Friday, February 21 – Friday, February 28

Five years ago, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This week, the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers released a report touting the $800 billion stimulus package as a success, saying it averted an economic catastrophe. House Speaker John Boehner, however, called the stimulus “a classic case of big promises and big spending with little results”. Josh Bivens, the research and policy director for the Economic Policy Institute, helps us assess just how effective the stimulus has been.

A recent report from the advocacy group, Free Press, found that there are no Black-owned and operated full-power television stations in the U.S. today. Eight years ago, there were 18—and while that number represented just 1.3 percent of all U.S. TV stations, it was, at least, a presence. Joseph Torres, senior external affairs director for Free Press, joins us to explain why Black-owned stations have disappeared.

These days, we seem to do everything online. We shop, date, pay bills, and socialize on the Internet. With all of this online exposure, it’s no wonder identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the U.S. In today’s installment of “Five Things You Should Know About…”, Michelle Dennedy, VP and chief privacy officer at McAfee, gives us five important tips for protecting ourselves from online identity theft.

Our commentator George Johnson weighs in on the medal-winning performances of the U.S. women’s bobsled team and looks ahead to the second half of the NBA season in his 3-minute sports drill.

Grammy winner Danilo Pérez has a well-deserved global following, not just for his work as a jazz pianist and composer, but also for his work as an educator and philanthropist. Fans know him from the Wayne Shorter Quartet. He’s also director of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute at the world-renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston, and he’s traveled the world as a UNESCO Artist for Peace. But wherever he goes, Pérez is from, of, and about Panama. He shares his newest CD, a celebration of his native land, “Panama 500″.

We conclude our Black History Month special, “Memories of the Movement”, by featuring moving stories that celebrate the courage, conviction, and commitment of these everyday people who made extraordinary contributions.

In this final hour, we hear from legendary actress Ruby Dee, Clarence Jones, Xernona Clayton, Dr. Gardner C. Taylor, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rev. Amos Brown, journalist Earl Caldwell, Marian Wright Edelman, Taylor Rogers, and Rev. C.T. Vivian.