GBH Openvault

Say Brother; Mystic Chain; Blast From the Past with poet and playwright Amiri Baraka

Part of Say Brother.

11/07/1974

In this clip "Blast From the Past" features an excerpt from a 1968 Say Brother interview with poet and playwright Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) at Tufts University. Baraka talks about the importance of African Americans trying to be Black as a means to raise themselves above the "filth of easy accommodation in the white world." Overall the program is composed of a variety of segments in magazine-style format. Segments include a mime performance by Halim Adbur Rashid (Fred Johnson), a poetry reading by Leah Fletcher (Langston Hughes' "American Heartbreak," "Impasse," and "A Dream Deferred," and Maya Angelou's "No Loser, No Weeper," "Letter to an Aspiring Junkie," and "They Went Home"), "Blast From the Past" with excerpts from 1968 Say Brother interviews with poet and playwright Amiri Baraka at Tufts University and comedian Bill Cosby, a musical performance by the four-person vocalist group Mystic Chain, "Information" on selecting a day care center, the "Community Calendar," and "Commentary" by Producer Marita Rivero on the difficulties musicians face. Directed by Conrad White.


License Clip
Series
Say Brother
Program
Mystic Chain
Program Number

405

Title

Blast From the Past with poet and playwright Amiri Baraka

Series Description

Say Brother is WGBH's longest running public affairs television program by, for and about African Americans, and is now known as Basic Black. Since its inception in 1968, Say Brother has featured the voices of both locally and nationally known African American artists, athletes, performers, politicians, professionals, and writers including: Muhammad Ali, Maya Angelou, Thomas Atkins, Amiri Baraka, Doris Bunte, Julian Bond, Stokely Carmichael, Louis Farrakhan, Nikki Giovanni, Odetta Gordon, Henry Hampton, Benjamin Hooks, Jesse Jackson, Hubie Jones, Mel King, Eartha Kitt, Elma Lewis, Haki Madhubuti, Wallace D. Muhammad, Charles Ogletree, Babatunde Olatunji, Byron Rushing, Owusu Sadaukai, and Sonia Sanchez. Series release date: 7/15/1968

Program Description

Program is composed of a variety of segments in magazine-style format. Segments include a mime performance by Halim Adbur Rashid (Fred Johnson), a poetry reading by Leah Fletcher (Langston Hughes' "American Heartbreak," "Impasse," and "A Dream Deferred," and Maya Angelou's "No Loser, No Weeper," "Letter to an Aspiring Junkie," and "They Went Home"), "Blast From the Past" with excerpts from 1968 Say Brother interviews with poet and playwright Amiri Baraka at Tufts University and comedian Bill Cosby, a musical performance by the four-person vocalist group Mystic Chain, "Information" on selecting a day care center, the "Community Calendar," and "Commentary" by Producer Marita Rivero on the difficulties musicians face.

Asset Type

Clip

Media Type

Video

Subjects
Civil rights
Johnson, Fred (Halim Adbur Rashid)
Baraka, Imamu Amiri, 1934-
Shaw, Sarah-Ann
African American poets
Cosby, Bill, 1937-
Mystic Chain (Musical group)
African American authors
Segregation
Genres
Magazine
Topics
Race and Ethnicity
Creators
Barrow-Murray, Barbara (Associate Producer)
White, Conrad (Director)
Rivero, Marita (Producer)
Contributors
Williams, Ira (Music Coordinator)
Cooper, James (Commentary Editor)
Fletcher, Leah (Host)
Cross, June (Community Coordinator)
Boston Art Ensemble (Theme Music)
Cogell, Lloyd (Still Photography)
Spooner, Dighton (Researcher)
Davis, Tony (Talent Coordinator)
McGuire Nicholas, Sallie (Production Assistant)
Farrier, Stephen (Community Coordinator)
Publication Information
WGBH Educational Foundation
Citation
Chicago: “Say Brother; Mystic Chain; Blast From the Past with poet and playwright Amiri Baraka,” 11/07/1974, GBH Archives, accessed March 29, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_DB5242FC6013497B9059204301FD0EC3.
MLA: “Say Brother; Mystic Chain; Blast From the Past with poet and playwright Amiri Baraka.” 11/07/1974. GBH Archives. Web. March 29, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_DB5242FC6013497B9059204301FD0EC3>.
APA: Say Brother; Mystic Chain; Blast From the Past with poet and playwright Amiri Baraka. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_DB5242FC6013497B9059204301FD0EC3
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