Gil Noble Feb. 22, 1932 - April 5, 2012
Thank you Brother Gil, for telling it "Like It Is".
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver Velez
Unless you grew up in the New York Metropolitan area you may not know this face. You may not even know his name. But I can guarantee if you were black, and grew up in the New York area, his face and name were part of your life.
Many of you who are younger did not grow up in a world with a television screen almost devoid of black faces, unless they were performers or athletes.
News and Public Affairs were singularly monochromatic.
In 1967 that changed - in the nation's premier TV market - New York. It was ABC that took that step, by hiring Gil Noble, following in 1969 with the hire of the first black national news anchor Max Robinson.
He tells the story in his bio, Black is the Color of my TV Tube.
Todd Steven Burroughs cites Noble, when he writes about the birth of black public affars programming in BLACK PRESS TV" (PT. I) The Power Of The Blood
The birth of the Black public-affairs television show is drenched in blood. Mostly Martin Luther King's blood. King was assassinated in 1968. So too died many major cities, torched by those of us who were angry at his killing. King once said the riot was the "language of the unheard." "Unheard" was the right term.
The same year, President Lyndon B. Johnson's Report of the National Commission on Civil Disorders, nicknamed "The Kerner Commission" because it was lead by Illinois Gov. Otto Kerner. The purpose of the Kerner Commission was to find out why so many Negroes and others physically rebelled in the summer of 1967. The commission correctly found that White racism was the cause of the urban insurrections. The White news media was one of the greatest targets of the commission. It wrote that the major news media, which was virtually all-White at the time, see the world only from the perspective of White men. The commission's recommendation was that the news media hire Negroes--and fast.
Gil Noble, a reporter for 1190 WLIB-AM, a music station in Harlem during the 1960s, wrote in his book "Black Is The Color of My TV Tube" about his sudden employment opportunity around Kerner time at New York's WABC-TV, the flagship of the ABC television network. "The mass media had been caught with their zippers down," wrote Noble. "Red-faced executives scurried about, seeking Blacks for on-air and other job activities. What more logical place to find Black media persons than the so-called soul stations and newspapers? Within a year, many of us found ourselves downtown at major radio and TV stations....None of the stations said we were being hired because of the prescriptions of the Kerner Commission's report. they all maintained, and they still do, that they are committed to being equal-opportunity companies. If asked about pressure, they would say, 'What pressure?'" What is also not mentioned by these employers is that Black journalists were needed for another reason: White journalists, many of whom had never taken the time to cover Black communities adequately, were understandably and correctly getting their tails kicked while trying to cover those that were exploding in 1967 and 1968. After a brief try-out, Noble's hiring by WABC-TV was cinched when he was sent to cover the Newark rebellion of 1967. "The news director had decided to hire me," wrote Noble. "I wearily returned home to tell my wife the good news and was acutely aware of the countless brothers and sisters who were still encircled within the National Guard barricades. Their uprising had been at least partially responsible for my new employment."
Here's what a
former ABC News director had to say about the hire:
Ed Silverman, who used to be WABC 7's director of news and public affairs, told the News how Noble was hired, "We decided it was time to get off our a—es and hire some African-Americans. TV news was lily white then. There were no black faces," but there was skepticism. So Silverman said, "When Gil came in for his interview. I said, ‘This conversation doesn’t go beyond this room. ... But my a— is on the line here. If you f— up, I f— up.’ There was this idea then that ‘If you hire ’em, you can’t fire ’em,” for fear of discrimination lawsuits. I told Gil that’s bull, and if he didn’t do the job, I’d fire him. He said he understood." And it turned out, "He could do anything you gave him." Noble was one of the original members of the "Eyewitness News Team" and WABC-TV President and General Manager Dave Davis said, "Gil Noble's life and work had a profound effect on our society and culture. His contributions are a part of history and will be remembered for years to come."
So just who was Gil Noble and how did he wind up with the longest running (and most controversial) black public affairs program in TV history?
Noble was born in Harlem to Jamaican immigrants Gilbert and Iris Noble. As a teenager, Noble was inspired by pianist Erroll Garner and decided to pursue a career in music. He formed the Gil Noble Trio and played in clubs around New York City while attending City College. After graduating, he worked for Union Carbide and modeled on the side. He met his wife Jean, also a model, during this time.
