Revolution Televised.pdf

Introduction xiii
texts were chosen for particular reasons. Julia (1968–71) is a milestone
in television history, the first show to star an African American
since Amos ’n’ Andy (1951–53) and Beulah (1950–53). 2 Black Journal
(1968–77) and Soul Train (first broadcast in 1970) are landmark
nonfiction programs that specifically address the African American
community. The Flip Wilson Show (1970–74), Sanford and Son
(1972–77), and Good Times (1974–79) were enormously popular
within both the black community and mainstream society. Why
were such shows able to garner mainstream popularity when other
black programs failed? Finally, the short-lived Richard Pryor Show
(1977) represents critical black engagement with television in the
late 1970s.
I begin, in chapter 1, with a review of the historical trajectory
of African American participation within mainstream American
society and how factors such as Jim Crow, segregation, integration,
and de facto segregation led to the formation of black communal
spaces. These sites often nurtured African American culture and
resistant politics. The example of the Chitlin’ Circuit, a group of
theaters across the United States that catered to black audiences
from 1907 until after World War II, demonstrates the importance
of these spaces within African American society, culture, and politics.
As these black sites of resistance have emerged politically and
culturally, the mass media, especially television, have become significant
tools in this transition and have promoted different aspects
of a black political agenda.
In the early 1960s, network television turned toward documentary
production, and television news and news documentaries eventually
looked to black America as a source of its stories, given the evergrowing
vocal protest of black Americans during the Civil Rights
era and the Black Power movement. But what did these documentaries
say about race? In chapter 2, I discuss the opposing constructions
of black life presented by mainstream documentaries and by
African American journalists in the PBS series Black Journal. 3
I then go on in chapter 3 to examine two programs that debuted
on television in 1970—the legendary music and dance showcase
Soul Train and Flip Wilson’s variety program. Under the guidance
of Don Cornelius, Soul Train is a product of a Chicago UHF station
and went into national syndication in 1971. Flip Wilson, who
performed in the Chitlin’ Circuit, brought his own brand of black
comedy and characterizations of black folk to NBC. How did the