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. . . . Welcome to Black Horizons, I'm your host Chris Moore. On tonight's show we'll talk to a local author about her work of inspirational poetry and if you're not sure exactly what to do at the polls on election day then we've got the help you need to help make an informed choice when you go to the voting booth. We've also got the latest edition of our community calendar on the horizon so make sure you have that pen and paper ready. So let's get started. For over a hundred years the Black Press has championed journalism written for and about African -American people but much of that work had never been archived. Publisher Ben Wilson wanted to change all of that and the result was the Black Chronicle. Here to tell us more about his publication and its
history is Ben Wilson. Welcome to the program sir glad to have you here at long last. Thank you Chris, I'm glad to be here and I'm glad that you invited me. The Black Chronicle was called from over two dozen papers from a gentleman named Henry Hampton, the late Henry Hampton. Publisher and author and producer of the Fame PBS. Henry was probably one of the foremost Black historians in the United States and Henry was most profound. I first came in contact with Black Chronicle in Pittsburgh a gentleman sold me a copy of the single copy and I looked down in the corner and I saw that Black side in Boston mass chews owned it. Which was his firm? It was his firm. And I called the Black side and they said that Henry Hampton owned the paper. And I talked to him briefly and he said well get your lawyer
to get the necessary paperwork together. And for about seven years, which I call divine intervention, I kept trying to get hold to him and he was so busy and so forth and so on. And I never could get to him. And one day just out of the clear, I came home for work sat on the bed and a voice said call Henry. I had no reason why I should have called Henry because here to four, I couldn't get him. I'd get a little a message saying the author was closed. But you finally got through to him? Finally got through that day. What happened? He told me to have my lawyers send the papers and he would send everything he had on Black Chronicle. So you in effect took over all of his research and he took over everything. He sent everything and included in what he sent was of course the loose papers and two albums narrated by Jeffrey Holder and Maya Angelou. Now was all this just information that he had used in producing series like Eyes on the Prize, The Great
Depression and the other shows that he did? What he did was he put together a program for a Methodist church and made loose papers like they were four pages each. So it was your idea to put this all together like an encyclopedia for Black folks? Okay, we put some of the images from your magazine into our steel store and this is a cover of one of them. What is this saying right here? This is Black Chronicle over here. Okay, that's the Rhode Island story and the reason why I kind of like that because a lot of people didn't know that there were slaves that far north. And it's interesting, very interesting. The slaves fought the Red Codes in Rhode Island. That's correct. Okay, we've got some other images that we'll talk about. But you put them all together into a book. Put them all together into a book. Now, this one that we have up before. The arm, I'm standing, mutiny, is that right? It's just launch that ship,
right? That's correct. And what makes this divine intervention, 30 days after we'd signed the papers and I had to copy right and everything, I was coming home and called home. And my caller told me, said, are you driving? Are you driving? I said, yes, I'm driving. She said, pull over. In the hands of the dead. Henry Hampton had died. After seven years and some $3 ,000 phone bill later, he gave it to him and he died, 30 days. What are you doing with the Black Chronicle? You've assembled all of this into some publication. That's correct. Into a series of publications. Into one booklet that, howls all 14 of the issues. And what does it cover? It covers 180 years of Black history and from slavery through the Civil Rights Movement. And the unique thing about it is the
stories in there that you wouldn't even believe. Oh, Emmett Till. Of course, we heard Emmett Till. There's Madam Walker. You're a man who went down from Chicago to Mississippi and supposedly whistled at a white girl. Whistled at a white girl and then he found his body in the lake mutilated. Look at this. Black sale maker promoted. I have a copy of the Black Chronicle here. And while we don't necessarily need to get a great shot of it, I'm just plumbing through it here. French American, Treaty of Sin, Rhode Island slaves. There's the fight Red Coats. I have invested a son and freedom Emmett Till. There's the Emmett Till. There's a story in here on that Oprah Winfrey featured on a program about Henry Brown. Henry Brown was a slave, got inside a box, lived off of biscuits and water, put a stamp on a box, and mailed himself out of slavery. And they called, and from then on they called him Henry Box Brown. Henry Box Brown. They mailed himself
out of slavery. There's many stories. And they say we're not smart. And surprisingly enough during slavery, a lot of people thought it was a lot of tragedy. But during slavery, we had doctors, lawyers, politicians, scientists, inventors. Oh, there's many, many stories like that. Even the ads are... Will freedom come to Alabama, U .S. lifts robes and travel ban? I'm curious about Paul Robeson, not being allowed to travel the devil. That's right. Lawyer carries the gun from Birmingham, Alabama, dated 1956. Arthur Shores, the lawyer fighting for Arthurine Lucy's reinstatement into the University of Alabama. And so that he would be killed like Emmett Till, unless he dropped proceedings in the case. No wonder he was carrying a gun. You just said... I see sports stories. Oh, and here, Jackie Robinson, there. A lot of stuff is in here. Everything. Yeah, just about that. And right now, there are major corporations talking about distribution law. But this is available to the public. People can order it now. Available right now. It's really our history and almost living history. That's correct. New York War, New York Honor, there's a lot of