Noble attempted to break into broadcast by doing voiceovers and television commercials. He became a part-time announcer for WLIB, a Harlem radio station, in 1962. While at WLIB, he also reported, read newscasts, serviced the Associated Press teletype machine and tracked interview tapes. This experience gave him working knowledge of all aspects of a newsroom operation.
If you were black in America in the 50's and 60's in an urban area you probably spent
time listening to black radio.
I grew up on WLIB. So did all my friends. I had white friends who listened too - since those stations played some of the best music.
When I got involved in civil rights demonstrations in the city - I'd always see Gil. He became a familiar face as well as voice for many of us before he got his job on television. We were all shocked and elated when he was given that opportunity.
Noble was promoted to weekend anchor in 1968. He was also an occasional interviewer on some of the station's public-affairs shows, like Eyewitness Exclusive. That same year, after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, the station developed a show -- Like It Is -- that was centered on black America. Actor Robert Hooks was the show's first host, while Noble was the interviewer, but Noble was named the host after Hooks left for an acting job.
The weekly show was mostly entertainment driven until 1975, when Noble became the producer. He switched the show's focus to weightier issues. Over the years, he interviewed leading figures from across the Diaspora, from government and politics to sports and entertainment -- luminaries such as Jamaica's Michael Manley, Guinea's Ahmed Sékou Touré and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe; Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, Louis Farrakhan and Stokely Carmichael; Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown and Arthur Ashe; and Harry Belafonte, Lena Horne and Dizzy Gillespie.
Noble also started working on documentaries in 1977, which became the focus of his career -- and the most rewarding part of it. Such films, he said, "remain a powerful weapon to change false values, correct historical error and cure the poison of prejudice in the minds of black and white Americans." His first documentary, The Tallest Tree in Our Forest -- which he wrote, directed and produced -- was on the life of Paul Robeson. He would go on to tell the stories of other historic figures, including W.E.B. Du Bois, Malcolm X, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Jack Johnson and Charlie Parker.
Because Gil's show was the only black produced public affairs program on a major channel, he felt it was his obligation to cover all the news from multiple black perspectives, which got him into trouble. He never backed away from controversy, and had guests who ranged the political spectrum - from black cultural nationalists, to revolutionaries, to Marxists, as well as mainstream Democratic politicians.
Today I salute his courage. Many New Yorkers are in mourning as we also celebrate his life. Condolences to his family.
For those of you who never got to see him, here are some clips.
ABC NY has been airing a short tribute:
Gil talks about growing up in Harlem, and about his parents – protecting him from racism, and learning to be "accommodating".
“The practice of racism is still virulent…
America has yet to face up to its beginnings and the enormity of its crime. “
How he got his start in Broadcasting:
Here is one of his documentaries:
How the FBI Sabotaged Black America
Documentary by Gil Noble on the intentional destruction of Black America by the FBI using infiltration, counter-intelligence programs and drugs. From Marcus Garvey to Paul Robeson to Martin Luther King to Malcolm X to Fred Hampton, to the Black Panthers to heroin and crack, the FBI has worked to destroy black people. Includes interview with Darthard Perry, Ex-informer for the FBI.
The section with informant Perry is chilling.
His interview on his opinions about Malcolm X is extremely interesting and candid:
“I learned about Malcolm and I realized I’d been had”
"He was a threat to America’s global ambitions"
He was also true to his Jamaican roots - which he often explored, politically and culturally.
Here's his interview with Bob Marley:
And if you head over to youtube you'll find his 5 part interview with Former Jamaican Prime Minister Micheal Manley (1977)
I'll only post Part One:
Rest in Peace Brother Gil - may you inspire this generation to keep tellin' it like it is.
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News by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
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Two Tulsa men arrested in connection with a shooting spree that left three black men dead and two critically injured were charged with murder this morning and ordered by a judge to be held on $9.1 million bonds each. ABC: Tulsa Shooting Suspects Charged, Bond Set at $9.1 Million Each
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Jake England, 19, and Alvin Watts, 32, were arraigned today in an Oklahoma court via a closed circuit video from the Tulsa County Jail, according to ABC News' Tulsa affiliate KTUL.
Neither man had an attorney present and police have not yet determined which man was the alleged shooter, according to KTUL.
