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 …
APRIL 13, 2021 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Thanks for Making PitchBLACK 2021 a Success! Last fall, when it became apparent that PitchBLACK might have to be radically different from anything we’d tried to do before, my staff and I took a deep breath. We then set out to design a …
April 6, 2021 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Hats Off to Our 360 Incubator+ Mentors! It’s award season in the media industry. The 2021 Golden Globes, Grammys, NAACP Image, and SAG awards are all behind us. BPM’s PitchBLACK Awards will be held Fri., April 9, with the Oscars and Peabody awards still to come. …
MARCH 30, 2021 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz It’s Sankofa Time: Looking Back to Move Forward The 1987 PBS premiere of Henry Hampton’s epic Eyes on the Prize marked the first time Americans had a chance to view a documentary series created by Black filmmakers about a period of history that …
MARCH 23, 2021 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Standing Against Hate When I was a high school student, three cisgender White males in my English class were conversing among themselves about some evening activity. My ears pricked up, I was a nosy kid. These young men, ages 16 -17 were talking …
March 16, 2021 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Celebrating Black Women’s History It’s the middle of Women’s history month and as a Black mother, I believe Women’s History, just like Black history, must be included in all of our teachings about American and global history. However, until we get there, I …
MARCH 9, 2021 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Photo by Nathan Engel from Pexels AS CINEMAS REOPEN, IT’S TIME TO PREPARE FOR WHAT’S NEXT Last weekend, cinemas across New York City were OPEN! Of course, masks were required and some theaters kept their concessions closed. But the hearty souls who dared …
March 2, 2021 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz GEARING UP FOR PITCHBLACK & AFROPOP 13 Saluting the Black Women Making History in the Fight Against Covid-19 Hi BPM Family, With Black History Month behind us and Women’s History Month underway, I urge us all to remember the 63,000+ Black Americans …
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 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 …