Once again, With Good Reason has new specials available for Black History Month 2025.
Let us know if you have any questions or would like to receive download information.
Also, check out all of the specials (past and present) available on PRX: https://exchange.prx.org/series/34152-black-history-month-specials
New Brownies
In the midst of the Harlem Renaissance, W.E.B. DuBois wanted black children to have something to read that was uplighting for them. So, he started The Brownies’ Book, a monthly periodical for “children of the sun.” One hundred years later, husband and wife Karida Brown and Charly Palmer bring us The New Brownies.
And: Historian Brenton Boyd explains why he believes Black Americans and Carribeans have already coped with the rapture. Plus: What the early 20th century compositions of black composers William Grant Still and Undine Smith Moore can teach us about then and now.
PRX: Hour, Half AudioPort: Hour Download: Request
32 Blocks of Music
A slew of great and internationally recognized musicians–like Lonnie Liston Smith and Wah Wah Watson–grew up together in the Church Hill neighborhood of Richmond VA during the civil rights era. The neighborhood’s 32 blocks are the center of Alicia Aroche’s upcoming documentary 32 Blocks.
And: CJ Colston is a young black evangelical preacher and singer who performs in white and black churches across Appalachia. Also: Alternative Hip Hop artist geonova recounts the struggles and triumphs of being an LGBT artist in rural Big Stone Gap. Plus: Jazz Trumpeter John D’earth tells stories of his collaborations with some of the greatest jazz musicians.
PRX: Hour, Half AudioPort: Hour Download: Request
When Sunday Comes
Much has been said about the golden age of gospel music in the 1940s and 50s. But what about the gospel music that came later when hip-hop and soul were dominant? Claudrene arold’s book, When Sunday Comes, takes us to the Black record shops, churches, and businesses that transformed gospel after the Civil Rights era and nurtured the music that was an essential cultural and political expression for African Americans. Plus: Historian Lauranett Lee shares the history of the Juneteenth holiday.
And: Author Wilma Jones writes that her historically Black community of Halls Hill just outside of DC is rapidly gentrifying. She says it’s too late to save her grandma’s house but not too late to save her history.
PRX: Hour, Half AudioPort: Hour Download: Request
Staggered By the Fact of You – Available Saturday, Feb. 15
Join With Good Reason for a series of conversations that bring Furious Flower Poetry Lifetime Achievement honorees in conversation with a new generation of Black poets. This episode features Tim Seibles and Ariana Benson on alien life, Stevie Wonder, and the dreams of Langston Hughes.
And: Nikky Finney and Danez Smith on “Negroes with guns,” underwater cameras, and getting out of our lanes as the temperatures rise.
Available Feb 15 on PRX, AudioPort, Download
I Hadn’t Planned On Letting It Sing – Available Saturday, Feb. 22
Join With Good Reason for a series of conversations that bring Furious Flower Poetry Lifetime Achievement honorees in conversation with a new generation of Black poets. This episode features Lorna Goodison and Shauna Morgan on time travel, Band-Aids, and how human beings are always capable of surprise.
And: Cornelius Eady with Clemonce Heard on jazz solos, memorializing Black deaths, and the whispers that fill high school hallways.
Available Feb 22 on PRX, AudioPort, Download