Losing just the same (Updated five months ago)

Please note: copyright to Losing just the same is held by WNET.ORG Properties LLC. All rights reserved. WNET.ORG is the premier public media provider of the New York metropolitan area and parent of public television stations WNET and WLIW. Losing just the same was originally produced by KQED for National Educational Television (NET) - the predecessor of WNET - and first aired in 1966.

This documentary reflects on the lives and aspirations of an African American family - the Johns - who moved to West Oakland from Louisiana, focusing on Robert Lee Johns and his mother Agnes. A voiceover prefaces the film with a statement that it presents: "A story of people caught in a lifelong struggle between their hopes and their abilities and their discovery that no matter how hard they try they will be losing just the same." Includes views shot around the streets of West Oakland, public speaking by Curtis Baker (Black Jesus), meetings at the Oak Center Site Office and excerpts from a graduation ceremony at McClymonds High School. Also features scenes of Robert attending a job interview at a garment factory in San Francisco and a fantasy sequence in which he imagines himself graduating successfully from high school. This film was written and produced by Richard Moore and Saul Landau and directed by Richard Moore and Irving Saraf.

Follow the link below to view KQED's earlier documentary Take this hammer (1963), which also looks at the economic and social experiences of African Americans living in the San Francisco Bay Area:

https://diva.sfsu.edu/bundles/187041