Series
Black Journal
Episode Number
42
Episode
Ministers for Black Souls
Producing Organization
WNET (Television station : New York, N.Y.)
Contributing Organization
Library of Congress (Washington, District of Columbia)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/512-bz6154fm6p
NOLA Code
BLJL
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Description
Episode Description
The dynamic Minister Louis Farrakhan, national spokesman for the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam, is the subject of this Black Journal profile, entitled "Minister for Black Souls." (The Nation of Islam is a religious movement whose adherents are sometimes referred to as Black Muslims.) The episode features an interview with the minister conducted by host Tony Brown, and portions of an address he made to a graduating class at Brooklyn's Boys High School. Black Journal also follows the charismatic leader as he walks near his Mosque in Harlem, talking to people, reaffirming their blackness, instilling greater brotherhood, warning them of the traps set by the white man, and stressing self-help and self-sufficiency. "Why should we get our own food, Brother?" he asks the clustered crowds. "You know that the white man doesn't love us, and he's got all the stores and selling us the worst meat," he says, furnishing the answer. Minister Farrakhan also defines the philosophy of the Nation of Islam for Black Journal. He notes that it is basic to the needs of the black man - "Freedom, justice and equality. The teachings of Muhammad are designed to free the black man mentally from the chains of slavery - the chain of a false religious message which caused us to believe in some spook or mystery god that existed beyond the sun, the moon and the stars." To the graduating class at Boys High, he says: "You must make a commitment this day to your people - Will you dash the hopes of your parents on the rocks by becoming junkies? Will you live a low cheap life like out slave masters taught us?" Minister Farrakhan also points out that the Muslim believes in separation, not segregation, of blacks and whites and that the separation could take the form of individual states if the government desires." "The black man today is a very angry man. He is angry with white America and white America is angry with a free slave. The black man today wants something of his own. The white man wants to keep us at her feet begging her for the necessities of life. So this is putting the two people on a collision course," he says. "The wise solution is to let the black man go" 130 million people is a lot of people. We are a whole nation." "Black Journal," a production of NET Division, Educational Broadcasting Corporation. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
Series Description
Black Journal began as a monthly series produced for, about, and - to a large extent - by black Americans, which used the magazine format to report on relevant issues to black Americans. Starting with the October 5, 1971 broadcast, the show switched to a half-hour weekly format that focused on one issue per week, with a brief segment on black news called "Grapevine." Beginning in 1973, the series changed back into a hour long show and experimented with various formats, including a call-in portion. From its initial broadcast on June 12, 1968 through November 7, 1972, Black Journal was produced under the National Educational Television name. Starting on November 14, 1972, the series was produced solely by WNET/13. Only the episodes produced under the NET name are included in the NET Collection. For the first part of Black Journal, episodes are numbered sequential spanning broadcast seasons. After the 1971-72 season, which ended with episode #68, the series started using season specific episode numbers, beginning with #301. The 1972-73 season spans #301 - 332, and then the 1973-74 season starts with #401. This new numbering pattern continues through the end of the series.
Broadcast Date
1971-12-07
Asset type
Episode
Topics
Race and Ethnicity
Media type
Moving Image
Duration
00:29:17
Embed Code
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Credits
Executive Producer: Brown, Tony
Interviewee: Farrakhan, Louis
Interviewer: Brown, Tony
Producing Organization: WNET (Television station : New York, N.Y.)
Speaker: Farrakhan, Louis
AAPB Contributor Holdings
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2086768-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 2 inch videotape: Quad
Generation: Master
Color: Color
Duration: 0:29:18
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2086768-3 (MAVIS Item ID)
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: Color
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2086768-2 (MAVIS Item ID)
Generation: Master
Color: Color
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Citations
Chicago: “Black Journal; 42; Ministers for Black Souls,” 1971-12-07, Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed December 30, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-bz6154fm6p.
MLA: “Black Journal; 42; Ministers for Black Souls.” 1971-12-07. Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. December 30, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-bz6154fm6p>.
APA: Black Journal; 42; Ministers for Black Souls. Boston, MA: Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-bz6154fm6p