stuff in here. That's correct. Well, I want to thank you for being here with us. And I thank you for having me. We really appreciate it. I appreciate it. Thank you. Hey, if you would like to contact Ben Wilson about a subscription to Black Chronicle, then you can just give him a call. It's easy enough to do. The number is 412 -621 -3658. That's 412 -621 -3658. Well, it's time, once again, for the latest edition of our Community Calendar, that lets you know what's going on around town. It's called On the Horizon. What's up? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Monkey, monkey. I bought a big hat now. Wait, wait a minute. Groovy, groovy, jazzy, funky, bounce, bounce, dance, as we dip in the melodic
scene. Rippin' things for when you're drippin' step out of the seat. Sweet sugar pop, sugar pop, rocks pop. You don't stop till the sweet beat drops. I show improve as I stick and move. Vivipons are sighting on top of the groove. Smooth mind. Loan like a butterfly instead of float. Something like a lullaby brace itself. As the beat hits ya. Dip, jump. Dip, dance, jump. If you have an event that you'd like to see publicized, please send it to On the Horizon, caravWQED, 48025th Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213. Our next guest is a local author who says her book of poetry was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Joining us to talk about in the night season is Jane Roto Walker. Welcome to our program. Glad to have you here. Thank you. How did this inspiration come of you? This must be our inspiration program. Ben Wilson saw some divine intervention and you have had divine inspiration. How was this engraved in you? About seven years ago, I had a friend who had lost a son. And I got a book for her and I wanted to write something in
the front of the book to let her know the depth of my feeling for her sympathy. And when I went to bed that night, I asked God in my prayer to show me something that I could use for her. Well, I assumed when I got up the next day that I would find something in the scripture. But instead about two o 'clock in the morning, I woke up and all these words were just flooding my mind. I got up, I went into the Dan and I started to write. And when I got to the end, low and behold, they rhymed and it was poetry. And that was the beginning of the gift. And that's how I know it was God -given. And that's how I knew it. When did this happen? Seven years ago. Seven years ago. So were all these poems that feel this fairly thick book, the result of what you're working the next seven years? In the next seven years. Okay. And what moves you to right now sometimes? I continue to write from life's experiences mostly. And as the Lord inspires me from my triumphs, my
failures, my joys, and the experiences of my family. So these are very personal poems? They're very personal, but the interesting part about this, Chris, is that as these poems minister to me, they minister to others when they read them. So that's like a verse of scripture that you can find new meaning in each time you read it. Absolutely. Okay. So your experiences then are, I guess, common to us all. You started perhaps with the death of a son's, a friend's son. Yes. And I guess we've all had family members passed so we could find meaning in that kind of poem, I guess. Right. Okay. But could you give us an example of one of your poems? Yes. Is this one of your favors? And tell us something before you read it about what inspired it? This is one of my favorites simply because as Christians, a lot of us have the idea that God will just do everything for us. And we'll just give us what it is that we need. Lazy Christians. That's right. So this poem says that God has a
plan for your life, but that we must do the planning. All right. Planning pulls promises out of eternity and puts them into time. In faith, we see our vision in detail. This should be done while in our prime, although our prime of life is not based upon age and years. Our prime is in God's time. Sometimes prefits by hard times and tears. Planning is captured vision. Planning is goal control. Planning is the highest expression of faith as it forms deep within our soul. Planning gives substance to our purpose. We may sometimes fail in executing our plan, but that is still no cause for fear. It only means we must make new plans while keeping our purpose clear. Being out of God's will is not always the reason that we fail. Focus on the purpose, but alter the plan. If
winds of adversity prevail, planning is the act of captioning God's will for our life while we're here on earth. Success is the orderly fulfillment of plans. It will increase self -esteem and worth. Commit thy works unto the Lord, then it will succeed. A little gained honestly is better than great wealth that has gotten by dishonest deeds. Planning is faith. Faith is planning. Faith without works is dead. We must work our plan with precision and determination to always move ahead. That's beautiful. Now, when you started putting this together, how did you know or when did you know or when did the plan come together that it would be a book? About three years into the writing, I desired to one day compile them.
