Color us Black! (Part I)

About This Item

Please note: copyright to Color us Black! is held by WNET. All rights reserved. WNET is the premier public media provider of the New York metropolitan area and parent of public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21. Color us Black! was originally produced for National Educational Television (NET) - the predecessor of WNET - and first aired in New York, Washington D.C. and San Francisco on May 6th 1968.

Part I of a documentary film produced for NET looking at how and why Howard University (Washington D.C.) was shut down by African American students, who occupied the Administration Building over four days in March 1968. The disciplining of 39 students led to this initial protest but students are demanding a much wider review of issues relating to racial equality, black identity and power. Includes interviews with: President of the Freshman Class Michael Harris; College President James M. Nabrit, Jr. (1900-1997); Marie Brown Frazier (wife of E. Franklin Frazier); Samuel DeWitt Proctor and Dr. Nathan Hare as he trains on December 4th & 5th 1967 for a boxing match at the Washington Coliseum on December 29th 1967. Features scenes of discussions between African American women students from Howard and also between alumni Claud Brown and Lou Potter. The Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker is shown speaking about how African Americans feel "robbed of a sense of heritage" and there are views of a sorority meeting with local Washington school kids, teaching them a dance. A group of actors and filmmaker Ben Land are also seen discussing a short film about "black awareness" which can be viewed in Part II. Note that a 20 second scene from a play by Frank Barbour called Auto Sacramental was cut from this web screener, due to copyright issues. This film was produced, written and directed by Dick McCutcheon, edited by John Carter, with Don Lenzer on camera and sound by John Payne and Eugene Smalls. Color us Black! (Part II) may also be viewed in DIVA. Thanks to historical researcher and consultant Paul Lee for providing the first broadcast date of this film.

Type of material
documentary film
Duration
32:57
16mm b&w optical sound film
Rights for this video belong to
WNET.ORG Properties LLC
Date aired
1968
Originally aired on
NET
Identifier
AT 5375-1
Views
19246

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