building our world anew

If we could accept ourselves as we are, we might bring new life to the Western achievements, and transform them. The price of this transformation is the unconditional freedom of the Negro; it is not too much to say that he, who has been so long rejected, must now be embraced. --James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time

In celebration of Black History Month, February 2008, PBS will broadcast a lineup of new and encore presentations honoring and exploring African-American history.

Henry Louis Gates Jr. is joined by Maya Angelou, Morgan Freeman, Tina Turner and other prominent African Americans in AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2, a sequel to the series The New York Times called "the most exciting and stirring documentary on any subject to appear on television in a long time." Other program highlights include PRINCE AMONG SLAVES, a documentary about an African prince who was enslaved in Mississippi for 40 years before finally achieving freedom; and INDEPENDENT LENS "Banished," the story of three counties that forcefully banished African-American families from their towns 100 years ago.

Also new in February: an examination of the Tuskegee Airmen in RED TAIL REBORN; LEGACY: BEING BLACK IN AMERICA, which features an intriguing discussion of race consciousness, integration and equity in the U.S. today; and AN EVENING WITH QUINCY JONES, a rare look into the life of the music mogul.

The groundbreaking second season of EYES ON THE PRIZE also airs during Black History Month on PBS. EYES ON THE PRIZE II returns to TV for the first time since the mid-1990s. Other encore presentations include the first season of EYES ON THE PRIZE; SLAVERY AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA; season one of AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES; and INDEPENDENT LENS "Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes."

BROADCAST PREMIERES

AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2

Wednesdays, February 6-13, 2008, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET

AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES again journeys deep into the African-American experience to unearth the triumphs and tragedies within the family histories of an all-new group of renowned participants. Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. returns as series host. In HD where available.

INDEPENDENT LENS "Banished"

Tuesday, February 19, 2008, 10:00-11:30 p.m. ET

This is the story of three counties that forcefully banished African American families from their towns 100 years ago — and the descendents who return to learn a shocking history. Co-production of ITVS in association with NBPC. By Marco Williams. http://www.pbs.org/independentlens

AN EVENING WITH QUINCY JONES

February 2008 (check local listings)

A rare look into the life of music mogul Quincy Jones, this one-hour interview was taped in Washington, DC, in front of an audience. Gwen Ifill interviews and hosts the star-studded evening, which features live performances by Lesley Gore, BeBe Winans, James Ingram, Bobby McFerrin and Herbie Hancock.

LEGACY: BEING BLACK IN AMERICA

February 2008 (check local listings)

In January 2007, a special tribute dinner was held in Washington, DC, to honor the Civil Rights generation. Attended by 18 celebrated African Americans from business, politics, academia, media and the arts, the dinner proved to be an intriguing discussion of race consciousness, integration and equity in the U.S. today.

RED TAIL REBORN

February 2008 (check local listings)

RED TAIL REBORN is the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American fighter pilots of World War II, and of those who sacrificed to tell the Airmen's forgotten tale.

ENCORE PROGRAMMING

SLAVERY AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA (Repeat)
Fridays, January 11-February 1, 2008, 10:00-11:00 p.m. ET
This groundbreaking series chronicles the institution of American slavery from its origins in 1619 — when English settlers in Virginia purchased 20 Africans from Dutch traders — through the arrival of the first 11 slaves in the northern colonies (in Dutch New Amsterdam), the American Revolution, the Civil War, the adoption of the 13th Amendment and Reconstruction. Morgan Freeman narrates. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: EYES ON THE PRIZE (Repeat)

February 2008 (check local listings)

The groundbreaking documentary series examining America's civil rights years returns to public television as part of AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. Covering the period from the murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi, and the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott through school desegregation, the march from Selma to Montgomery and the Voting Rights Act, EYES ON THE PRIZE is considered the definitive history of this formative time in the nation's life. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/

EYES ON THE PRIZE II, A SPECIAL PRESENTATION OF AMERICAN EXPERIENCE (Repeat)

February 2008 (check local listings)

Nearly two decades after its 1990 premiere, the groundbreaking second season of EYES ON THE PRIZE returns to PBS as a special presentation of AMERICAN EXPERIENCE in February 2008 in honor of Black History Month. The series documents the journey of black Americans seeking justice, power and identity, from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s, and shows the profound effect this movement had on all Americans. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/

FANNIE LOU HAMER: COURAGE AND FAITH (Repeat)

February 2008 (check local listings)

Using archival footage and interviews with those who knew her well and were affected by her actions, this program chronicles the extraordinary life of Fannie Lou Hamer and introduces her to a new, younger generation. Mrs. Hamer attended the 1964 Democratic National Convention as a member of the Mississippi Democratic Freedom Party and challenged the all-white Mississippi delegation.

