Five things to watch on MLK day
Michelle Obama has a conversation with Yara Shahidi, TVOne airs "Urban One Honors" and more.
From engaging music specials to a “fireside chat” with First Lady Michelle Obama, theGrio has the top five things you should watch this year on Martin Luther King Day.
Becoming: Michelle Obama in Conversation
From the bestselling book, to the Netflix documentary of the same name, Michelle Obama’s Becoming is the gift that keeps on giving. An in-depth look at one of the most influential figures in modern history, Obama’s deeply personal memoir has inspired millions and continues to do so in various mediums.
Obama will sit down with actress and activist Yara Shahidi, who shared in a statement along with the announcement, “I have had the privilege of seeing Mrs. Obama on her Becoming book tour, alongside my mother and grandmother, and it is so clearly evident that Becoming has had an intergenerational impact.
I am grateful to have joined Mrs. Obama in bringing forward the themes of her book that resonate with myself and so many of my peers at this moment in our academic careers and life paths!”
Obama’s conversation with Shahidi will drop Monday on BET and BET Her.
Urban One Honors
The Urban One Honors will air on MLK day as well, providing a soothing soundtrack for the holiday. Hosted by Ne-Yo, the special promises to “celebrate the soundtrack of Black America,” and has a star-studded lineup including acts like, Timbaland, Jennifer Hudson, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, and more.
The must-see event will air Monday at 8 p.m. EST/7 p.m CST on TVOne.
Tuskegee Airmen: Legacy of Courage
Tuskegee Airmen: Legacy of Courage from 2021 will re-air on The History Channel Monday afternoon and is absolutely worth setting your DVR.
Hosted by Good Morning America‘s Robin Roberts, Tuskegee Airmen: Legacy of Courage follows “the legacy and impact of America’s first Black military pilots,” detailing their pivotal role in helping to end segregation in the military.
The documentary will air on The History Channel Monday at 1 p.m.
Fight the Power: The Movements That Changed America
Immediately following Tuskegee Airmen: Legacy of Courage, The History Channel will air Fight the Power: The Movements That Changed America, hosted by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Per the official description, the one-hour documentary examines, “the impact key protests have had on the evolution of the United States, from past to present and explore the question: Does the arc of the moral universe bend toward justice when pressure is applied?”
At the time of the documentary’s announcement, Abdul-Jabbar shared in a statement, “The history of protest in America is also the history of social progress.”
Fight the Power: The Movements That Changed America will air Monday at 2 p.m. on The History Channel.
MLK/FBI
MLK/FBI, a documentary from filmmaker Sam Pollard, earned rave reviews at the time of its 2020 release, as it takes a hard look at how the FBI saw Dr. King as a threat, going so far as to harass him.
“In this virtuosic documentary, award-winning editor and director Sam Pollard lays out a detailed account of the FBI surveillance that dogged King’s activism throughout the ’50s and ’60s, fueled by the racist and red-baiting paranoia of J. Edgar Hoover,” the film’s description reads.
“In crafting a rich archival tapestry, featuring some revelatory restored footage of King, Pollard urges us to remember that true American progress is always hard-won.”
The film is available to stream now on Hulu. Check out the trailer below:
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