MARCH 28, 2023 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz PitchBLACK is Less Than a Month Away! AfroPoP Season XV starts next Monday, April 3 We recently confirmed that Brittany Luse, host of It’s Been a Minute, NPR’s show on culture and society, will join us at next month’s PitchBLACK Awards. She’ll conduct …
MARCH 14, 2023 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Elevating Black Her-Stories Year-Round It’s women’s history month! For Black and other women of color it’s an extra month, another 31 days, to further highlight our her-stories and accomplishments. For this edition of the Dispatch, BPM celebrates Black women makers who are releasing …
MARCH 8, 2023 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz When Only Those Who Can Afford to Pay Enter, What Are We REALLY Awarding? After reading Addie Moorfoot’s article in Variety, about the costs associated with running an awards season campaign, I have to ask myself and our filmmakers, is it worth it? Now, …
FEBRUARY 28, 2023 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Black E’RY Month This week marks the end of another wonderful Black History Month celebration. We hope you’ve had a chance to attend spirited events in your community and to view some of the enriching content that has aired on public media throughout …
FEBRUARY 14, 2023 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Show Your Love for Black Media Storyteling at Our Black History Month Celebrations Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope you’ve got plans to do something you love with someone you love this week, whether that special someone is your partner, a relative, a friend, …
FEBRUARY 7, 2023 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Happy Black History Month! This is the 47th annual observance of Black History Month in the United States. Despite the recent brouhaha over Florida’s decision to reject the College Board’s pilot AP course on African American Studies, there are many encouraging signs that …
JANUARY 31, 2023 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz With Education Under Siege, A Challenge for Filmmakers Tomorrow marks the official start of Black History Month. Although, Black Public Media celebrates Black History every month, February is the time of the year for educators, scholars, community groups, and the media to explore, …
JANUARY 24, 2023 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Not Attending Sundance? Try Denton Black Film Festival The film festival circuit is still recovering from its Covid-19-induced hiatus. While the virus remains a menace, it’s no longer viewed as a death sentence, which has emboldened more of us to venture out and …
JANUARY 17, 2023 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Shine Bright! The sermon Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. offered to the congregants of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church on Nov. 17, 1957, in Montgomery, Ala., included a statement that resonates with me today: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do …
JANUARY 10, 2023 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Welcome 360 Incubator+ Fellows! When we launched the 360 Incubator+ program in 2015, we knew the breadth of the Black experience had yet to be adequately represented on public media and aimed to change that. The program was designed to identify innovative storytellers and to generate quality …