June 15, 2021 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Black Storytelling 155 Years After the Original Juneteenth In mid-June 1866, Black people in Texas were officially informed that former President Abraham Lincoln (by then deceased) had signed the Emancipation Proclamation two-and-a-half years earlier. For years after that, our people were forbidden to …
June 8, 2021 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Feeling Hopeful About This Summer I want to start this week’s post by extending a warm thank you to all who showed up for last week’s BPM-NOVA workshop. When we began meeting with the NOVA team a few months ago, we were excited …
June 3, 2021 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH SPECIAL EDITION By Leslie Fields-Cruz BPM Salutes the Life of Lewis Erskine Lewis Erskine (1957-2021) “[Lewis] was a master storyteller who edited with his whole heart.” — Denise Greene, director of programs, Black Public Media Black Public Media has learned that beloved editor …
June 1, 2021 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz There’s a Lot to Celebrate this Pride Month Last year this time, my team and I were struggling to re-engineer a summit we’d long planned to be an in-person affair into something that could be presented and attended virtually. Like BPM, NYC Pride, which for …
May 25, 2021 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, U.S. Library of Congress/ Public Domain Commemorating What Some Would Have Us Forget For most of the past 100 years, the history of what happened on May 31-June 1, 1921 in Tulsa, Okla., has remained relatively unknown outside the …
May 18, 2021 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: Is Public Media Ready for the Long Haul? Last week, PBS convened its Annual Meeting virtually. For those of you who wonder about the goings on at PBS, each year they hold a huge conference to introduce the upcoming …
May 11, 2021 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Tribeca Adds Juneteenth Celebration to 20th Anniversary Festival When the Tribeca Film Festival was founded in 2001, New York City was struggling to recover from the 9/11 terror attack that took more than 3,000 lives and demolished the jewel of the Tribeca neighborhood: …
May 4, 2021 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Climate Change is a Black Story, Too May … the month of spring flowers. As a New Yorker who really hates the cold, May used to be the time of year when I tucked my winter coat and boots far back in the …
April 27, 2021 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Reflections on the 2021 Oscars First, let me say Ramadan Mubarak (Happy Ramadan) to all our Muslim brothers and sisters. I realize Covid-19 is forcing you to modify the way you observe this sacred holiday. But perhaps the pandemic-imposed restrictions will open the …
APRIL 20, 2021 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Photo of DJ Jigüe from AfroPoP feature Bakosó, by Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi Spring is Poppin’ with ‘AfroPoP’ and Tribeca’s 20th Anniversary The preliminary analytics we’ve received on Total Market Coverage for AfroPoP Season 13 reflect a highly enthusiastic reception from public media station programmers across …