Remembering Maya Angelou’s Groundbreaking 1968 KQED TV Series, ‘Blacks, Blues! Black!’

KQED's Forum

KQED

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 17 January 2022

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The U.S. Mint has issued a new quarter featuring writer Maya Angelou with her arms aloft, in front of a rising sun. It’s the first time a Black woman has been featured on a U.S. quarter. In light of the honor, we look back at a remarkable television series that Maya Angelou created for KQED in 1968. The groundbreaking series, ‘Blacks, Blues, Black!’ celebrated the culture and history of Africa and the influence of Black culture on American society. We’ll listen back to clips from the show and talk about the Bay Area’s Black community in the late 60s and the intersection of culture and activism. Guests: Cheryl Fabio, filmmaker, directed and produced "Evolutionary Blues," a documentary about West Oakland's music and community Dorothy Tsuruta, professor of Africana Studies, specializing in literature, San Francisco State University Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for KQIWID podcasts comes from Rancho LaPuerta, a wellness resort 45 minutes from San Diego.
0:07.2	Summer packages of three, four, or seven nights include hiking, mindfulness, and culinary adventures with farm-fresh ingredients.
0:15.0	Rancho LePuerta.com.
0:16.9	Support for Forum comes from Broadway S.F. presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story.
0:24.4	From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank,
0:30.8	a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia.
0:34.8	When Leo is accused of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable
0:40.2	test of faith, humanity, justice, and devotion. The riveting and gloriously hopeful parade
0:47.2	plays the Orpheum Theater for three weeks only, May 20th through June 8th. Tickets on sale now
0:54.0	at Broadwaysf.com.
0:58.2	From KQED.
1:00.4	Welcome back to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:03.5	Thanks again to Dorothy Lizard, who joined us before the break.
1:07.0	Back in 1968, just before she published, I know why the Caged Bird Sings, which brought her global acclaim,
1:14.4	Maya Angelou signed a contract to produce and star in a 10-part television series for KQED.
1:21.2	Made during a trip that Anjou made to San Francisco while she was really living in Ghana,
1:26.0	it's a remarkable document of its time,
1:28.8	an attempt to show and celebrate the Black American experience and demonstrate its continuity
1:33.4	with longstanding African cultural practices.
1:36.7	Centering Anjolou's voice and poetry and perspective, the series was, as one film researcher
1:41.2	put it, a fascinating document of a brief period of time following
1:45.8	the assassination of Dr. King when a politicized black perspective found a place on the public airwaves.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KQED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.