Black Journal; 21

February 19, 1970

Because many scholars have concentrated on Egypt as the original Western civilization almost to the exclusion of more ancient civilizations in Africa, south of the Sahara desert, a Black Journal crew decided to travel to Ethiopia. There they took a look at medieval Ethiopia and examined Coptic Art and the Ethiopian church. They filmed efforts of archaeologists as they dug into the slag heaps of the ancient ruins of Meroe. Moving to Atlanta, Georgia, the crew then filmed the dedication ceremonies of the opening of the Rev. Dr. Martin L. King Jr. Institute of Black Studies. There is also a rebroadcast of a survey of the life and statements of slain black leader Malcolm X. Then Black Journal goes to New England for the dedication of William E. DuBois (a black historian) Park. In this segment are black actor Ossie Davis and Georgia legislator Julian Bond. Black Journal is an NET production. Executive producer: William Greaves. Director: Stan Lathan 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.