Basic Black 2008-2009

This July, watch Basic Black LIVE — three LIVE half-hour episodes airing Thursdays, Jul y 16–30, at 7:30pm on WGBH 2. The episodes are also streaming LIVE online at wgbh.org/basicblacklive, and viewers are encouraged to comm ent online in real time.

Panelists include Howard Manly, Bay State Banner executive editor; Latoyia Edwards, NECN reporter; Peniel Joseph, associate professor of Afro-American studies and history at Brandeis University; and Cheryl Crawford, policy director at voting rights organization MassVote.

The main topic of discussion for July 23 is the arrest of renowned Harvard University professor Henr y Louis Gates Jr. at his home in Cambridge, Mass.

Watch: July 16, 2009

The July 16 episode explores the future of the Bay State Banner, the relevance of the NAACP, and media coverage of Michael Jackson's death and memorial.

Since 1968, Basic Black (formerly Say Brother) has captured the stories, people, and issues that illuminate the African American experience in the Boston area and beyond.



Kim McLarin returns as series host for the 2008–2009 season of Basic Black. She is the author of three novels and is writer in residence at Emerson College in Boston.

M eet Kim McLarin
Basic Black: 2008-2009 Season
All programs premiere Thursdays at 7:30pm on WGBH 2. (Find more airings)
Capturing Black Life: Photo Historian Deborah Willis
Photographer and photo historian Deborah Willis has been capturing the African American image for mo re than 30 years. Recipient of a MacArthur "genius grant" in 2000 and current chair of the Photograp hy & Imaging Department at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Willis discusses her most recent work, Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs.

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Jazz and Rock Drummer Ci ndy Blackman
Drummer Cindy Blackman navigates the worlds of jazz and rock. In a career that has spanned more than 20 years, she has played for many jazz greats, including Pharoah Sanders, Jackie McLean, Hugh Mase kela, and Cassandra Wilson. She and her jazz quartet have released several albums. And rock fans kno w Blackman as the drummer for Lenny Kravitz.

Blackman discusses her musical influences, the phone call that led to Kravitz, her experiences as a female drummer, and how she connects to music spiritually. Then we go backstage with Blackman during an impromptu drumming session at her alma mater, Boston's Berklee College of Music.

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Checkup with the Mass. Secr etary of Health
Eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities in Massachusetts has been a top priority of Deval P atrick's administration. To that end, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health released a repor t covering a broad spectrum of health issues. Dr. JudyAnn Bigby, secretary of the Executive Office o f Health & Human Services, discusses her department's findings.

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Author and Professor Ra ndall Kennedy
Randall Kennedy discusses his book Sellout: The Politics of Racial Betrayal. In this conversation, Kennedy outlines his views on who is black, who speaks for the community, and who can be called a "sellout."

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Black Theat er in Boston: A Director's Roundtable
Join three directors immersed in Boston's dramatic arts scene — Jacqui Parker, Robbie McCauley , and Lois Roach — for a roundtable discussion on black theater and works that reflect the Afr ican American experience. Basic Black also looks at scenes from Parker's Dark as a Thousan d Midnights, a play that resonates with the themes of race, identity, history, and redemption.

back to top Poet Major Jackson
Major Jackson reads from his book of poetry Hoops and discusses the inspiration behind his work as w ell as his thoughts on how American history has influenced the work of generations of African Americ an poets.

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A Conv ersation with Tavis Smiley
and Cornel West
Tavis Smiley and Cornel West join Kim McLarin for a provocative conversation on race, black leadersh ip, and accountability. Journalist and activist Tavis Smiley has been described as a "cultural pheno menon" by the New York Times. He is the host of the nightly Tavis Smiley show on public television, and his weekly radio show can be heard on PRI.

A renowned public intellectual, electrifying speaker, and currently the Class of 1943 University Pro fessor at Princeton University, Cornel West has been called "an eloquent prophet with attitude" by < i>Newsweek. Author of more than a dozen books, including the best-selling Race Matters, West has m ost recently written Hope on a Tightrope.

back to top Black Communities and New Te chnologies
How are African Americans engaging in new technologies? Guests include Linda Grisham (shown), associ ate professor and director of the Science in Education program at Lesley University; Patricia Hill C ollins, professor of sociology at the University of Maryland; and Hiawatha Bray, technology reporter for the Boston Globe.

back to top Black Heroes and Icons
Do we sometimes lose the true meaning of our heroes' messages? Dale Andrews from Boston University a nd Davarian Baldwin from Boston College join Kim McLarin for a discussion about honoring our black h eroes and icons.

back to top A Conversation with Bill T. Jones
Choreographer Bill T. Jones, recipient of a MacArthur "genius grant" in 1994, is celebrated for his work's powerful statements on race and sexuality. Jones discusses his life in the arts and the Bosto n premiere of Chapel/Chapter.

