Highlights Archive

Prelude: The Legacy of Garth Fagan Dance On-Demand

Explore the life and career of Tony award winning choreographer Garth Fagan and meet three of his long-time disciples, who are now tasked with bringing his technique and legacy to the next generation.

PRELUDE l The Legacy of Garth Fagan Dance takes you on a journey through the twists and turns of the Tony award-winning choreographer’s storied, collaborative, and prolific career. The WXXI production also looks at three of Mr. Fagan’s long-time disciples – William J. Ferguson II, Natalie Rogers-Cropper, and Norwood Pennewell – who are now tasked with bringing his technique and legacy to the next generation. Through an immersive, cutting-edge documentary film style, PRELUDE reveals the many facets of Garth Fagan.

In celebration of 50 years of Garth Fagan Dance, the hour-long documentary explores the experiences that make up this Jamaican-American dance treasure and his work. Through Mr. Fagan’s own words, PRELUDE sheds light on how he was able to build a multi-cultural dance company that incorporates African-American, Jamaican, and American dance styles into a whole new dance technique.

Mr. Fagan’s choreography was launched into the spotlight in 1997 in Julie Taymor’s Broadway production of The Lion King, and PRELUDE reflects on what that experience meant to the choreographer and his close collaborators. Using archival video of rehearsals, performances, and interviews shot throughout the last 50 years, the film looks at the evolution of the virtuoso and his company of dancers who shared his vision and mastered his technique.

Interviews with The Lion King director Julie Taymor, Kennedy Center award-winning dancer Judith Jameson, SUNY Brockport Dancer Professor Emeritus Jacquie Davis, and many others provide a multifaceted view of all stages of Fagan’s illustrious career and a look at the next generation of Garth Fagan Dance.

Produced by WXXI and distributed by American Public Television

Photo: (L-R) Natalie Rogers-Cropper, William J. Ferguson II, Norwood Pennewell with Garth Fagan (center, seated)
Credit: Jason Milton

Cultural Expressions: Kwanzaa On-Demand

Honoring the heritage, unity, culture, and rich contributions of African Americans, Kwanzaa is more than just a celebration; it’s a way of life. Cultural Expressions: Kwanzaa explores the seven principles that are the foundation of Kwanzaa by sharing seven real-life stories of impact. These stories reveal how each principle plays a role in the Black community, illustrated through cultural elements of dance, storytelling, music, and spoken word. Cultural Expressions: Kwanzaa explores the seven principles that are the foundation of Kwanzaa by sharing seven real-life stories of impact.

Cultural Expressions: Kwanzaa features interviews with Dr. David A. Anderson/Sankofa, Rochester Kwanzaa Coalition; Ms. Melba Ayco, Artistic Director and Owner, Northwest Tap Connection; Delores Jackson Radney, Rochester Kwanzaa Coalition; Melanie Funchess, Principal & CEO, Ubuntu Village Works LLC; Reenah Golden, Founder and Artistic Director, Avenue Blackbox Theatre; Anthony and Zakiya King, Owners of Cerebral Kingdom Bookstore; Dr. Shaun Nelms, EPO Superintendent, East High School; Shawn Dunwoody, Digital Designer Dunwoodē Designs; Terrie Ajile Axam, Founder Artistic Director, Total Dance/Dancical Productions Inc., and Terry Chaka, Rochester Kwanzaa Coalition.

Cultural Expressions: Kwanzaa is a WXXI Public Media production from 2022. The production team includes: Teej Jenkins-Routier, producer/director; Joanne V. Gordon, editor/producer; and Rhonda Austin, associate producer.

Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space On-Demand

American Experience presents Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space. Meet the influential author and anthropologist whose groundbreaking anthropological work challenged the assumptions about race, gender, and cultural superiority that had long defined the field in the 19th century.

Raised in the small all-Black Florida town of Eatonville, Zora Neale Hurston studied at Howard University before arriving in New York in 1925. She would soon become a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance, best remembered for her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. But even as she gained renown in the Harlem literary circles, Hurston was also discovering anthropology at Barnard College with the renowned Franz Boas. She would make several trips to the American South and the Caribbean, documenting the lives of rural Black people and collecting their stories. She studied her own people, an unusual practice at the time, and during her lifetime became known as the foremost authority on Black folklore. (Available through: January 16, 2026 11:59 pm)

Dream Land: Little Rock’s West 9th Street On-Demand

Little Rock, Arkansas’s, West 9th Street was once a vibrant, African-American business and entertainment district. Taborian Hall is the only remaining historic structure on West 9th Street and stands as a living witness of the street’s former glory days.

Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World Education Resources

Watch The Series Clips On-Demand in the PBS LearningMedia Media Gallery
Music as a Tool for Empowerment | Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World:

Hip hop music is a staple of music lovers around the world. With its strong, rhythmic beat and lyrical rap vocal tracks, the genre that originated in New York City after the Civil Rights Movement has grown into one of the most popular styles of music in the world.

In this lesson, students will learn about hip hop as a tool for empowerment and critically analyze its place in American history as they read, analyze, and respond to film clips and lyrics from select songs. Through the discussion questions and activities, students will question the historical complexities and come up with their own interpretation of how music can be a tool for empowerment.