Both men were charged with three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of shooting with the intent to kill and one count of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
The suspects have not been charged with hate crimes, although all of the victims are black.
England and Watts were arrested at a house north of Tulsa around 2 a.m. on Sunday after a series of deadly shootings on Friday that left three black pedestrians dead and two critically wounded.
Reports: Jake England and Alvin Watts confessed to Tulsa shooting spree
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Food for thought, an interesting perspective. ColorLines: How the Right’s Using Women of Color to Shame Abuse Survivors.
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I don’t think any sane person could argue that since it passed in 1994, VAWA hasn’t done a lot of good. It has indeed funded and facilitated the work of thousands of people who shelter, counsel, advise and advocate for victims of intimate partner violence. Its most recent iteration addresses sexual violence, a necessary step given the prevalence of this form of harm. I also believe that VAWA represents and seeds a cultural shift away from the blatant acceptance of violence against women. Without a VAWA, Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) wouldn’t stand on the House floor and talk about how she’d been sexually abused, raped and beaten. She wouldn’t have declared that “violence against women in this country is not levied against just Democrats but Republicans as well. Not blacks or whites or Hispanics but against native people as well. Not just Christians or Muslims and Jews but non-religious people—atheists. Not just rich people or poor people but middle-class people. And not just against heterosexual women but homosexual couples. It knows no gender. It knows no ethnicity. It knows nothing. And I’ll tell you: violence against women is as American as apple pie.”
Still, I have to say that in its funding and implementation, this (previously) bipartisan legislation has also made law enforcement its priority—a scary prospect for the systematically criminalized massive that includes black and brown, poor, undocumented and LGBT folks.
Back in 2000 before radical conservatives successfully soaked the media, public and legislative bodies in tea, Angela Davis laid out some still-essential, still-relevant theoretical questions about VAWA:
On the one hand, we should applaud the courageous efforts of the many activists who are responsible for a new popular consciousness of violence against women, for a range of legal remedies, and for a network of shelters, crisis centers, and other sites where survivors are able to find support. But on the other hand, uncritical reliance on the government has resulted in serious problems. I suggest that we focus our thinking on this contradiction: Can a state that is thoroughly infused with racism, male dominance, class-bias, and homophobia and that constructs itself in and through violence act to minimize violence in the lives of women? Should we rely on the state as the answer to the problem of violence against women? …
The major strategy relied on by the women’s anti-violence movement of criminalizing violence against women will not put an end to violence against women—just as imprisonment has not put an end to “crime” in general.
I should say that this is one of the most vexing issues confronting feminists today. On the one hand, it is necessary to create legal remedies for women who are survivors of violence. But on the other hand, when the remedies rely on punishment within institutions that further promote violence—against women and men, how do we work with this contradiction?
So my question, which is not a rhetorical one, is this: How can we, in real time, push for the much-needed resources VAWA provides without criminalizing the very groups it seeks to serve?
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The special prosecutor has said she does not need one to continue her investigation, though the decision rules out a first-degree murder charge. Christian Science Monitor: No grand jury in Trayvon Martin shooting.
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A grand jury will not look into the Trayvon Martin case, a special prosecutor said Monday, leaving the decision of whether to charge the teen's shooter in her hands alone and eliminating the possibility of a first-degree murder charge.
That prosecutor, Angela Corey, said her decision had no bearing on whether she would file charges against George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who has said he shot the unarmed black teen in self-defense. Corey could still decide to charge him with a serious felony such as manslaughter, which can carry a lengthy prison sentence if he is convicted.
A grand jury had been set to meet Tuesday in Sanford, about 20 miles northeast of Orlando.
Corey has long had a reputation for not using grand juries if it wasn't necessary. In Florida, only first-degree murder cases require the use of grand juries.
Corey's decision means she doesn't have to rely on potentially unpredictable jurors, said David Hill, an Orlando criminal defense attorney.
"Let's give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she knows there isn't enough for first-degree murder but she wants to maintain control and charge him with something else," Hill said. "What does she need a grand jury for? She cuts out the unpredictability of the grand jury. She goes where she feels she has more evidence."
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We can't just talk about racism during a big national story. We need constant dialogue. The Root: Why Conversations on Race Usually Fail.