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Conversation and Po etry with Elizabeth Alexander
Kim McLarin speaks with poet and Yale professor Elizabeth Alexander, who was selected by Barack Obam a to compose and read a poem at his inauguration, becoming only the fourth poet in US history to rea d at a presidential inauguration.

Alexander reads from American Sublime and her latest collection, Miss Crandall's School for Young Ladies and Little Misses of Color. She discusses the importance of language and other artistic expression in composing a poem.

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Searching For S ally Hemings: Author Annette Gordon-Reed
Professor and author Annette Gordon-Reed is best known for her 1997 book, Thomas Jefferson a nd Sally Hemings: An American Controversy. In that examination of the 38-year liaison betwee n the third president and his house slave, Gordon-Reed looked at how historians and biographers had disregarded evidence of the affair; DNA tests have since proved that Jefferson indeed fathered child ren with Hemings.

Gordon-Reed discusses her new book, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family. Winne r of the 2008 Nati onal Book Award for nonfiction, her return to the subject offers an exhaustive account of the He mings family saga.

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< img src="http://www.wgbh.org/content-download?revision_id=2708630" width="15" height="15" align="lef t" hspace="5" alt="Watch" border="0" style="border-width:0; margin-right:3px;">A Conversation wit h Author Cora Daniels
"That is so ghetto." The phrase has become part of mainstream American parlance — what once wa s a place is now used to describe a mentality or a behavior.

"Historically, it's been neighborhoods for poor people of color," says author Cora Daniels. "Now I t hink that it's jumped from noun to adjective. It's become no longer where you live, but how you live ."

The first ghettos were European settlements where Jews were confined. The new ghetto is a sort of me ntal settlement: one of degraded standards, attitudes, and ways of life — at least according t o Daniels's book, Ghettona tion: A Journey into the Land of Bling and Home of the Shameless. It's a phenomenon that has exploded in popularity and marketability.

Daniels talks about how the concept of ghetto has permeated popular culture, how this mind-set affec ts communities of color, and what the stakes are for remaining a Ghettonation.

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Poetry & Convers ation with Afaa Michael Weaver
Afaa Michael Weaver is one of the most celebrated African American poets of his generation. Currentl y an Alumnea Professor of English at Simmons College in Boston, Weaver has been named a Pew Fellow i n Poetry and has published 10 collections of poetry.

Weaver talks about the life stories that inspire his work. He also reads from his latest collection, the 2008 Pushcart Prize-winning The Plum Flower Dance: Poems 1985 to 2005, which draws on his de cades-long study of Chinese culture and philosophy.

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A Conversation with Boston Superintendent Carol Johnson
As the economy puts a squeeze on education budgets, the superintendent of Boston Public Schools, Car ol Johnson, faces the challenge of saving money while improving academic opportunities for nearly 57 ,000 students.

"In order to maintain our commitment to closing the achievement gap and ensuring the success of all students, we are going to have to make some tough choices. We have to identify major reductions, and we are committed to doing so with the least possible impact on classroom teaching and learning," sa id Johnson in a press release, recounting her meeting with the Boston School Committee in February 2 008. She spoke of a $32 million shortfall for the $782.9 million budget for fiscal year 2008, result ing from inflation and declining government help.

Johnson talks about her goals for the Boston public school system and the challenges that she faces.

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2008 Poste lection Roundtable
The 2008 presidential election has been one of the most exciting in US history. In this continuation of Basic Black's special election coverage, our guests return to assess Election Day results . Joining guest host Callie Crossley are Massachusetts State Representative Linda Dorcena Forry, for mer ABC News anchor and senior correspondent Carole Simpson, Peniel Joseph, associate professor of A fricana studies at Brandeis University, and Howard Manly, executive editor of the Bay State Banne r.

We look at how the press covered John McCain's and Barack Obama's campaigns and early media polling vs. the actual Election Day outcome. Did the "Bradley effect" take hold in states predicting an Obam a win? Were significant numbers of voters swayed by speculative reports concerning Obama's race, rel igion, or patriotism or doubts about electing McCain, the oldest presidential candidate in US histor y?

Also, what does the world think of America's choice for president? What does Obama's win mean for US foreign relations and our standing in the world?

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2008: Th e New Black Politics
Television and radio commentator Callie Crossley (shown) hosts a roundtable discussion about what ha s been called the most important presidential race in US history. Our guests — Massachusetts St ate Representative Linda Dorcena Forry, former ABC News anchor and senior correspondent Carole Simps on, Peniel Joseph, associate professor of Africana studies at Brandeis University, and Howard Manly, executive editor of the Bay State Banner — weigh in on the campaigns of Barack Obama an d John McCain.

Our guests explore the issues of greatest concern to the black community and which problems will be the most important for the next administration to tackle. Also, does Obama's bid for the presidency symbolize that America is on the cusp of a new era of black political leadership, one that is not dr iven by a race-based agenda but is anchored in American solidarity?

back to top Funding for Basic Black is generously provided, in part, by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.