:00pm

on WXXI-TV

Explore the stories of those whose lives intersect at a 24-hour daycare center.

Jazz: The Adventure (1955-1960)

Saturday, May 15, 2021 - 4:00pm

on WXXI-TV

As rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll erode jazz' audience still further, the music nonetheless enjoys a time of tremendous creativity.

Chaka Khan Homecoming

Saturday, May 15, 2021 - 10:00pm

on WXXI-TV

A celebration of the Grammy Award-winning illustrious 40-year career.

The Life of George Floyd

Sunday, May 23, 2021 - 9:00pm

on AM 1370 - NPR News & Talk

The Washington Post explores the life and experiences of the man who sparked a movement.

Prideland

Sunday, June 27, 2021 - 11:00pm

on WXXI-TV

Actor Dyllón Burnside hosts Prideland, which opens a window into the world of modern-day LGBTQ+ life in America.

Finding Your Roots: Anchored To The Past On-Demand

Watch On-Demand: Henry Louis Gates, Jr. examines how journalists Gretchen Carlson and Don Lemon were able to overcome biases in their careers, drawing parallels to relatives who met profound challenges of their own.

On-Demand GREAT PERFORMANCES: Twilight: Los Angeles:

Observe several real-life individuals — portrayed by Anna Deavere Smith — involved in the Rodney King affair.

Finding Your Roots on Connections On-Demand Podcast

Listen On-Demand to the Podcast: Connections with Evan Dawson to discussing the new season of Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and the challenges for African Americans in tracing their ancestry and the value they find in doing it. From 2/16/21.

Code Switch Podcast from NPR

Remember when folks used to talk about being "post-racial"? Well, we're definitely not that. The Code Switch Podcast Team are a multi-racial, multi-generational team of NPR journalists fascinated by the overlapping themes of race, ethnicity and culture, how they play out in our lives and communities, and how all of this is shifting. Listen to Episodes On-Demand and Subscribe to the podcast.

Race in America: WORLD Video On-Demand Collection

A collection of films by and about individuals in the Black community across the country and around the globe. Watch on-air, stream online and share the voices, the stories on WORLD and from our partners in public media. Watch On-Demand.

On-Demand: Finding Your Roots Discussion Event

Watch On-Demand :WXXI Education and The Local History & Genealogy Division of the Central Library of Rochester & Monroe County for a a chat about the Finding Your Roots Series with a focus on conducting family history by people of color. Learn about local resources and local stories.

Coming Together - Sesame Street Resources on Racial Literacy

Sesame Workshop continues its major commitment to racial justice with new resources and content called "Coming Together" to help families talk to young children about race and identity.

Watch On-Demand Metcalfe Park: Black Vote Rising

Follow a mother and daughter team as they prepare their Milwaukee community for the 2020 presidential election.

PBS Digital Studios Playlist: Race, civil rights, and the American justice system on-demand playlist

A playlist of content from PBS Digital Studios and friends that addresses race, civil rights history, and the American justice system.

The Talk – Race in America On-Demand

Learn how families of color counsel their kids to stay safe if they’re stopped by police.

PBS Playlist Race & Racism in America On-Demand

PBS continues to provide programming on-air and on-demand regarding race, racism as resources for everyone to educate themselves and continue the conversation on all the ways that inequality in America shows up in everyday life.

PBS LearningMedia East Lake Meadow: A Public Housing Story Collection

PBS LearningMedia has a wide range of learning resources for students in grades 7-12th grade, focused on public housing and civil rights. East Lake Meadows, the public housing project opened by the Atlanta Housing Authority in 1970 and demolished a generation later, and provides resources to understand housing policy and racism.

Resources on Race, Racism, Civil Rights, Current Events, and more

WXXI Education staff collected resources from PBS LearningMedia to support educators and families while discussing the following topics: race, racism, protesting, civil rights, Black history and historical individuals, bias, past and current events, and more.

Resources for Young Children on Race, Racism, and more

WXXI Education staff collected the following resources to support families and educators of young children as they talk, watch, read, and learn about race and racism.

On-Demand: PBS KIDS Talk About: Race and Racism

Watch On-Demand: PBS KIDS Talk About: Race and Racism is a special co-viewing program for families with young children to watch and discuss together.

The Power of We: A Sesame Street Special - On Demand

Watch the Sesame Street special The Power of We anywhere, anytime on-demand thanks to the PBS KIDS Video Player.

Unmarked from Reel South On-Demand

Vast amounts of African American gravesites and burial grounds for enslaved persons have been disappearing over the years and with them personal connections unless these locations are restored.

The Black Church Virtual Screening and Q&A

Thursday, February 11, 2021 - 7:00pm

Series Host and Executive Producer Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and PBS Chief Programming Executive Sylvia Bugg discuss the upcoming PBS special The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song.

WXXI Celebrates African-American Contributions

Monday, February 1, 2021 - 6:00am

Learn more about the amazing contributions these 40 individuals have made.

Finding Your Roots: Laughing on the Inside

Tuesday, May 4, 2021 - 8:00pm

on WXXI-TV

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. provides comedians Lewis Black and Roy Wood, Jr. with accounts of hardship in their family trees which may have led them to each find humor in adversity.