On May 17, 1954. The U.S. Supreme Court issued its historic Brown v. Board of Education decision,  declaring all laws establishing segregated schools to be unconstitutional, and called for the desegregation of all schools throughout the nation. After the decision, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People attempted to register black students in previously all-white schools in cities throughout the South. In Little Rock, the capital city of Arkansas, the Little Rock School Board agreed to comply with the high court's ruling. submitting a plan of gradual integration to the school board on May 24, 1955. The plan would be implemented during the 1958 school year, which would begin in September 1957. By 1957, the NAACP had registered nine black students to attend the previously all-white Little Rock Central High, selected on the criteria of excellent grades and attendance. The "Little Rock Nine" consisted of Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford, Jefferson Thomas, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta Walls LaNier, Minnijean Brown, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Thelma Mothershed, and Melba Beals. Several segregationist councils threatened to hold protests at Central High and physically block the black students from entering the school. Then-Governor Orval Faubus deployed the Arkansas National Guard to support the segregationists on September 4, 1957. The sight of a line of soldiers blocking nine black students from attending high school made national headlines and polarized the city. The next day, Woodrow Mann, the Mayor of Little Rock, requested that President Eisenhower send federal troops to enforce integration and protect the nine students. On September 24, the President ordered the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army to Little Rock and federalized the entire 10,000 member Arkansas National Guard, taking it out of the hands of Governor Faubus. By the end of September 1957, the nine were admitted to Little Rock Central High under the protection of the U.S. Army (and later the Arkansas National Guard), but  were still subjected to a year of physical and verbal abuse by many of the white students. The docudrama LITTLE ROCK, by Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj. is the untold individual stories of the "Little Rock Nine." It is an intimate story about their struggles, strengths, hardships and triumphs over the tragic events of the 1957 Little Rock Crisis. Created from nearly 100 interviews, discussions and research done over a three-year period, the play chronicles the events of Central High School that propelled the civil rights movement forward... and changed the world. A reading of the play was recently staged by the Rebel Theater and featured actors Clifton Davis and Leslie Uggams.

From Peabody Award Winning Producer Jim Luce, A spiritual celebration of Christmas with jazz pianist Geri Allen and her new recording, A Child is Born, featuring Geri on the Fazioli Piano. Special appearances by Dr. Dwight Andrews, composer, musician, educator, and minister, Producer Kunle Mwanga, Artist Kabuya Pamela Bowens, creator of the "Black Madonna" and others. Jim Luce host.