INDEPENDENT LENS "Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes" (Repeat)

February 2008 (check local listings)

This film takes an in-depth look at machismo in rap music and hip-hop culture — where creative genius, poetic beauty and mad beats collide with misogyny, violence and homophobia. By Byron Hurt. http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/hiphop/

SHARED HISTORY (Repeat)

February 2008 (check local listings)

SHARED HISTORY is the intimate story of the relationship between two families whose connection was forged in slavery and has endured to the present. The filmmaker, the great-great-granddaughter of a slave owner, and Rhonda Kearse, a descendant of one of the enslaved families, seek to understand and reconcile the reality of slavery with the shared lives and affections between the families.

SISTERS OF SELMA: BEARING WITNESS FOR CHANGE (Repeat)

February 2008 (check local listings)

This program is an unabashedly spiritual take on the Selma, Alabama, voting rights marches of 1965 from some of its unsung foot soldiers – Catholic nuns. Following the violence of "Bloody Sunday," sisters from around the country answered Dr. Martin Luther King's call to join the protests in Selma.

THE STORY OF OSCAR BROWN JR. (Repeat)

February 2008 (check local listings)

This documentary focuses on Chicago native Oscar Brown Jr.'s work as a writer and performer for more than half a century.

Carter G. Woodson once said, "Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history". So this Black History Month lets take ourselves as seriously as our forefathers and mothers who bleed for our freedom and learn our history and build our world anew.

the talented tenth

There must be a database with a list gifted and talented youth of color somewhere. I think the NAACP working in conjuction with the Urban League is behind this. Lifting as we climb indeed.
Everytime I go to some kind of event, whether it is a mixer for interns in the media industry, a scholar awards banquet, or a youth conference the degrees of separation between folk are pretty slim. It goes a little something like this:
Me: Hey Keisha, it was nice to have met you. Where did you say you go to school again?
Keisha: I go to [insert elite college or HBCU here]
Me: Do you know [insert name of friend/associate/someone who runs in the same circles]
Keisha: Girl! Of course I know them!

And of course they do. Most of the college bound or college educated kids I know are or have been involved in some kind of prepartory program, went to a summer enrichment camp, and have participated in a pre-business/career organization, such as Prep for Prep, Posse, Minds Matter, SEO, INROADS, CLEO, CTY, A Better Chance, Magic Johnson Foundation (shouts to my TMS fam!), Ron Brown Scholars... clearly the list goes on and on, like the Erykah Badu song.
(sidebar - click on the links and educate any kids you know about these programs. They can make all the difference).

So where do we come in? We the scholars, the black and brown intelligentsia, what do we owe? Many of the products and grads of these various programs probably would have gone on to excellent colleges and embarked on successful careers. Vision and drive are the all important factors, yet the road was made much easier for us given these programs. There is much to be said about gathering a large group of like minded, driven students of color, when the main stream media denies its very exsistance or treats us as an anamoly. Often times when I'm sitting at Amherst, the only woman of color in a class I think back to an INROADS workshop or any other event when I was surrounded by my brothers and sisters who were carring the torch passed down by W.E.B Du Bois, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Charles Hamilton Huston (Amherst alum, you better act like you know!).

Now we have to keep up our side of the bargain and do our part. We were not given these gifts and opportunities freely. We need to postpone line stepping and doing the cupid shuffle for 5 minutes and make sure we hip others to the things we were able to take full advantage of. Matther 22:14 says it best, "For many are called, but few are chosen". And we have been chosen to make sure that the semi-elitist Du Boisian concept of the Talented Tenth, becomes the All Talented, with all of us reaching our fullest potential.

Indeed, to whom much is given much is required (special shouts to my Schuyler folk)