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Public radio is not known for its diversity. I know this well, I& #39;ve often been the only black man in many a newsroom, show or desk in my career. It didn& #39;t quite like the Twilight Zone until I contributed to @nprfreshair
I interviewed @eveewing about her book of poetry 1919 last year. She also wrote a landmark book "Ghosts in the School Yard" about Chicago schools, she also has a comic book series #ironheart She teaches at U of C and she hosted the Studs Terkel pod. My interview never aired.
A few weeks ago, the show exec Danny Miller emailed to give me "credit" for introducing the show to Eve (as if she& #39;d been hiding under a rock) and Terry Gross would be doing it. https://www.npr.org/2020/06/15/877108426/poet-eve-ewing-connects-1919-chicago-to-todays-racial-unrest">https://www.npr.org/2020/06/1...
For Dr. Ewing& #39;s sake it& #39;s clearly better to have done the full scale interview with Terry Gross on @nprfreshair than a member of the JV squad like me. However, erasing a conversation between 2 black Chicagoans talking about race and violence seems, tone death.
What stuns me about @nprfreshair is the power it has in the publishing, tv and film communities. Juxtapose that to the appalling lack of color on the show. In Fresh Air& #39;s history it& #39;s only had 1 black editorial staffer in nearly 45 years on the air! Read that again.
Book publicists consider a booking on the show to be the Holy Grail. When a book gets on @nprfreshair it sells out. Hollywood stars often refuse to do other public radio shows unless they talk to Terry.
I went to @nprfreshair with open eyes. Hearing the stories from my #wemakewhyy colleagues as part of @sagaftra I knew of many problems. But a show about culture that& #39;s broadcast from Philadelphia without black staff? A city that& #39;s 44% black. C& #39;mon.
Fresh Air in many ways sets the standard for public radio& #39;s sound, and is powerful enough to set or change the agenda in publishing and Hollywood. It does it without any black voices at the table. I know public radio can do better.