WGNO’s Honoring Black History Special: Honoring African American Women

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — WGNO is privileged to celebrate Black history and culture with our 2025 Edition of, “Honoring Black History: Sharing Our Stories.” This year, we dedicate our show to Black women. We broadcast our show from the brilliant and acclaimed Stella Jones Gallery.

The Stella Jones Gallery is located on the first floor of 201 St. Charles Ave. The mission of Stella Jones is to make African American, contemporary African and Caribbean fine art accessible to all.

Join LBJ and Christopher Leach as we give Black women their flowers by putting a spotlight on the historic and contemporary contributions of Black women and how they continue to advance society. Black women in Louisiana have always been paramount in the fight for freedom and equality.

In 1769, the Spanish law of Coartación was implemented, allowing the enslaved a chance to emancipate themselves. Women entrepreneurs would sometimes sell rice fritters called calas and would sometimes work hard enough to purchase the freedom of their entire family.

In 1842, Henriette Delille, a free woman of color in New Orleans, founded the Sisters of the Holy Family, a congregation of nuns who would serve the poor, enslaved and free people of color. They are the second oldest order of Black nuns in the nation.

On Nov. 14, 1960, four little girls by the name of Ruby Bridges, Leona Tate, Gail Etienne and Tessie Prevost integrated their New Orleans schools at the age of 6 after the Supreme Court outlaws the separate but equal doctrine that was left from the Plessy Vs Ferguson decision in 1896.

During this program, we tell these early stories, and so much more!

This is WGNO’s Black History Month tribute.

Watch it Saturday on WGNO-TV at 10:30 p.m. and on WNOL/NOLA38 at 9 p.m.

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