TCM Schedule for Monday January 16, 2023 - Martin Luther King Day

A full day of African-American-centric films for MLK Day.

(all times Eastern)

6:00 am The Blood of Jesus (1941)
1h 8m | Drama | TV-G
A rural black woman lying near death is torn between heaven and hell.
Director: Spencer Williams. Cast: Cathryn Caviness, Spencer Williams, Juanita Riley

7:00 am The Emperor Jones (1933)
1h 12m | Drama | TV-14
When his subjects revolt, a Caribbean dictator looks back on the path that led to his downfall.
Director: Dudley Murphy. Cast: Paul Robeson, Dudley Digges, Frank Wilson

8:30 am Within Our Gates (1920)
1h 19m | Drama | TV-14
In this film, a black schoolteacher finds the battle against racism is everywhere when she goes North to raise money for better schools.
Director: Oscar Micheaux. Cast: Evelyn Preer, Flo Clements, James D. Ruffin

10:00 am Oscar Micheaux: The Superhero of Black Filmmaking (2021)
Documentary | TV-MA
A look at the life and work of Oscar Micheaux, a pioneer of the African-American film industry.
Director: Francesco Zippel. Cast: Francesco Zippel

11:30 am Sounder (1972)
1h 45m | Drama | TV-PG
Black sharecroppers during the Depression fight to get their children a decent education.
Director: Martin Ritt. Cast: Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield, Kevin Hooks

1:30 pm Bright Road (1953)
1h 9m | Drama | TV-PG
A school teacher seeks to win the trust and respect of a rebellious young boy.
Director: Gerald Mayer. Cast: Dorothy Dandridge, Philip Hepburn, Harry Belafonte

2:45 pm Gordon Parks: Moments Without Proper Names (1988)
1h | Documentary | TV-PG
A self-portrait of the life and career of photographer, writer, director and composer Gordon Parks.
Director: Gordon Parks. Cast: Roscoe Lee Browne, Gordon Parks, Joe Seneca

4:00 pm The Learning Tree (1969)
1h 47m | Drama | TV-14
A black boy growing up in Kansas dreams of a better life in this film version of director Gordon Parks's autobiography.
Director: Gordon Parks. Cast: Kyle Johnson, Alex Clarke, Estelle Evans

6:00 pm Freedom on My Mind (1994)
1h 45m | Documentary | TV-PG
Interviews and archival footage tell the story of the drive to register African-American voters in 1960s Mississippi.
Director: Connie Field. Cast: Endesha Ida Mae Holland, Pam Chude Allen, Marshall Ganz

8:00 pm The Autobiography Of Miss Jane Pittman (1974)
2h | Adaptation
A woman is born into slavery in the 1850s and lived to see the Civil Rights movement a century later.
Director: John Korty. Cast: Cicely Tyson, Odetta, Josephine Premice

10:00 pm In the Heat of the Night (1967)
1h 49m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-14
A black police detective from the North forces a bigoted Southern sheriff to accept his help with a murder investigation.
Director: Norman Jewison. Cast: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates

12:00 am Cooley High (1975)
1h 47m | Comedy | TV-MA
African-American teens in Chicago prepare for life after high school.
Director: Michael Schultz. Cast: Glynn Turman, Lawrence-hilton Jacobs, Garrett Morris

2:00 am Black Girl (1972)
1h 37m | TV-PG
A dramatic tale about three generations of women in a black family.
Director: Ossie Davis. Cast: Brock Peters, Claudia Mcneil, Leslie Uggams

4:00 am Bless Their Little Hearts (1984)
1h 21m | Drama | TV-MA
Enduring the bleakness of the Watts unemployment office and occasional stints as a day laborer, Charlie Banks struggles to find a job and maintain his role of head of his family.
Director: Billy Woodberry. Cast: Nate Herd, Kaycee Moore, Angela Burnett