Arts and Culture

Classic African American Culture Series Rediscovered

Published

10 years ago

February 27, 2015

By Beth Tagawa, SFSU News

In 1968, Mwanza Furaha was a Bay Area dancer and singer just getting her feet wet as a performer. She auditioned for a television program about African American culture and heritage and felt incredibly lucky to land a prominent role. But it was only years later that she realized just how lucky she was to have had the chance to work closely with the show’s writer, producer and host: poet Maya Angelou.

“I was young and honing my craft, and I was grateful to know her,” Furaha said. “But it wasn’t until later on I understood how important she was to America.” By the time Furaha had grasped the significance of her experience and wanted to see the show again, it was nowhere to be found.

Furaha was not the only one to search for the series. Angelou herself wanted to see it but could not track it down. And then there was Alex Cherian, San Francisco State University’s resident film archivist.

In 2009, Cherian was reviewing film canisters in SF State’s Bay Area Television Archive, considering options for a digitization project — footage that would see the light of day rather than remaining buried on a shelf. A can scrawled with the name “Angelou” caught his attention. “That was all I had,” Cherian said. “I was hoping that it featured Maya Angelou, but I had no idea.”

This discovery led Cherian on a five-year search that has resulted in a boon for African American television history. Cherian has recovered and made public the full 10-part Angelou series “Blacks, Blues, Black!” — which went unseen for decades.

Filmed at the KQED studios in San Francisco, the program was produced and hosted by Angelou, the influential poet, actor and author, best known for her book “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” The series examines the influence of African American culture on American society, with episodes exploring dance traditions, history, art, literature and music (including an interview with blues legend B.B. King).

The footage fragment Cherian found was part of the collection SF State had recovered from local TV stations and is now hosted at SF State’s J. Paul Leonard Library. “In the early ’80s, most stations started dumping film, thousands and thousands of cans,” Cherian said. “When interested parties realized what they were doing, SF State said, ‘Don’t throw it away! Give it to us.’ That’s why we had this can — sometime in the 1980s someone at KQED grabbed it off a shelf and said, ‘Send it to State.'”

But the canister contained only 17 minutes of footage. After seeing this fragment, Cherian embarked on a quest to find the rest of the series. “Maya Angelou — one of the great minds of our time — made an entire series about African American heritage,” Cherian recalled thinking. “Why isn’t it available? It makes no sense.”

And nobody knew where it was. “We didn’t have it, KQED didn’t have it, none of the college libraries that I contacted had it,” Cherian said. “I kind of gave up after two or three years because I was hitting a brick wall. I knew a lot of material from that period had been destroyed.”

Then, about a year ago, he contacted the Library of Congress as a last-ditch effort, and a staffer there immediately responded with good news: The Library had the full series on two-inch video, the original broadcast format. After Cherian figured out that the rights to the series were owned by KQED, the station agreed that it could be made available on SF State’s digital video archive, hosted by the Digital Video Information Archive (DIVA).

In May 2014, Cherian contacted Maya Angelou’s office manager, who had been searching for the series for 10 years at Angelou’s request, to let her know it would be digitized and made public. “She sent me an email back saying that Maya Angelou was ‘over the moon,'” Cherian said. “That was unfortunately two weeks before she passed on.”

Cherian believes the series can be appreciated by modern viewers both because of Angelou’s impressive storytelling talent and the program’s continued cultural relevance. “I personally found a lot of what she’s saying, when you remove the specific figures from the time, is still relevant,” Cherian said. “But I want other folks to see it and judge for themselves. Some might watch it and think, ‘Oh dear.’ Others might watch it and think, ‘That’s amazing.'”

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Arts and Culture

Beverly Lorraine Greene: A Pioneering Architect and Symbol of Possibility and Progress

Greene graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1936 with a degree in Architecture — a remarkable accomplishment for an African American woman at the time. She was never discouraged by the racial and gender discrimination that saturated her field.

Published

3 weeks ago

March 3, 2025

Oakland Post

Beverly Lorraine Greene. Public domain photo.

By Tamara Shiloh

In the mid-20th century, Beverly Lorraine Greene was recognized as the first African American woman licensed to practice architecture in the United States.

Greene was born on Oct. 4, 1915, in Chicago during an era when opportunities for African Americans, particularly women, were severely limited.

Her parents, James and Vera Greene, were deeply invested in her education, instilling in her a belief in the power of intellect and perseverance. She grew up during the Great Migration that transformed Chicago starting in 1900.

Greene continued her education, earning a master’s degree in City Planning and Housing in 1937, also from the University of Illinois. Her ambition was not merely to design structures but to shape spaces that fostered equity and community. In 1942, she became the first African American woman licensed as an architect in the United States, obtaining her credentials in Illinois. This groundbreaking achievement, however, did not translate immediately into job opportunities.

Early in her career, she faced significant discrimination from firms unwilling to hire a Black woman. However, her determination never wavered. In 1945, Beverly moved to New York City, a place she believed could offer broader professional opportunities.

She joined the architectural department of the New York City Housing Authority, focusing on affordable housing projects. Her work during this time reflected her commitment to using architecture as a tool for social justice, ensuring that marginalized communities had access to well-designed, dignified living spaces.

Greene’s talents soon drew the attention of prominent firms. She was hired by Isadore Rosenfield, a respected architect known for designing hospitals. She contributed to the design of healthcare facilities, including the modernization of Harlem Hospital. Her portfolio expanded in collaboration with architectural personalities such as Marcel Breuer and Edward Durell Stone.