Watch The Series on PBS Passport On-Demand: The 4-part series is an incredible narrative of struggle, triumph and resistance that brings to life through the lens of an art form that has chronicled the emotions, experiences, and expressions of Black and Brown communities: Hip Hop.

Authored by Public Enemy’s Chuck D, who famously labeled Hip Hop as “the Black CNN” for bringing the stories of the street to the mainstream, Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World include personal testimonies of the MCs, DJs, graffiti artists, filmmakers, politicians and opinion formers who created and shaped its direction as it grew from an underground movement in the Bronx to the most popular music genre in the U.S. and the fastest growing genre in the world today.

Featuring interviews from A-list talent like Killer Mike, Will.i.am, Monie Love, Ice-T, Roxanne Shante, MC Lyte and many more, the series will paint a portrait of the unique relationship between Hip Hop and the political history of the U.S.

The Foundation:

Discover the factors that led to the birth of Hip Hop and its first socially conscious hit The Message by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five in 1982.

Under Seige

Explore the 1980s and the birth of Hip Hop as social commentary in the Reagan Era with the emergence of artists like Public Enemy, KRS-One, Ice-T, and NWA.

Culture Wars

Experience the 1990s during the Clinton years and the unstoppable rise in popularity of Hip Hop, which becomes a force that is attacked by all sides of the political establishment.

Still Fighting

Follow the evolution of Hip Hop as its artists turn into multimillionaires and successful entrepreneurs. As a cultural phenomenon, Hip Hop continues to change history and is adopted as the voice of protest around the world.

Becoming Frederick Douglass Educational Resources

Education Resources:

PBS LearningMedia: Becoming Frederick Douglass Collection

Lessons, Activities, and Primary Documents from Film Website

Becoming Frederick Douglass explores the inspiring story of how a man born into slavery transformed himself into one of the most prominent statesmen and influential voices for democracy in American history. Aired in 2023.

Using his writings, images and words to follow his rise to prominence against all odds, the film is rooted in the singular truth of Douglass’s life: his insistence on controlling his own narrative and his lifelong determined pursuit of the right to freedom and complete equality for African Americans.

See WXXI News Reporting on Historic Connections To Rochester
Harriet Tubman ‘Journey to Freedom’ statue on display at Washington Square Park
New memorials at Mt. Hope remember contributions of Frederick Douglass’ wife & daughter

More About the Film: Featuring acclaimed actor Wendell Pierce as the voice of Frederick Douglass.

A co-production of Firelight Films andMaryland Public Television (MPT), the film is executive produced by Stanley Nelson and Lynne Robinson and produced and directed by Nelson and Nicole London.

“Given that Frederick Douglass was one of the most prolific and powerful orators of his time, we were interested in exploring how he created and controlled his image, and ultimately how he used it to shift public opinion around abolition,” Nelson said. “It was such a gift to have the inimitable Wendell Pierce provide the voice of Douglass to bring his words to life. Wendell’s dynamic performance, coupled with the many stunning photographs taken throughout Douglass’s lifetime, show how Douglass evolved to become one of the most influential and enduring social justice activists in American history.”

Born in 1818 in Maryland, Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery in 1838 and went on to become many things: abolitionist, autobiographer, essayist, diplomat, orator, editor, philosopher, political theorist, newspaper publisher and social reformer. And considering his trajectory — from enslaved to elder statesman — he was arguably the most accomplished man of his time.

Watch On-Demand

Frontline: Opioids, Inc. On-Demand

Watch On-Demand: Pushing opioids. Bribing doctors. Making millions.

About the Program: Frontline and the Financial Times investigate how Insys Therapeutics profited from a fentanyl-based painkiller up to 100 times stronger than heroin — and how some Wall Street investors looked the other way. Frontline: Opioids, Inc.

Opioids, Inc. tells the inside story of how Insys profited from Subsys, a fast-acting fentanyl-based spray that’s been linked to hundreds of deaths. Tactics included targeting high-prescribing doctors and nurse practitioners known as “whales,” misleading insurers, and holding contests for the sales team: the higher the prescription doses they got doctors to write, the larger the cash prize — despite the dangers to patients. But as the documentary traces in unprecedented detail, the scheme fell apart: With federal prosecutors using anti-racketeering laws designed to fight organized crime, Insys became the first pharmaceutical company to have its CEO sentenced to prison time in federal court in connection with the opioid crisis.

This film is part of the New York State Public Media Overdose Epidemic, an initiative funded by the New York State Education Department that has called on NYS public media organizations to create a multi-platform project to help address mental health and addiction throughout the state. The project includes broadcast offerings, online content, and special events, like this screening. The NYS stations will also work to create comprehensive digital teaching tools, online learning, and essential instructional content.

Understanding the Opioid Epidemic On-Demand

This documentary traces the causes behind the unprecedented growth in the use of prescription opioids and the devastating impact these drugs are having in virtually every part of America and how it all started.

Through personal stories and interviews with experts, Understanding the Opioid Epidemic reveals the tragic impact of the overuse of prescription painkillers on individuals, families and communities.

Additional educational resources:

7 lesson plans on PBS LearningMedia Collection

Watch the Episode | More Video Clips