Unlocking the Gates: How the North led Housing Discrimination in America
Airing Wednesday, February 5th at 9AM:
In 1948, a young couple set out to do what was considered a rite of passage for many middle-class Americans at the time – they bought land in a leafy suburb, built their dream home and left the city. James and Frances Hughes had no idea that their move to this part of Minnesota would motivate segregationists to ramp up housing restrictions.
In this limited Marketplace series, Host Lee Hawkins investigates how a secret nighttime business deal unlocked the gates of a community called Maplewood for dozens of Black families seeking better housing, schools, and safer neighborhoods. His own family included. Hawkins returns to the place where he grew up to discover that state officials were instrumental in the practice of adding clauses to property deeds specifying that it could be held only by white people. These clauses or covenants as they are known, set the stage for other kinds of discrimination including redlining, which has exacerbated the racial wealth gap.
Unlocking The Gates highlights the stories of families collaborating and overcoming discrimination in real estate and banking. They include executives, entrepreneurs, musicians, at least one NFL star and a former US Presidential hopeful. Many have inherited wealth from property investments and have been able to establish financial security for their families. As Lee Hawkins tours his childhood neighborhood and hometown, he reflects on this duality. Minnesota, like the rest of the country is grappling with a housing affordability crisis. His reporting is more relevant than ever to state officials and business leaders working to address inequity that keeps people locked out of the property market. As part of this special series, he’ll learn more about their efforts.
The African Roots of Rock n Roll
Airing Wednesday, February 5th at 12PM:
In this program you will the hear the African music roots of famed American blues and rock 'n' roll artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly, Fats Domino, the Isley Brothers, Robert Johnson, The Kingsmen and many more. Not everyone in this program is as well-known as the above mentioned juggernauts of music. Also included is Celia Cruz, Sexteto Habanero, Arsenio Rodriguez, and Baby Face Leroy. Co-produced by Ned Sublette and Robert Palmer, author of “Deep Blues”, regarded by many as the best book on the blues.
The African American String Music Tradition
Airing Wednesday, February 12th at 12PM:
There’s been a lot of speculation about the chain of musical events that link the blues back to Africa. Most of that chain is unrecorded and shrouded in mystery. But there is one chapter, just before the blues, that we do know quite a lot about. That’s the history of African-American string bands. This program explores the history, with music and memories from a special guest: the late string maestro Howard Armstrong. Along the way, we hear music from Canray Fontenot, Blind James Campbell, Hobard Smith and other legends of this little-known chapter in American folk and popular music. Produced by Banning Eyre.
Witness History: Black History Month
Airing Wednesday, February 19th at 9AM:
A new special hour-long edition of Witness History from the BBC World Service, bringing together some incredible stories about the Black experience. Told by people who were there, we hear stories that are fascinating, harrowing, and inspiring.
The Black History of the Banjo
Airing Wednesday, February 19th at 12PM:
This program traces the history of this most American of instruments from its ancestors in West Africa through the Caribbean and American South and into the present, as a new generation of Black women artists reclaim the banjo as their own.
A Brief History of Funk
Airing Wednesday, February 26th at 12PM:
Funk is the personal favorite of many music lovers. In this panoramic history of the grooviest of genres, we hear track after track of absolute boogie-down classics. Everything from Sly and the Family Stone to James Brown, with a few stops to hear legends like the Meters, Kool and the Gang, and Parliament. We’ll also hear the great Bobby Byrd explain the rhythmic motor behind the JB’s, and Georges Clinton talk about the roots of his funk.
