Revolution Televised.pdf

42 Was the Revolution Televised?
mental health and social reform, will be a catharsis, a means of purifying
the emotional and spiritual life of this country. 38
In order to truly understand the relevance of Black Journal, we
must consider the national landscape of television in the late 1960s,
especially as it pertains to the representations of African Americans.
Although African Americans were featured in news documentaries,
in that coverage they could be manipulated and shaped by political
agendas. On the other hand, African Americans were rarely depicted
on fictionalized television in the 1960s. Julia premiered in 1968,
and actress Diahann Carroll was the first African American to star
in a television program since the cancellation of Amos ’n’ Andy and
Beulah in 1953. Although Julia will be discussed in more detail in
chapter 5, it is relevant to note here that representations such as
Carroll’s in Julia and Bill Cosby’s in I Spy were primarily critiqued
in segments of the black press as problematic and one-dimensional.
In other words, when Black Journal premiered on public television,
nuanced representations of African Americans were not a
common occurrence on national television. 39 PBS was not one of
the three major networks; however, the broadcasting system maintained
a large viewership of both mainstream and black viewers.
Black Journal was a site of black cultural resistance because it was
positioned within this mainstream forum yet still produced critical
black news coverage, which was seen by a cross section of America.
The show’s premiere episode illustrates how Black Journal used the
space of PBS to forward a black agenda into public discourse.
As the NET logo disappears, a black man dressed in overalls
(comedian Godfrey Cambridge), faces the screen and, using a roller,
covers the screen with black paint. Rhythmic drumming is heard,
and the title of the program Black Journal appears. Program topics
of a broad range are painted onto the screen: Black Panthers,
Godfrey Cambridge, Poor People’s Campaign, Harvard Class Day,
New Breed, Dateline, Graduation 68. Of relevance to many segments
of the black community, these topics were often glossed over
or ignored by mainstream television. Host Lou House introduces
the program: “This is Black Journal, program number 1. It is our
aim in the next hour, and in the coming months, to report and review
the events, the dreams, the dilemmas of black America and
black Americans.”
The contrast between Black Journal and other mainstream news-