February 23, 2021 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Advancing Black Excellence 24/7, 365 Last June, in response to the racial reckoning, I was asked by many if BPM would issue a statement. We didn’t issue a statement, in part, because we’ve been working on race and equity issues since our founding. …
February 16 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Making Black History Too Ubiquitous to Avoid This new year has already been chock full of historic events: *Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) became the first woman and first Black and South Asian American sworn in as Vice President of the United States *Ret. Gen. …
February 9, 2021 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Opting Out of Black History? Ogden, Utah, is a town of roughly 17,000 residents, 3 percent of whom are Black. Last week, the town’s Maria Montessori Academy “reluctantly,” decided to grant the wishes of parents who demanded that their children be allowed to …
February 2, 2021 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Black Every Month Hi BPM Family, It’s that time of year again: Black History Month. To placate Black consumers, corporations spend copious amounts of money on ads featuring images of Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Dr. King, Frederick Douglass, and others. Mainstream cultural institutions present …
January 26, 2021 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Shining Our Brilliant Black Lights I can’t believe January is nearly done! Last year seemed to drag on forever, so I welcome the change of pace. But let’s be honest, 2021 didn’t exactly get off to a glowing start. A more voracious strain of …
BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH by Leslie Fields-Cruz January 19, 2021 Freedom to Define Ourselves I wish I knew how It would feel to be free I wish I could break All the chains holdin’ me I wish I could say All the things that I should say Say ’em loud, say ’em clear For …
BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz January 12, 2021 Just Filmmaking Last week, Black Public Media launched the 2021 cohort of our 360 Incubator+ with an opening presentation by social strategist and impact producer Sonya Childress. During her presentation, Sonya introduced the fellows to a new storytelling framework that she’s crafting called …
BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz December 22, 2020 I’ve said this in a previous post, but it bears repeating: I am SO HAPPY to see 2020 draw to a close! It has been a trying and exhausting year, one I doubt anyone will miss. Surely, 2021 will come with its own set of …
BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz December 15, 2020 Digital Public Media: America’s Commercial-Free Treasure Chest I want to thank to those of you who responded to last month’s Dispatch about public media membership vs. commercial subscriptions. I’ll be sharing some of your comments, anonymously of course, with my colleagues in public media. …
BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz December 8, 2020 The Power of Giving By now, I know many of you have already checked out and contributed to the BPM Emergency Relief Fund, which we launched last week on Giving Tuesday. I hope those of you who give gifts for the holidays will consider purchasing …