JANUARY 6, 2026
BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA
WEEKLY DISPATCH
By Leslie Fields-Cruz
We hope you all had an enjoyable holiday season and are now charging into the new year with renewed vigor. The work of bringing compelling Black stories to the public via traditional and digital media continues and helping people like you do that is BPM’s priority. Especially in these disturbing and divisive times.
UPCOMING THIS MONTH
This month, we’re excited to co-present (with Latino Public Broadcasting) the broadcast premiere of American Sons, which won our Jacquie Jones Memorial Fund award back in 2024.
The moving film follows a brotherhood of U.S. Marines a decade after their deployment to Afghanistan. Their struggle to overcome the trauma of combat and the loss of many of their comrades — including Corporal JV Villarreal, who was killed in action by an IED — offers intimate insights to what service members and their families go through long after laying down their arms. The film airs on PBS stations Jan. 12. Check local listings for times in your area.
Later this month, we’ll announce details about the 2026 PitchBLACK Forum & Awards, including who will receive this year’s BPM Trailblazer award.
We’re also excited to announce the titles set to premiere in the inaugural HBCU Week NOW Student Film Festival, which kicks off at the end of the month and runs through February.
More on these and other BPM highlights will be included in the January newsletter, which will hit your email boxes next week.
OUR DONORS AND COLLEAGUES ARE AWESOME!
Once again, we thank those of you who contributed to our 1.8M Donors campaign as part of your year-end giving. Your generosity helped us close out 2025 on a high note and affirms the importance of this work and the need for our Black Stories Production Fund. If you couldn’t donate by Dec. 31, 2025, no worries. We accept donations year-round. Click the button below to make your gift.
Finally, I want to extend a special thank you and farewell to our friends and colleagues at the soon-to-be-extinguished Corporation for Public Broadcasting. This week, their board announced its decision to dissolve the nonprofit in what they describe as “an act of responsible stewardship to protect the future of public broadcasting.”
For nearly 50 years, BPM’s partnership with CPB allowed us to support the development and distribution of scores of powerful stories on a diverse array of Black experiences from around the world. We appreciate all the ways our CPB colleagues delivered on the promise of their charter, especially Section 396 (a)(6), which states:“… it is in the public interest to encourage the development of programming that involves creative risks and that addresses the needs of unserved and underserved audiences, particularly children and minorities.”
Sadly, not enough members of the current U.S. Congress share that vision. But BPM stands by it. We intend to continue this work because we know millions of Americans want and need places on the public media landscape where they can see themselves and learn from their neighbors. The CPB may have been the first step, but it is not the last. I believe what is coming will be even more magnificent.
Stay tuned …