It was just a dream. I didn't know if it would ever be fulfilled. But the more I wrote, the more the Holy Spirit impressed me that this needed to be shared with others. Because as I was given the poems, usually someone's name came to mind. And I would type it the next morning, and I would mail it to them. And then they would call back and say, how did you know this was the circumstance in my life? More evidence of divine inspiration? Absolutely, and I would say there's no way that I knew it was the Holy Spirit. And that was confirmation that the poetry would not only minister to me, but would minister to others. And I continue to do that. Now, tell me about the cover design of the book. We showed at the beginning of the interview the cover of your book. And we can show it again, I believe. Okay. Tell me about the design of the cover. The cover was designed by my youngest son, Aaron Paul Walker. And he's depicting on the cover how he did the artwork. He did all the artwork, the coloring and the artwork. And I'm sitting in the den in the night
seasons writing poetry. And what does the title come from? The title is because most of the poetry was given to me late at night. And also as... And do you bother the family getting up in the middle of the night when his inspiration is right? No, that's why he depicts this. I'm in a room by myself. You can see through the window the light. The light's not on in the bedroom to disturb my husband or the rest of the family. But also in the seasons of life, I'm in the night seasons and I realize that. And so that really is where the title came from. And we wanted the cover to be one that would be eye catching because this is an ideal gift book. Well, it is that and I understand it's available. It would street Emporium and where else? Yes, at family bookstore in Century Square and Olympia shopping center fishers of men and borders in Monroeville. And also if you'd like to just read the book and not purchase the book, it can be viewed at the library at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Library in Munho. Ms. Walker, we thank you for being here and sharing
your poems and your divine inspiration with our audience. Thank you for asking me. All right. April brings lots of exciting programming to PBS. You won't want to miss the next edition of Nova. Next time on Nova. The story of a girl who spent her childhood locked in a bedroom. I thought, look what we might learn from a girl who has appeared out of nowhere. Jeannie was 13 years old, but she was barely able to walk or talk. The indications are that she was beaten for making noise. The controversial efforts to unlock the secret of the wild child. That's next time on Nova. Secret of the wild child airs Tuesday, April 4th at 9 p .m. here on WQED 13. And for an amazing portrait of one of America's most notorious politicians, don't miss the American experience. He made a deal with the devil. I say segregation now,
segregation tomorrow, and segregation tomorrow. Locked the doorway to progress. And unleashed a political backlash that divided the nation. They called us red necks. They sure are a lot of red necks in this country. He paid our high price for his ambition. And spent the rest of his life seeking redemption. To many, he was the embodiment of American evil. To others, he was a man willing to tell it like it is. George Wallace, setting the woods on fire. On the American experience, premieres April 23rd on PBS. Don't miss the American experience. George Wallace, setting the woods on fire. And he did, and he probably still could around here nowadays too. Sunday, April 23rd, and Monday, April 24th at 9 p .m. right here on WQED. Spring is here, and that means no, not the Easter Bunny. Election day.
Tuesday, April 4th is the day Pennsylvanians go to the polls to make choices that will affect the rest of the Commonwealth and the country. But do you know what to do once you're inside the voting booth? Political activists, radio hosts. Remember the Board of Education? Mark Brentley, senior, joins us to unravel the mysteries of voting. Is it really all that mysterious mark? Not at all, Chris. When you break it down into three sections, it's simple. And you'll know exactly where to go and how to find what you're looking for. You've been doing this for a while. We talk about mysteries. Some people are intimidated when they go in that voting booth. That's right. Remember the machine is huge. You go into curtains closed. The names are printed so small. Sometimes intimidating. There are several parties. And of course during the November, the general election, you may have two, three, four different parties. And so sometimes it gets difficult if you don't understand. And if you don't simply break it down so you know exactly where to go when you're looking for a particular
