WABC’s Tribute to Gil Noble, a Harbinger of BAD Things to Come

ASK YOURSELF WHAT KIND OF TRIBUTE TO "LIKE IT IS" COULD BE GIVEN WITHOUT EVER EVEN MENTIONING THE NAME OF ELOMBE BRATH?

[Commentary On WABC and Gil Noble]
 
Last Thursday, in the hours before the filming of the so called tribute to Gil Noble, several of the people scheduled to be on the tribute,  New York City Councilman Charles Barron, Betty Dopson, Ralph Carter and Herb Boyd met with WABC Station Manager Dave Davis.

The group had heard that they were being used to validate a new series called “Here and Now,” that  WABC was “slipping in” under the guise of a tribute to Gil Noble.  Barron threatened that the group would all  refuse to appear on the show unless Davis agreed that more community input would be involved in developing ABC’s new program.

After a tense stand off Davis agreed to withold calling this program  the continuation of “Like it is” and agreed to call it simply a “Tribute to Gil Noble.” He agreed to a subsequent meeting  on Monday to discuss  what would be necessary to continue the tradition of Gil Noble and  maintain the cultural and historical integrity of the series.

Charles Barron was eloquent and forceful during the Thursday meeting. He was also eloquent and forceful during the subsequent taping. That is why Barron’s actual remarks from the taping were completely cut out of the program that was broadcast and a tape from some earlier interview was substituted.  At the end of the program Barron was shown in studio saying one sentence or so and an abrupt and very amateurish cut was made to some earlier tape featuring Gil Noble saying that time was up.

After the taping, Baron was contacted and told that some technical difficulties resulted in his remarks being cut out of the show.  So much for Davis’ promises. Either the new hostess or her bosses at WABC did not want to show Barron praising  Noble specifically for giving voice to revolutionaries and warriors such as Assata Shakur, Mumia Abu Jamal and other political prisoners. 

Barron and CEMOTAP are sceduled to meet with Davis again on Monday 10-17-11. If the blatant censorship of Barron is any indicator, and of course it is, there are difficult days ahead in the struggle with WABC.

ON MONDAY STARTING AT 9 AM  PLEASE CALL 212 456-7777  and ask for  WABC Station manager Don Davis. Tell  whomever you speak to, that YOU OBJECT TO WABC’s USING THE GOOD NAME OF GIL NOBLE TO PROMOTE RACIST CENSORSHIP.  ASK YOURSELF WHAT KIND OF TRIBUTE TO “LIKE IT IS” COULD BE GIVEN WITHOUT EVER EVEN MENTIONING THE NAME OF ELOMBE BRATH?

How could a hostess who called CEMOTAP the Committee to Eliminate Media Offensive to “African Americans” (sic) continue in the tradition of Gil Noble unless she is reeducated? CEMOTAP is the Committee To Eliminate Media Offensive To African People and Gil never got it wrong. ABC’s previously announced intention to call its new series “Here and Now,” reflects the underlying perspective shared by the hostess and her bosses.

They want to limit discussion to  “Here” (USA) from a negro american perspective instead of  “Here”  from a Pan African perspective.  They want to focus on”Now” in a vacuum instead of “Now” in the African historical context that Noble always insisted upon.

Contact: James McIntosh, (718) 322-8454 Committee to Eliminate Media Offensive to African People (CEMOTAP)


“Speaking Truth To Empower.”

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