Notably, she worked on the prestigious UNESCO headquarters in Paris — a landmark project that brought her skills to an international stage. Her involvement underscored her ability to navigate the intricacies of large-scale, global projects, proving that her talents transcended the limitations society sought to impose.

Greene’s career was tragically cut short when she passed away unexpectedly in 1957 at the age of 41. Though her life was brief, her impact was profound. She shattered entrenched barriers, paving the way for future generations of Black architects and women in the field.

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Activism

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Lateefah Simon to Speak at Elihu Harris Lecture Series

The popular lecture series is co-produced by the Oakland-based Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Peralta Community College District. Jeffries’ appearance marks the 32nd lecture of the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series, which has provided thousands of individuals with accessible, free, high-quality information.

Published

4 weeks ago

February 19, 2025

Oakland Post

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (left) and Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) (Right).

By Scott Horton

United States House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY-8) will be a speaker at the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series on Friday, Feb. 21.

The event will be held at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts, 10 Tenth Street in Oakland, at 7 p.m.

The popular lecture series is co-produced by the Oakland-based Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Peralta Community College District. Jeffries’ appearance marks the 32^nd lecture of the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series, which has provided thousands of individuals with accessible, free, high-quality information.

The overarching goal of the lecture series is to provide speakers from diverse backgrounds a platform to offer their answers to Dr. King’s urgent question, which is also the title of Jeffries’ latest book: “Where do we go from here: Chaos or Community?”

In addition to Jeffries, Congresswoman Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) will also speak.

“Certainly, now is a time for humanity, in general, and Americans in particular to honestly and genuinely answer Dr. King’s question,” said Dr. Roy D. Wilson, Executive Director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Executive Producer of the lecture series.

“Dr. King teaches that time is neutral but not static. Like the water in a river, it arrives and then quickly moves on,” continued Wilson. “We must urgently create conditions for listening to many different answers to this vital question, and generate the development of unity of action among all those who struggle for a stronger democracy.”

In his book, Jeffries shares his experience of being unanimously elected by his colleagues as the first African American in history to ever hold the position of House Minority Leader.

In January 2023 in Washington, Jeffries made his first official speech as House Minority Leader. He affirmed Democratic values one letter of the alphabet at a time. His words and how he framed them as the alphabet caught the attention of Americans, and the speech was later turned into a book, The ABCs of Democracy, bringing Congressman Jeffries rousing speech to vivid, colorful life, including illustrations by Shaniya Carrington. The speech and book are inspiring and urgent as a timeless reminder of what it means to be a country with equal opportunities for all. Jeffries paints a road map for a brighter American future and warns of the perils of taking a different path.

Before his colleagues unanimously elected him Minority Leader in 2022, Jeffries previously served as Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and as an Impeachment Manager during the first Senate trial of the 45th President of the United States.

Jeffries was born in Brooklyn Hospital, raised in Crown Heights, grew up in the Cornerstone Baptist Church and he is a product of New York City’s public school system, graduating from Midwood High School. Jefferies went on to Binghamton University (BA), Georgetown University (master’s in public policy) and New York University (JD).

He served in the New York State Assembly from 2007 to 2012.

Admission is free for the Feb. 21 Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series featuring Congressman Jeffries. Please reserve seats by calling the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center at (510) 434-3988.

Signed copies of his book will be available for purchase at the event.

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McClymonds High Names School Gym for Star Graduate, Basketball Legend Bill Russell

William “Bill” Felton Russell was born on Feb. 12, 1934, and died on July 31, 2022. He achieved fame as a U.S. professional basketball player who played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty that won 11 NBA championships during his 13-year career.

Published

4 weeks ago

February 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Bill Russell and Brian McGhee in McClymonds High School Gym, 2011. Photo courtesy of Brian McGhee.

By Ken Epstein

West Oakland’s McClymonds High School, “the School of Champions,” this week named the school’s gymnasium in honor of one of its most famous graduates, basketball legend Bill Russell (class of ’52).

Russell is widely known as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. In 2011, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civil honor, from President Barack Obama for Russell’s contributions to basketball and the Civil Rights Movement.

The McClymonds’ naming ceremony was held on Wednesday, the same day as Russell’s birthday. Oakland leader Bill Patterson, a longtime friend of Russell’s, was scheduled to cut the ribbon at the reopening of the gym, which had been closed for several months for renovation. Russell’s daughter Karen was scheduled to attend the ribbon cutting.

Russell’s name and signature are now printed on the gymnasium floor.

Patterson was working at DeFremery Park when he met Russell. “I befriended him as a boy and during his years at University of San Francisco” said Patterson. “We stayed friends for the rest of his life.”

Said McClymonds Principal Darielle Davis, herself a McClymonds graduate, “We are excited to honor Bill Russell for his sports accolades and because he broke color barriers. He is part of our legacy, and legacy is really important at McClymonds.”

Brian McGhee, community schools manager at McClymonds and former football player at UC Berkeley, said that Russell meant a lot to him and others at the school. “He was a beacon of light and hope for West Oakland,” he said. “He did a lot for sports and for civil rights.”

Starting in 2018, Ben “Coach” Tapscott worked with Patterson and other McClymonds grads, community members, and former coaches to encourage the Oakland Board of Education to endorse the naming of the school gym, which finally happened recently.

“We worked hard to make this happen,” said Tapscott. “He’s an important part of McClymond’s history, along with a lot of other famous graduates,” he said.