NAACP convention 1980; Part 2

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Program
NAACP convention 1980
Segment
Part 2
Producing Organization
Public Broadcasting Service (U.S.)
WPBT-TV (Television station : Miami, Fla.)
Contributing Organization
The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia (Athens, Georgia)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip-526-jh3cz3395m
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Description
Program Description
"Live and videotape coverage for PBS of the 1980 Convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, held in Miami Beach, Florida, June 30th to July 4th, 1980. The coverage included live broadcasts from the convention floor as well as videotape reports from locations throughout Miami. Analysis and interpretation of the convention was provided by award-winning nationally syndicated Chicago Sun-Times correspondent, Carl Rowan. The series included a live hour each afternoon, a half-hour of highlights each evening, and a one-hour summary of the week's events. "The 1980 NAACP Convention occurred shortly after the devastating racially oriented riots in the Liberty City area of Miami and during the developing Presidential campaign. Issues ranging from inflation and unemployment to equal opportunity in education and employment predominated on the national scene. It was the intent of the broadcasts to report and interpret the convention events within a broad context to give viewers perspective on how the issues dealt with by the delegates affected the concerns, not only of black Americans but all Americans. In short, convention coverage was designed to reach as diverse an audience as possible, relating the events to their own interests and concerns, with an emphasis on interpretation and analysis. The specific audience was a wide group who might not ordinarily have been interested in the specific activities of the NAACP but who would watch if those activities were related to important national issues and the developing presidential campaign. Measured in terms of letters and phone calls, the response to the broadcast, especially the one-hour final report and overview, was exceptionally positive and definitely seemed to reach beyond those who had a special interest in the NAACP to those who found the programs enlightening for their general content."--1980 Peabody Awards entry form. The coverage of this convention, reported by Carl Rowan, includes exclusive interviews with Congressman John Anderson, educator Marzell Smith, sociologist Marvin Dunn, Police Foundation President Patrick Murphy, and US Department of Labor secretary Ernest Green. Reports from Sharon Stevens and Rodney Ward give audiences an inside look at the convention including interviews with NAACP executive directors Gloster Current and Benjamin Hooks as well as with some of the protestors in the 1980 Miami riots. At the studio, Rowan himself hosts a few guests such as activist Ruth Bates Harris, NAACP council member Thomas Atkins, and Reverend Charles Smith. The program also includes footage of speeches from NAACP board members such as Dr. Michael Meyers, attorney Althea Semmons, Margaret Bush Wilson, Rayford Logan as well as other leaders in other important organizations such as the director of the Defense Communications Agency Samuel Gravely, Donald Shelton of the National Black Veterans Organization, Colonel D. R. Butler of the Army Discharge Review Board, and Ernest Green of the US Department of Labor. Because it is an election year, the convention importantly hosts speeches from presidential candidates including former President Jimmy Carter, Ted Kennedy, and John Anderson that concern their policies and ideas on black issues in America.
Broadcast Date
1980
Asset type
Program
Media type
Moving Image
Credits
Stevens, Sharon
Ward, Rodney
Rowan, Carl
Director: Carpenter, Richard
Executive Producer: Morgan, Shep
Producer: McIntosh, Clarence
Producing Organization: Public Broadcasting Service (U.S.)
Producing Organization: WPBT-TV (Television station : Miami, Fla.)
Writer: Rowan, Carl
AAPB Contributor Holdings
The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia
Identifier: cpb-aacip-52d4dd6e4a6 (Filename)
Format: U-matic
Duration: 4:00:00
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Citations
Chicago: “NAACP convention 1980; Part 2,” 1980, The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed May 30, 2026, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-526-jh3cz3395m.
MLA: “NAACP convention 1980; Part 2.” 1980. The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. May 30, 2026. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-526-jh3cz3395m>.
APA: NAACP convention 1980; Part 2. Boston, MA: The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-526-jh3cz3395m