Classes are back in full swing as Peralta celebrates Black History Month with a host of programming old and new highlighting African & African-American history and culture.
Peralta TV can be seen on
Channel 27: Alameda, Berkeley
Channel 28: Emeryville, Piedmont, Oakland
AT&T U-Verse Channel 99
MERRITT COLLEGE: HOME OF THE BLACK PANTHERS
2/06 (Mon) @ 7pm
2/10 (Fri) @ 2:30pm
2/15 (Wed) @ 8am
2/19 (Sun) @ 9pm
2/23 (Thur) @ 5pm
2/25 (Sat) @ 4:30pm
2/28 (Tue) @ 12pm
You can also watch the full documentary anytime on Peralta Colleges’ YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/54wYflGYMrw
A Peralta TV Production
In honor of Black History Month, Peralta TV is broadcasting its award-winning documentary “MERRITT COLLEGE: HOME OF THE BLACK PANTHERS,” narrated by U. S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee, it is a powerful film that chronicles the birth of the Black Panther Party at Merritt College during the politically, socially and economically turbulent 1960s.
It is a compelling story about social justice and political activism told through rare interviews with party members, featuring original artwork from Panther publications as well as rarely seen photos and archival videos. Watch this comprehensive and informative historical documentary on one of the most controversial and effective social movements in the United States in the past 50 years. October 1966 began a movement that 56 years later is still one of the staples in the history of social change in this country.
NELSON MANDELA ONE MAN
2/06 (Mon) @ 3pm
2/18 (Sat) @ 9pm
2/24 (Fri) @ 1pm
Directed by Marilyn Higgins
Nelson Mandela is a shining example of what one man can do to change the world. One Man navigates Mandela’s life from his birth in a small village and an oppressive regime through his struggles to overcome prejudice and hate to unify a nation. Viewers will discover how Nelson Mandela's dedication resulted in his inauguration as the first black President of South Africa; his award of the Nobel Peace Prize and ultimately, his inspirational role in overthrowing the Apartheid regime.
ABOLITION: THE FRIENDSHIP OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS & JOHN BROWN
2/07 (Tue) @ 6:30pm
2/15 (Wed) @ 11am
2/20 (Mon) @ 7pm
Directed by John C. Brown and Thomas F. Maguire
Produced by Paul Hofer, Karine Schomer, Raphael Shevelev, Reb & Susan Silay
ABOLITION tells the story of two friends, their accomplishments, and their conflicts, during the tumultuous decade leading up to the Civil War. One of the friends is John Brown – he whose “body lies a-mouldering in the grave” – who led the raid on Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, a major stepping stone toward the War. The other is Frederick Douglass who was born a slave in Maryland, escaped to freedom at age 20, and became an important intellectual, journalist, political maven, and arguably the greatest American orator of the Nineteenth Century. The bond and the strife between these two men are explored in an intimate re-imagination of this crucial era in our fraught history.
TALKING BLACK IN AMERICA: ROOTS
2/09 (Thur) @ 2pm
2/21 (Tue) @ 6:30pm
2/26 (Sun) @ 8pm
Executive Produced by Walt Wolfram
Produced by Neal Hutcheson, Danica Cullinan, Renee Blake
A production of the Language & Life Project at North Carolina State University
TALKING BLACK IN AMERICA — ROOTS is a celebration of African American resiliency, creativity, and ingenuity, finding a connection of the spirit among the peoples and societies of West Africa and the African Diaspora. Filmed in Ghana, The Bahamas, and throughout the United States. An exploration of African American language and culture and their transformative influence on the United States and beyond.
AN ANSWER FROM AKRON
2/13 (Mon) @ 3pm
2/19 (Sun) @ 8pm
2/22 (Wed) @ 12pm
Executive Produced by Thomas A. Tatum
Produced by Alex Jennings, W. Drew Perkins, and Ed Mantel
Directed by W. Drew Perkins
AN ANSWER FROM AKRON tells a unique story about a group of young African American men who, at the height of the Civil Rights movement, were in the right place to answer a call for help. The place is Akron, Ohio whose history includes Sojourner Truth’s delivering her historic “Ain’t I a Woman” speech, John Brown’s home and headquarters for many of his anti-slavery campaigns and Fritz Pollard’s becoming the NFL’s first African American coach.
Building upon these and other such historical milestones, members of the local chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, the nation’s oldest African American fraternity, became the first black organization to receive Federal funding for affordable housing. With virtually no experience, these men launched a program to provide housing for their friends and families who had been displaced from their homes due to an aggressive urban renewal program. This achievement is historic not only because it was the first of its kind, but because it also represents a successful case study in affordable housing still in operation today more than fifty years later.
NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
DAVID C. DRISKELL: A TRIBUTE VIDEO IN FOUR PARTS
2/17 (Fri) @ 8:30pm
2/23 (Thur) @ 2pm
2/28 (Tue) @ 4pm
The fourth annual John Wilmerding Symposium on American Art honors the legacy of David C. Driskell (1931–2020), one of the world’s leading authorities on African American art, who passed away at age 88 from complications of COVID-19 on April 1. Held in partnership with the David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora at the University of Maryland, College Park, and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, the tribute honors his contribution as a distinguished university professor emeritus of art, and as an artist, art historian, collector, curator, and philanthropist. This compilation includes a keynote address from Julie L McGee entitled “Joy Cometh in the Morning,” a studio visit with Curlee Raven Holton, a discussion with Valerie Cassel Oliver “Torchbearer of a Legacy,” and Alivia J. Wardlaw’s “The Cultural Cartographer: The Invaluable Art Roadmaps of David C. Driskell.”
Made possible by a grant from the Alice L. Walton Foundation.