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In college I had a professor who would dismiss class if too many of us had neglected to finish the assigned reading. It would infuriate us as a group of late-teens and early-20-somethings who felt that our very presence should have been rewarded, but I honestly couldn't blame him. His reasoning was sound.
What would be the point of wasting his own time and ours if we were unwilling to come to class prepared for an informed dialogue? He could lecture and we could take detailed notes, but it would always be a much richer experience if an actual conversation took place. That required stretching past our comfort zones and proved useful in broadening the scope of thought for both student and professor. But it worked only if we had all done the reading.
I think about this now, in the wake of the killing of Trayvon Martin and in the midst of yet another "national conversation on race." It's about time we canceled class until everyone has completed the reading.
It happens after every major news story involving race, and we fail miserably as a nation every time. We now find ourselves asking questions about the lives of young black men -- including the lessons that black parents hand down to their sons about how to move in the world that finds them suspicious -- and, to a lesser degree, about the perceptions we all hold of black men. While that may sound as if we're on the right track, given how much experience we have already had with unarmed black men being gunned down for no reason, it raises the question: Why don't we know the answers yet?
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How doctors prescribe antidepressants. Black Voices: Minorities And Depression
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A new study from the University of Michigan's School of Public Health has found that doctors are far less likely to prescribe antidepressants to African-American and Hispanic patients afflicted with major depressive disorder than Caucasian ones, who received prescriptions for the medication 1.52 times more.
But it wasn't only ethnicity that informed doctors' decisions. The paper showed that physicians who owned their own practice were 25 per cent less likely to prescribe antidepressants than those who were not owners, and doctors in metropolitan areas were 27 per cent less likely to write suggest the medication.
"This study confirmed previous findings that sociological factors, such as race and ethnicity, and patient health insurance status, influence physician prescribing behaviours," said Rajesh Balkrishnan, associate professor in U-M SPH and principal investigator. "This is true in particular for major depressive disorder treatment."
Past studies have noted a stigma surrounding mental illness in ethnic groups, creating a barrier to even discussion of the issue. Though this study utilized data from administrative databases and did not consult patients directly, the findings indicate another potential issue for these groups.
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Voices and Soul
by Justice Putnam
Black Kos Poetry Editor
I've been in some heated discussions recently, with some former classmates whose brains have morphed into a gelatinous TeaBircher© goo; and who have walked a path somewhere to the right of Derbyshire. These good Christians maintain that race is both, no longer an issue, Obama's election is proof; and also that Liberals and their fellow travelers are the cause for racial animus; Obama's election, again, is held up as proof of their spurious argument. Additionally, they insist, is that younger folks are increasingly crossing racial and cultural lines, marrying and raising children. They point to my own nuclear and extended family as evidence that times have truly changed.
They state these facts with both a sneer of self-righteousness and a barely contained rage, a fury that finally settles on a smoldering disdain.
But have times truly changed? A poll from last year showed that 46% of GOP voters in Mississippi want interracial marriages made illegal, while 40% are not sure.
The connections are clear. Racial animus has definitely increased since even before Obama was elected; and has only gotten worse. That animus will sadly increase again during and after this election cycle.
Hate is a corrosive. It needs to be rubbed out and continuously fought. Hate cannot be made shiny and clean in one area and then ignored. Hate, like rust, never sleeps; it corrodes and destroys and weakens the fabric, the very structure of society.
Mulatto
Grandma is washing me white. I am the color of hot sand in the bleached sea light. I am a stain on the porcelain, persistent as tea. Stay in the shade. Don’t say she was the only one. Cousins opposite say: you too white. I am a night-blooming flower being pried open in the morning. My skin a curtain for a cage of bones, a blackbird coop. My heart is crusty bread, hardening. Hardening. This way, I feed my own fluttering. Under shade, the day looks like evening and I cannot bear the darkness. Don’t say, I can’t stand to be touched. Say, I stare into the sun to burn off the soiled hands that print my body with bloody ink. Don’t say, Mulatto. Say, I am the horse in Oz turning different colors, each prance brightening flesh. A curiosity. Don’t say, Bathwater spiraled down into the pipes. Say, I never did fade. Say, Skin holds the perseverance of my days. Folding, folding, the water continuously gathers, making wrinkles in a map.
-- Roxane Beth Johnson
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