candidate for a particular party. All right. You brought along a guide and a sample ballot. This is pretty much what the ballot is going to look like when they go into the machine. Right? The exact ballot. And what we were able to do, Chris, is we're able to use this address as if someone lived here. So all of the areas that you see here are based upon this particular area. First of all, this is a polling place. So that's good to know. First of all, we want to make it very clear. The difference, general election and the primary election, general election and primary. Primary election is what I refer to as the in -house battle between in -party members and to find out who's going to be the candidate that will represent them in general election. Always color -coded. Primary elections are always color -coded. So you see the colors here. Now remember in a general election it will simply be a black and white ballot. What are the colors for the Republican Party? It's referred to as cherry of some call it red. Looks like pink. Looks like pink. But then I'm call it division. And the Democratic Party is blue. Blue. And it's real simple. What I do is, Chris, to make it easy for folks, I break the machine down into different parts. First of all, the right -in section and
your special election slash sample question or questions. Or this is section number one, your pedoa section, which I refer to as the pedoa, simply means your party down in your office across section is number two. And the final section is number three, which is the red button in the exit. If you simply know who the candidate is and what he or she is running for, you can simply go to the pedoa section. I know that she's running for, let's say United States Senate. Okay, we know the office across, which is pedoa, office across. And if she's on the Democratic ballot, then we know it's party down. Here are all your parties. And we know that blue is your Democrat. And you simply go with to that particular area and then you make your selection. What's real important is that remind folks that when you get intimidating, you're not sure how should you vote or how many you're able to vote for. If you read, Chris, in small print, it will always give you directions. For instance, we're going to look up under United States Senate. In small print, it will simply say vote for one. Even though there are
a total of seven candidates, there are six. Counting Democratic and Republican. Exactly. There are six on the Democrat, and there is one in Republican. But you can only vote for one. You can only vote for one. And you can vote a split ticket if you wanted to vote for some Republicans or some Democrats, you could vote that way, too. But you can't do it in primary. Remember, Pennsylvania, so if you're registered in Democrat, you'll only be able to vote. Democrat. Okay. Register Republican can do that. But the beauty benefits are locked out. Exactly. Well, any benefits are allowed to vote for only special questions. But there are no special questions. There are no special questions in this area, and there are no special elections. Okay. You'll have to sit this one out. All right. Okay. Okay. The next area, Chris, is that the next area is that if you also look in small print, in parentheses, if for some strange reason, you're not happy with the seven candidates, which is the one Republican candidate or the six Democratic candidates in small print, it will simply say, to write in you slot number five. If we go up here in section
number one that I've identified, you'll look at slot number five. For that particular race, then you slide that lever up. If you're not happy with any of these candidates, and you write in small print, you write in Chris Moore. For instance, in the presidential election, if I were a Republican, and I won't vote on it to vote for Allen Keys, is he on the ballot? No, sir, he's not on the ballot. So this is a real instance situation where I could write in, because I wouldn't write in Chris Moore. Exactly. And if I wanted to vote for Allen Keys, I could go up to number one. That's number one. Number one. You simply look up, and it's slot number one. You would slide that in, and you write in whoever's name is on it. So I need to take a pen or a pencil or something. Exactly. By law, there should be a pen at the polling place or a pencil. It's not a problem. But it's a great process. Chris, I'd encourage folks to understand it, and to simply go through each and every section. Once again, the beauty behind all of this again is that you know when you're not happy with who you see, you can simply write that person's name in. None, of course, as we move down to the further and down the ballot,
those numbers will change. For instance, for your presidential candidate, you would use slot number one. You can go down here. That slot may be slot number 22 or 23. Once you've made all your selections, then the final step is over. In the corner, you'll see a red button. You simply push the red button. But don't do that until you've made all of your selections. Because it's all total. Once you press that button and the curtains pop open. That's right. You can't go back in, right? That's right. And so we just simply encourage folks. You can't let the machine intimidate. You can't let the colors intimidate. You know, remember in November, hopefully you'll invite me back in November. We'll show you the difference. We'll hold up to two ballots. You'll see color coding here. And you'll see, of course, it's the plain, simple, black and white ballot that you'll use in the November election. What's important in November election, you can then begin to split your ticket. And you can, of course, continue to use the right in process. Okay. So important to remember with Pennsylvania, in this primary election on April 4th, it is a closed primary. You have to be either a Republican or Democrat. There are no other parties with candidates. No.
