WMFE TO AIR ‘BLACK CHURCHES OF ORLANDO’ IN CONNECTION WITH PBS’ ‘THE BLACK CHURCH’
Support provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
February 23, 2021
(Orlando, FL) February 18, 2021 – WMFE 90.7 and 89.5 is airing Black Churches of Orlando in connection with The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song, the PBS documentary series by Dr. Henry Louis Gates. The program airs on February 26 at 3 pm and February 28 at 1 pm and is funded by a grant from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting.
Hosted by Talia Blake, Black Churches of Orlando focuses on the role of the Black Church during the Civil Rights Movement in Orlando and Central Florida. Guests include State Representative Geraldine Thompson; Rev. Randolph Bracy, Dean of school of religion at Bethune Cookman University; Rev. Robert Spooney ,Pastor of Mt. Zion MBIC ---oldest black church in Orlando; and Louise Dinkins, one of the Jones High School Students of the 60s that participated in sit-ins and protests.
“The black church has always been a staple in black communities and it’s difficult to consider the African-American experience without them. WMFE is proud to spotlight the role of the black church in the Orlando experience as we recognize black history in our local community,” said Erika Pulley-Hayes, WMFE’s President and CEO.
The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song is a landmark documentary that beautifully illustrates the preeminent role church, faith and spirituality have played in shaping the Black American experience,” said Pat Harrison, president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. “Through these grants, we are helping public media stations -- public radio as well as public television -- leverage the documentary series to bring together new partners and explore how the role of the Black church has evolved in their communities and impacted our nation.”
The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song is a four-hour documentary series tracing the 400-year history of the Black church in America, produced by McGee Media, Inkwell Media and WETA Washington, D.C., in association with Get Lifted. The series features interviews with John Legend, Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Hudson, Bishop Michael Curry, Cornel West, Pastor Shirley Caesar, Rev. Al Sharpton, Yolanda Adams, Rev. William Barber II, BeBe Winans, Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie and more. It premiered earlier this month on WUCF-TV and is now streaming on the PBS app, PBS Passport and PBS.org.
Major corporate support for “The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song” is provided by Johnson & Johnson. Major support is also provided by the Lilly Endowment Inc., Ford Foundation, and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS and public television viewers. Public radio station engagement grants are funded by CPB and administered by the VuHaus Group, a public media music organization of stations.
About WMFE
Community Communications Inc. is a locally owned, and operated, non-profit public media organization that operates 90.7 WMFE-FM, metro Orlando’s primary provider of NPR programming; 90.7-2 Classical; and 89.5 WMFV, public radio for The Villages, Ocala and surrounding counties. Listener-supported Community Communications has been serving the community since 1980 with trusted news and programming from a local, national and international perspective. Visit wmfe.org and wmfv.org for more information.
About CPB
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,500 locally managed and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology and program development for public radio, television and related online services. For more information, visit cpb.org, follow us on Twitter @CPBmedia, Facebook and LinkedIn and subscribe for email updates.
About VuHaus
VuHaus Group is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving public media stations. With greater emphasis on increasing the impact and reach of our station affiliates, VuHaus Group creates meaningful and collaborative branding, editorial, revenue and distribution opportunities. VuHaus Group is supported by seed funding and ongoing grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and includes public radio stations WFUV in New York City, KCRW in Los Angeles, Vocalo Radio in Chicago, KXT in Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston Public Media, WXPN in Philadelphia, WRTI in Philadelphia, WGBH in Boston, KEXP in Seattle, Indie 102.3 in Denver, opbmusic in Portland, KDHX in St. Louis, KUTX in Austin, KTBG The Bridge in Kansas City, WUNC Music in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, WMOT in Nashville, WNXP in Nashville, 88Nine Radio Milwaukee in Milwaukee, Live From Cain’s in Tulsa, Mountain Stage in West Virginia and Colorado Sound in Fort Collins. In October 2019, VuHaus.com VuHaus.com, became Live Sessions on NPR.org, which is still curated and controlled by VuHaus Group and its member stations.
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