When “Eyes On The Prize” returns this fall to public television, check for the episode of “Eyes II” that starts with Amiri Baraka rapping about how Black people try to be Black, but they are prevented from doing so because there’s a white ghost on their shoulder or right behind them, warning that Black person of the consequences of the freedom to be oneself.
The current problems with National Public Radio’s “News And Notes” remind me of Baraka’s statement. The show is slowly fading, and host Ed Gordon may bolt.
I LOVE NPR’s “News and Notes with Ed Gordon” because it’s the only national Black news show that exists right now. On paper, it was a perfect match—NPR’s Mickey D-deep resources used to create a national Black perspective on the news. But here’s the problem: It’s a Black show produced by Black people on a white network funded personally and institutionally by liberal-to-moderate white people. So how do you pull off a Black “All Things Considered” for an audience who may not want it? (Whether Black America wants news or not is another story.) How to do a weekday Black newsmagazine on white terms for white people and a few HBCU stations? It may not be possible, but as a devotee of both Black radio AND NPR, I will continue to wish for it anyway. We’ll see what my Pen Pal, Michel Martin, comes up with when her NPR show premieres later this year or early next year.
My unsolicited suggestion to the white folks at NPR: If you keep “News And Notes,” loosen it up. Let the producers color outside the hegemonic lines; surprise me with something I haven’t heard before–or put a NEW spin on something I have heard before. Keep the roundtable, but wrap around it more poetry, music, commentaries and documentaries. (Everyone chant with me, now: “More ‘Soundprint,’ Less ‘ Morning Edition!'”) And for gosh sakes, let the staff produce content that OFFENDS SOMEBODY, whydon’tcha? 🙂 The very vanilla “On The Media,” another of my favorite NPR shows, seems to do whatever it wants to do every weekend. Its hosts are not afraid to challenge either its interviewees or its own assumptions. It gives itself the freedom—there’s that idea again!—to be silly. So please give me a reason to listen to “News And Notes” other than to prove my racial loyalty. Exorcise the white ghost.
Drums in the Global Village 
I like what you are saying here. I will keep on hopin, and wishin and prayin right along with you. Though I did find it interesting that you did not mention Tavis Smiley in all this. He was on that same boat a few years ago and probably – not much of a limb here – but probably for similar reasons. I certainly like the suggestion for me Soundprint type material – that’s a big wish. My apology for the pessimism, but typically when you find something good that you like, it generally goes away. I guess I am trying to prepare myself to trudge down that ugly road – again. I did say I would keep hopin, huh?
Thanks for your comments. I was too lazy to write about Smiley, 🙂 letting the link do that for me.
As for your pessimism, well, you know what “they” say: the pessimist sees the tunnel, the optimist the light at the end of the tunnel, and the realist sees the tunnel, the light, and the next tunnel.
Although I’m a pessimist/realist, I think the last few years have given us reasons to be optimistic. I mean, we have NPR’s “News And Notes,†PRI’s “The Tavis Smiley Show†and now Syndication One (Dyson and Sharpton shows). That’s a LOT more than we’ve EVER had. We just need to FUND, via corporations and/or advertising, stronger news models and documentary groups and we’ll be fine.