On the ballot. No, but we may see someone in the general election. The general election. Remember, you can file and run as an independent. And you may have two or three parties, depending on who's running for what? No, we may file their own party status. I also understand that BPEP and YPEP are having a role to the polls. That's right. But people will phone number in just a second. So transportation is really not a problem. There are really no excuses not to turn out and do for self -invote. Exactly. Another thing to keep in mind, Chris, is that on 15 -50 AM, that talks 16 on Saturday morning from 10 o 'clock AM until 12, we will have a political roundtable focusing on the upcoming primary election. And we're able to contact one or two political consultants. We will take each step of the ballot, each part of the ballot, one by one, and explain to the audience who's running for what, what they stand for, and then we'll just simply move on. And then, of course, I want to take questions. All right. Thank you very much, Mark Brennan. Thank you for being here and explaining this whole process. Thank you. So people will not be intimidated. And we'll turn out. Thank you again. Thank you very much. Okay. Remember, if you need a ride to the polls on Election Day, BPEP and YPEP are sponsoring a
role to the polls to schedule your free transportation. Simply call them at 412 -471 -1024. That's 412 -471 -1024. Well, that'll do it for this week's Black Horizons. And remember, you can still catch me on KDK -AM -1024 on the weekends Saturday nights at 7 and Sunday afternoons at 4. On cue, every night at 730 right here on Channel 13. And, of course, Black Horizons Friday nights at 9 o 'clock. So, that's it. It's Chris Morissan. Bye. Setpieces donated by Macondo. South Creek Street, Oakland. I want to be a hit now. Wait, wait a minute. Groovy, groovy, jazzy, funky, pounce, bounce, dance as we dip in the melodic scene. Vivint is throwing the trips that I receive. Sweet sugar pops, sugar pop, rocks pop. You don't stop till the sweet beat drops. I show them through because I stick and move. Vivint pawns were saying on top of the pool to move mine. Floating like a butterfly instead of floating. Sound like a lullaby, brace
yourself. As the beat hits your dip trip. Get there, take a shot. The piano next to you when you sing. Maybe a flute player. You can't hang on to the flute. You can't float the flute. Maybe a little bit. Maybe a little bit. Maybe a little bit. Maybe a little bit. Maybe a little bit. Maybe a little bit. Maybe a little bit. Maybe a little bit. Maybe a
little bit. Maybe a little bit. Maybe a little bit. Maybe a little bit. Maybe a little bit. What have you chosen to sing for us this evening? I'd like to sing the Karanome from Rigoletto. Oh, God. All right, for the ones of you who are staying. Maryland will sing there. Kakame. The Kakanome. Kakanome are here from the opera Rigomotis. By all means. Who wrote that, Maryland? Giuseppe Verdi. Why? I mean,
why, yes. Why, yes. Giuseppe Verdi. Jo Green to you. Hands off, please. It shouldn't take long. Not if I can help it. Oh, you don't do that. What are you doing?
What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing?
Series
Black Horizons
Episode Number
3118
Episode
Black Chronicle
Producing Organization
WQED (Television station : Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Contributing Organization
WQED (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip-92e91ad27d2
If you have more information about this item than what is given here, or if you have concerns about this record, we want to know! Contact us, indicating the AAPB ID (cpb-aacip-92e91ad27d2).
Description
Episode Description
This episode includes a discussion of publisher Ben Wilson and his publication titled "Black Chronicle," which is based on publications by Henry Hampton and Hampton's work to document Black lives through documentaries and newspapers. This episode includes the "On the Horizons" segment listing upcoming events. This episode includes a discussion with poet Jane Rhoda Walker and her publication "In the Night Seasons." This episode includes a promo for a "Nova: Secrets of the Wild Child" and a promo for and American Experience episode titled "George Wallace: Settin' the Woods on Fire." This episode includes a discussion of upcoming elections and voting with Mark Brentley, Sr, a political activist, featuring a guide to completing ballots.
Series Description
WQED’s Black Horizons was launched in 1968 and was designed to address the concerns of African American audiences. More than just a forum for the community, the series served as a training ground for Black talent in front of and behind the camera. Through the decades, the program featured various hosts and producers until Emmy winning journalist Chris Moore took over the program in the 1980s. He was later joined by Emmy winning producer Minette Seate before the program evolved into WQED’s Horizons in the 2000s.
Broadcast Date
2001-03-31
Broadcast Date
2001-04-02
Created Date
2000-03-29
Asset type
Episode
Topics
Public Affairs
Media type
Moving Image
Duration
00:32:01;28
Embed Code
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Credits
Producing Organization: WQED (Television station : Pittsburgh, Pa.)
AAPB Contributor Holdings
WQED-TV
Identifier: cpb-aacip-77eb3271f27 (Filename)
Format: Betacam: SP
Duration: 00:26:30
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Citations
Chicago: “Black Horizons; 3118; Black Chronicle,” 2001-03-31, WQED, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed July 16, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-92e91ad27d2.
MLA: “Black Horizons; 3118; Black Chronicle.” 2001-03-31. WQED, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. July 16, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-92e91ad27d2>.
APA: Black Horizons; 3118; Black Chronicle. Boston, MA: WQED, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-92e91ad27d2