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.

National Programs on Public Television

Black Journal/Tony Brown’s Journal (1968-2008) (transitioned from PBS - to commercial network - back to PBS)
Black Perspectives on the News, WHYY Philadelphia (1974-1979)
Soul!, WNET New York (1970-1973)
Say Brother, WGBH Boston
Another Voice, WHYY Philadelphia

National Public Affairs Programs on Commercial Television

For You Black Woman (syndicated, 1978-79) (hosted by Freda Payne)
America’s Black Forum (1989-2003)
Black Omnibus (1972-73), (hosted by James Earl Jones) (episode list)
Clip: Black Omnibus, Taj Mahal plays the banjo and talks to JEJ:

Black Public Affairs Programs, 1968-on, by Region

Northeast

NYC
Like It Is, WABC (1968 - present)
Inside Bedford-Stuyvesant, WNYW (1968-1970) (more about producer Charles Hobson, 2009 interview with Hobson)
Black Pride, WPIX
Positively Black, WNBC
Black News, WNEW

Syracuse, NY
Black on Black

Boston
Talking Black (later renamed Mzizi Roots), WBZ-TV
Black News, WHDH-TV
Third World, WVCB (WCVB?) (now CityLine)
Say Brother (later renamed Basic Black), WGBH (1968-present)

Philadelphia
Another Voice, WHYY (also Black Perspectives on the News; more about host Chuck Stone)
New Mood, New Breed, WCAU

Pittsburgh
Black Horizons (1968-present), WQED

Connecticut
Lookin’ Better, CPTV

Washington DC
Harambee, WTOP (1969-?)
Black News, WTTG
Petey Greene’s Washington, WDCA-AM
Clip: Petey Greene’s immortal ‘How to Eat Watermelon’ segment, from Petey Greene’s Washington, 1982:

Midwest

Detroit
Go Tell It–Ben Hooks Reports, WDIV-TV
Colored People’s Time/CPT (later renamed American Black Journal), WTVS (1968-present)
Haney’s People, WXYZ (1967-1981)
For My People, WKBD (1970-) (more about producer David Rambeau)

Chicago
Our People, WTTW (1968-1972)
A Black’s View of the News, WCIU (1968-?)
For Blacks Only (renamed Face to Face), WLS (1968-1979) (article about host Werner Saunders)
Common Ground, WBBM Channel 2 (1972-?)
Clip: A roundtable discussion on black radio, featuring Tom Joyner (1982)

Cleveland
Black on Black
Black Peoplehood, WVIZ

Cincinnati
Right On, WCET

East Lansing, Michigan
Perspectives in Black, WKAR (1974-1977)

Milwaukee
Black Nouveau, MPTV (1991-present?)

Kansas City, KS
Dimensions in Black (renamed Dimensions), KMBC
Minority Matters, (later Urban Affairs), KCTV (1968-1997)
Go Tell It

Omaha
Black on Black

St. Louis
Heads Up, KMOX

Minneapolis
Black Voices, KTCA/KTCI (1969-?)

West

Los Angeles
Innervisions, KCET

San Francisco/Bay Area
Black Dignity, KGO
Vibrations for A New People, KPIX
Black on Black, KNXT

Seattle
Face to Face, KING TV (1965-70) and KCTS (1971-72) (Biography of the host, Roberta Byrd)

South

New Orleans
Perspectives in Black, WWL-TV

Atlanta
Ebony Journal, WXIA
Kaleidoscope, WAGA TV

Louisville
I Am Somebody, WLKY
Bridge, WHAS

Jacksonville
Kutana, WJXT (article on the host, Betty Bullock)

South Carolina
Job Man Caravan, SCETV (1968-?) (article about William Terrell, exec. producer)
For The People, SCETV (1971-?) (also see Terrell article)
Clip: Listervelt Middleton, who hosted the show from 1977 - on.

View a list of African-American news, public affairs and culture programs that have won Peabody awards.

We welcome additions, corrections, links to videos or any more information about any of these programs. Please let us know in the comments.

Devorah Heitner