September 12, 1968(September 12, 1968)– March 7, 1973(March 7, 1973)
Soul! (also stylized in uppercase[1][2]) is a performance/variety television program that showcased African American music, dance and literature in the late 1960s and early 1970s.[3] It was produced by New York City public television station WNDT (later rebranded as WNET during its run), and distributed by NET and its successor PBS.
The program was funded in part by the Ford Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, who characterized it in 1970 as "the only nationally televised weekly series oriented to the black community and produced by blacks."[4]
Line-up
WNDT aired the first in a series of 39 one-hour programs entitled Soul! on Thursday, September 12, 1968. The program was video-taped inside WNDT's then-West 55th Street Studios in Manhattan. The original co-hosts were noted black Harvard psychologist Alvin Poussaint and educator Loretta Long (who, one year later, took on the role of Susan Robinson on Sesame Street). Poussaint is a noted author, public- speaker, and television consultant and is well-known for his research on racism's effect in the black community. His work in psychology is influenced greatly by the civil rights movement in the South, which he joined in 1965.
Mr. SOUL! The Movie Premiered at The Tribeca Film Festival
For the edition airing on October 24, Poussaint was replaced by series creator Ellis Haizlip, an openly gay African American man, closely associated with the Black Arts Movement.[3] Haizlip and Long co-host Soul! until December 5, after which Haizlip became its sole host. Poet Nikki Giovanni was also a frequent guest host.[5]Soul! ended on March 7, 1973.
Its viewership in the African American community was enormous: a 1968 Harris poll estimated that more than 65% of African American households with access to the show watched it on a regular basis.[3] In 1970 it was carried by 72 public television stations.[4]
Gayle Wald writes that "Soul! offered viewers radical ways of imagining—of hearing, feeling, and seeing—black community. Musically speaking, Soul! refused the division of black arts into high and low culture: the music of the concert hall versus the music of the Apollo. Soul! made room for both…"[3]
Ivan Cury was the program's staff director until 1970, when Stan Lathan (later a veteran television director and father of actress Sanaa Lathan) assumed the position. Producers included writer Alonzo Brown and actress Anna Marie Horsford, (later known for her roles on television series Amen and The Wayans Bros.). Occasional host Loretta Greene later appeared in the movies Black Girl and 1984's Solomon Northup's Odyssey, the original version of 12 Years a Slave.
On April 22, 2018, Mr. SOUL! - a documentary film about Haizlip directed, produced and written by his niece Melissa Haizlip, premiered at New York City's Tribeca Film Festival. The award-winning film was released in limited theaters and virtual cinemas on August 28, 2020. As of December 2020, the film has won 19 awards, including 14 film festival awards.[8][9][10] The documentary premiered on PBS on February 22, 2021.
National Educational Television (NET) was an American educational broadcast television network owned by the Ford Foundation and later co-owned by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It operated from May 16, 1954, to October 4, 1970, and was succeeded by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which has memberships with many television stations that were formerly part of NET.
WNET, branded on-air as "Thirteen", is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group, it is a sister station to the area's secondary PBS member, Garden City, New York–licensed WLIW, and two class A stations: WMBQ-CD, and WNDT-CD. The WNET Group also operates New Jersey's PBS state network NJ PBS, and the website NJ Spotlight through an outsourcing agreement.
American Public Television (APT) is an American nonprofit organization and syndicator of programming for public television stations in the United States. It distributes public television programs nationwide for PBS member stations and independent educational stations, as well as the Create and World television networks.
A pledge drive is an extended period of fundraising activities, generally used by public broadcasting stations to increase contributions. The term "pledge" originates from the promise that a contributor makes to send in funding at regular intervals for a certain amount of time. During a pledge drive, regular and special programming is followed by on-air appeals for pledges by station employees, who ask the audience to make their contributions, usually by phone or the Internet, during this break.
