In between his Oscar-nominated role as Jack Jefferson in The Great White Hope, and as the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars, James Earl Jones hosted a 1973 television series called Black Omnibus. Combining both interview and performance segments, the series, which only lasted 12 episodes, featured an eclectic range of prominent African-American musicians, [...]
Described by Inside Bedford-Stuyvesant producer Charles Hobson as one of the program’s “most-requested pieces”, this video features the Leroi Jones Young Spirit House Movers and Players delivering a jaw-droppingly powerful spoken-word performance. Watch now.
Soul! was a spectacular NET production that aired from 1968-1973. We’ll be putting up as many episodes as we can from the program–we’re up to six episodes so far. Watch Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Tito Puente, Ashford & Simpson, Earth, Wind & Fire, and many more on the show.
Historian Gayle Wald provides a fascinating overview of the history of WNET black variety show Soul! and how it was shaped by the show’s iconoclast producer/host Ellis Haizlip.
Starting in 1968, Detroit public TV station WTVS produced an African-American news/public affairs show called Colored People’s Time (CPT). The show’s mission was to build more community involvement among Detroit’s largely African-American urban population. Watch segments from the show….
Forty years ago, 400,000 people made their home within Bedford-Stuyvesant’s three square miles. But Bed-Stuy became synonymous with crime and poverty when the mainstream media focused on urban unrest during the ’60s. One television show decided to change all that. Read more….
In this 1968 segment, singer/actor/activist Harry Belafonte talks to the Bed-Stuy community in a local Brooklyn park, and takes a Q&A from Bed-Stuy residents. Watch now.
This episode of “Black Journal,” one of the earliest black-produced newsmagazines on television, features a profile of L.A. grassroots empowerment organization Operation Bootstrap; a segment on the challenges faced by elected black public officials; and the words and music of singer Nina Simone. Watch now.
Public TV programs like Soul!, Say Brother and Black Journal were only a few of the shows by, about, and for black America. Here’s a more comprehensive list of local, national, and award-winning black community television from the past forty years.
It’s that time of year again–African-American History Month. Read about our ‘Broadcasting While Black’ web project, which covers the early years of black-produced public affairs and arts programs for television, from 1968-on. See all articles and videos in the project, or read more here.
