8/21/23 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

In small-town Alabama in 1932, Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) is a lawyer and a widower. He has two young children, Jem and Scout. Atticus Finch is currently defending Tom Robinson (Brock Peters), a Black man accused of raping a white woman. Meanwhile, Jem and Scout are intrigued by their neighbors, the Radleys, in particular the mysterious, seldom-seen Boo Radley.
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5/22/23 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: I Am Not Your Negro

Master filmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished, Remember This House. The result is a radical, up-to-the-minute examination of race in America, using Baldwin’s original words and flood of rich archival material. I Am Not Your Negro is a journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of Black Lives Matter. 
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5/3/23 O&A NYC MILESTONES- HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES BROWN: Live at the Boston Garden, April 5, 1968

On April 5th 1968, James Brown gave a free concert at The Boston Garden which became a thing of legend.  Only 24 hours earlier civil rights activist Dr Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated resulting in widespread violence across the United States. The mayor of Boston was persuaded to let the concert go ahead and it was broadcast live across the city by WGBH-TV. Continue reading

4/25/23 O&A NYC IN MEMORARIUM:  Harry Belafonte Dies At 96

Harry Belafonte, a multi-talented entertainer and activist who broke barriers in the film and music industry, and was instrumental in the civil rights movement has died at 96.
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2/28/23 O&A NYC INSPIRATIONAL TUESDAY: The Wade’s Fight For Human Rights at the NAACP Image Awards ’23

Truth speaking to power and the world Dwanye Wade and his wife Dabrielle Union share their admiration for their daughter Zaya Malachi Airamis Wade while receiving the President’s Award  at the 54th Annual NAACP Image Awards ’23.  Continue reading

3/14/22 O&A NYC BLACK FACTS: The Tuskegee Experiment

From 1932 to 1972, the United States Public Health Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention operated an extremely unethical medical experiment on the effects of outcomes of untreated syphilis. During the Tuskegee Experiment hundreds of poor Black men from Macon County, Alabama were enrolled in the study, and treatment for syphilis was withheld from them. Continue reading

1/17/21 O&A NYC SONG OF THE DAY: We Shall Overcome- Morehouse College  

The Morehouse College Glee Club performs We Shall Overcome, arranged by Wendell P. Whalum, at the 2009 Candle on the Bluff Awards. Continue reading

7/20/21 O&A NYC INSPIRATIONAL TUESDAY: Muhammad Ali – Dropping Knowledge (1974)

Professional boxer, activist, poet and philanthropist Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. on January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky. Ali is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sports figures of the 20th century. Known as The Greatest he was one of the greatest boxers of all time. Continue reading

5/4/21 O&A NYC LOCKDOWN LEARNING: Malcolm X – Interview At Berkeley (1963)

Malcolm X, being interviewed by Professor John Leggett and Herman Blake (graduate student) (Dept. of Sociology) at the University of California, Berkeley in October 1963, discusses being a Black Muslim, the conditions of Blacks in this country, their relation with white people, and states the case for Black separatism. Originally recorded October 11, 1963,  Continue reading

5/3/21 O&A NYC LOCKDOWN LEARNING: The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow Episode 1 Promises Betrayed

The premiere episode begins with the end of the Civil War and Reconstruction, periods that held so much promise for free black men and women. But as the North gradually withdrew its support for black aspirations for land, civil and political rights, and legal due process, Southern whites succeeded in passing laws that segregated and disfranchised African Americans, laws that were reinforced with violence and terror tactics. Continue reading