Stan Lathan is an American television and film director and television producer. He is executive producer and director of BET's Real Husbands of Hollywood. He has produced and directed numerous stand-up comedy specials starring comedian Dave Chappelle, including Killin' Them Softly, Equanimity, The Bird Revelation, Sticks & Stones, and The Closer
WNYE-TV is a non-commercial independent television station in New York City. It is operated by NYC Media, a division of the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, alongside public radio station WNYE. The two stations share studios at the City University of New York's Graduate Center in Midtown Manhattan, while WNYE-TV's transmitter is located at 4 Times Square.
Black Ivory is an American R&B group from Harlem, which had a number of hits in the 1970s, including "Don't Turn Around", "You and I", "Time Is Love", and "Will We Ever Come Together".
Great Performances is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise theatrical performances such as plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is produced by the PBS member station WNET in New York City.
Loretta Mae Long is an American actress. She played the character of Susan Robinson on Sesame Street from 1969 to 2017. Long is also a consultant and public speaker on issues of multiculturalism and education. With the death of Bob McGrath in 2022, she became the show's last surviving original human main cast member.
WNDT-CD, is a class A low–power, First Nations Experience-affiliated television station, licensed to New York, New York. Owned by The WNET Group, it is sister to the city's two PBS member stations—Newark, New Jersey-licensed WNET and Garden City, New York-licensed WLIW —and Class A station WMBQ-CD.
WMBQ-CD is a class A television station in New York City, affiliated with First Nations Experience. Owned by The WNET Group, it is sister to the city's two PBS member stations, Newark, New Jersey–licensed WNET and Garden City, New York–licensed WLIW, as well as WNDT-CD.
Christopher Lukas is an American writer, stage actor, television producer and director who, for the past fifty-five years, has worked primarily for public television. From 1963 to 1971 he produced for WNET in New York City, making over 200 hours of programming for the educational station. In 1969 he was promoted to director of programming.
Black Journal is an American public affairs television program on National Educational Television (NET) and later WNET. It covered issues relevant to African-American communities with film crews sent to Atlanta, Detroit, New Orleans, and Los Angeles, and Ethiopia. The program was originally an hour-long broadcast each month. In 1971, the journalist Tony Brown took over leadership and later the series transitioned to commercial television under the name Tony Brown’s Journal. The series later returned to public television in 1982 under the new name. Other executive producers included documentary filmmakers Madeline Anderson, William Greaves and St. Clair Bourne.
Stuart D. Bascombe is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Bascombe is an original member of the R&B/soul vocal group Black Ivory who recorded a number of R&B hits in the 1970s, including "Don't Turn Around", "You and I", "Time Is Love", "I'll Find a Way ", and their disco hit "Mainline".
Ellis B. Haizlip was an American television and theatrical producer, broadcaster and promoter of African American culture. Haizlip is best known as the creator, producer and host of the television variety show, SOUL!.
Russell Patterson is an American singer, songwriter, recording artist, record producer, and actor. Patterson is an original member of the 1970s R&B Group, Black Ivory who recorded a number of R&B hits including, "Don't Turn Around", "You and I", "I'll Find A Way ", "Time Is Love", and "Mainline".
Mr. Soul! is a 2018 American documentary film produced, written and directed by documentary filmmaker Melissa Haizlip. The film was co-produced by Doug Blush and co-directed by Sam Pollard. The film tells the story of Ellis Haizlip, the producer and host of SOUL!, the music-and-talk program that aired on public television from 1968 to 1973 and aimed at a Black audience. It was released in 2018 and has since received 21 filmmaking awards. Attorney Chaz Ebert, record executive Ron Gillyard, producer and director Stan Lathan, producer Rishi Rajani, producer Stephanie T. Rance, actor Blair Underwood and screenwriter, producer and actress Lena Waithe are the executive producers of the film.
Melissa Haizlip is an American film producer, director and writer most notable for her 2018 award winning film, Mr. SOUL!. Haizlip won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Documentary for Mr. SOUL!.
Mary E. Nelson Wilburn was an American lawyer and government official. She also taught German at Howard University, was chair of the Wisconsin Parole Board from 1986 to 1987, and was president of the International Federation of Women Lawyers from 2000 to 2002.
Black public affairs television was a genre of American television program. It began in the late 1960s, after the underrepresentation of Black people in media. These programs focused on issues for the Black community, while also sharing local news and Black culture.
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