Basic Black - Say Brother Archive

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Say Brother Collection:

Selected short clips from the Say Brother archive. The holdings of the Say Brother archives date back to 1968. They document the evolution of a series and the African American experience. For more Say Brother history check out: http://openvault.wgbh.org/series/Say+Brother.

Say Brother collection

Boston Public Schools - 1974

Equal Treatment for Native Americans - 1979

Attorney Ann Gilmore argues for Native Americans to be treated like any other underrepresented ethnic group. She supports the application of various laws to Native Americans and is against the unlawful seizure of their property.

In a career that has spanned over 30 years, poet, professor and activist Nikki Giovanni is the author of 27 books, a Grammy nominee, and was recently named one of Oprah Winfrey's "25 Living Legends." Giovanni is currently a University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA.

Muhammad Ali speaks about his opposition to the Vietnam War.

Say Brother examines the need of Boston's elderly black population in this 1973 special edition.

In this clip Gil Fernandes talks about the assassination of his former boss, Amilcar Cabral, leader of the Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde. more

Jesse Jackson on Voting - 1971

In this clip Jesse Jackson (who was interviewed by Say Brother in 1971), talks about the importance of voting. "I'm optimistic, but my optimism does not grow out of white people getting better--it grows out of black people becoming wiser. Because our change will come out of proportion to our power." more

Louis Farrakhan explains his conversion to Islam - 1973

In this clip Louis Farrakhan explains how he was converted from Christianity to Islam. "When we went to the white church, they would put us in the balcony. And I said, surely something is wrong with this teaching… One of my friends from Boston was visiting Chicago with the Annual Muslims Convention. And he asked me would I come along with him to hear the honorable Elijah Mohammed..." more

Black Solidarity Day - 1972

Black Solidarity Day - Boston, 1972

Byron Rushing, director of the Museum of Afro-American History, explains the significance of Copps Hill Burial Ground to people of color.

Harvard Basketball coach Tom “Satch” Sanders discusses the mobility of black basketball players to management and coaching positions on national teams, and the obstacles that prevent them from moving from management to ownership.

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Eartha Kitt - 1979

Vocalist and actress Eartha Kitt talks about her childhood and feeling "unwanted" as a multiracial child. more

Celebrating Kwanzaa - 1974

In this clip Brother Imara, a woman, and several children go over the meaning of different aspects of Kwanzaa. more

Divisions in the Black Communty - 1974

"Young blacks are not allowing for the differences of opinions and feelings within the black community. And this has come about because of the divisiveness that white people have thrown into the black community." more

Bobby Seale on Malcolm X - 1974

Black Panther co-founder Bobby Seale on Malcolm X.
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Miriam Makeba on being Mrs. Stokely Carmichael - 1971

Miriam Makeba talks about her marriage to Stokely Carmichael.
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African Americans on Television - 1972

In this excerpt from a 1972 interview with FCC Commissioner Benjamin Hooks, he talks about black people on television.
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Excerpt From "In the Matter of Levi Hart" (Beth Deare, Producer, Say Brother)

Basic Black mourns the loss of Say Brother producer Beth Deare who lost her life in a fire on February 21, 2011. We celebrate her stong and enduring legacy to Boston’s black communities, to public media, and to the filmmakers she taught and championed. The above clip from the Emmy Award-winning program In the Matter of Levi Hart about the death of 14-year-old Levi Hart who was shot by the Boston police in 1981. more

Black Solidarity Day - 1972

Black Solidarity Day - Boston, 1972

Flo Kennedy is interviewed about racism in the feminist community.
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The Legitimacy of Kwanzaa - 1973

In this clip Brother Imara defends the legitimacy of Kwanzaa. "Some blacks feel that that's so strange, that someone could sit down and write a set of principles, and that these principles should be followed. By what authority should he write them? They forget that in almost any great epoch of our society somebody sets up a set of principles that happen to catch on with the people. And the symbols wouldn't catch if they weren't real." more

A performance from the original play "For Colored Girls ..."

An excerpt from For Colored Girls Who've Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Was Enough which was performed at WGBH in December 1977. The choreopoem was wriiten by award-winning poet and playwright Ntozake Shange. The performer is Barbara Alston.
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School Shootings - 1979

Barbara Barrow-Murray questions the motives behind the shooting of Darryl Williams at Jamaica Plain High School and a student supports her belief that it was racially-motivated. more

Immigrants are Considered Outsiders - 1978

Raffael De Gruttala, Director of Bilingual Education in Boston, talks about how immigrants who do not learn the English language are considered outsiders and have to be satisfied with low-paying jobs.

How the riots following the death of Martin Luther King gave birth to black television.

In this clip Owusu Sadaukai, National Chairman of the African Liberation Committee, is listing the ways people can aid the liberation struggles in Africa.

Black Culture and the influence of the mainstream media in 1976.

Harvard Basketball coach Tom “Satch” Sanders sits at a picnic table by a busy neighborhood basketball court. He discusses the mobility of black basketball players to management and coaching positions on national teams, but greater black involvement in sports is stymied by financial strain, preventing the move from management to ownership.

In this clip Aggrey Mbere, a South African, explains what conditions are like in his country.

From 1969: In this clip a Brandeis student talks about the recent confrontation at the college as a symbol of the black people’s demand for power in an environment that influences their lives. He says the students have come to realize that their fathers and grandfathers lived in a country that did not allow them to be men. And they are demanding the right to be men and they are willing to die.

Randall Robinson of the Southern African Relief fund talks about how the United Nations is not ratifying human rights, labor, and genocide treaties in suffering African countries.

Pearl M. Johnson, an 89-year-old woman in a wheelchair shows snapshots to the camera and talks about her experiences in the nursing home. "If I had this job, I'd be more sympathetic."

In this clip choreographer and musical director Billy Wilson talks about his plans for the Dance Theatre of Boston.

Museum of Afro-American History Director Byron Rushing on what we can learn from history.

Byron Rushing, director of the Museum of Afro-American History, explains the significance of Copps Hill Burial Ground to people of color.

Howard Hughes, director of the Dimock Community Health Center's alcoholism program, talks about fighting with the state for detoxification centers dedicated to minorities.

Babatunde Olatunji, renowned African drummer on the danger of stereotypes.

"The Word" Commentary by professor and historian, A.B. Spellman on the pardoning of President Richard Nixon in 1974. "Here is a man who tried to rip off the entire country, who mugged history..."

Jean McGuire has always been in the vanguard of advocating quality education for Boston's children of color. Dr. McGuire is currently the Executive Director of METCO (Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity)

African Liberation Day was celebrated in Washington DC in 1975. One of the members of the steering committee describes the media as biased in its coverage of the event.

Sarah-Ann Shaw in a discussion of the recent advances made by and limitations imposed on black journalists.

Leah Fletcher reports that the NAACP is pleased with the Boston school superintendent's efforts to improve the "separate but equal" education system in Boston.