Prepare for a journey that will take you back to the days of the Underground Railroad, the great Pan American Exposition, the powerful Niagara Movement which led to the creation of the NAACP, and the golden era of jazz when Buffalo’s Colored Musicians Club featured some of the nation’s greatest musical artists. This history has been documented by WIVB-TV in Buffalo through Emmy Award winning television specials produced at the dawn of the new millennium. I was privileged to have co-hosted these long form journalistic endeavors with WIVB-TV reporter Mylous Hairston. A team of highly gifted and dedicated videographers, editors, and graphic artists helped put a human face on struggles that continue to this day.
-Rich Newberg, WIVB-TV Senior Correspondent (ret.)
May 27, 2020
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A Change of Course: Taking Destiny in Their Own Hands
WIVB-TV
When the Freedom Schooner Amistad sailed into Buffalo Harbor, Western New Yorkers connected with the horrors of slavery and the value of freedom. Visitors boarding this re-creation of the slave ship La Amistad experienced the cramped quarters where Africans freed themselves from their chains, rose up against their oppressors, and changed the course of the ship and history. "A Change of Course" also shows how challenges of the 21st century are being met by African American Buffalo churches whose congregants are also taking destiny in their own hands. Multi-million dollar development projects are addressing the economic, social, and health needs of the community. Reported by WIVB-TV Senior Correspondent Rich Newberg and Mylous Hairston. Produced by Rich Newberg, Tom Vetter, Rich Ersing, Mylous Hairston. Executive Producer: Chris Musial. Aired on WIVB-TV: February 4, 2004.
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Beyond the Road to Freedom
WIVB-TV
The modern civil rights movement in the United States had its earliest roots in the Niagara region of New York State. In 1901 the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo offered both hope and despair for an aspiring African American community in the country's eighth largest city at the time. "Beyond the Road to Freedom," a New York Emmy Award winning documentary, revisits this history and also takes the viewer on the freedom trails through Western New York. It shows how the Buffalo Niagara region is bringing history alive through reenactments at authentic sites dating back to the days of abolitionism. Reported by Rich Newberg and Mylous Hairston. Photographed and edited by Tom Vetter and Don Dawkins.
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Buffalo Soul: The Legacy Plays On
WIVB-TV
Aging African American musicians reflect on Buffalo's glory days as a great jazz city, highlighting the jam sessions at the Colored Musicians Club. Includes a tribute to the late Al Tinney, one of the founding fathers of modern jazz. The challenges faced by African Americans drawn to Buffalo for job opportunities are examined by Buffalonian Eva Noles, known for breaking the color barrier in the nursing profession.
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Judge John Curtin: Reflections on Affirmative Action
WIVB-TV
U.S. District Court Judge John Thomas Curtin (August 24, 1921 - April 14, 2017) was interviewed by WIVB-TV Senior Correspondent Rich Newberg on April 18, 1995. The subject was affirmative action. Judge Curtin issued rulings establishing minority hiring quotas in Buffalo’s police and fire departments and within the Buffalo School District. He believed minorities lacked opportunities for jobs and a quality education, resulting in what he once called “a poorly trained underclass” that became reliant on welfare. Born in Buffalo, Curtin served as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York from 1961 to 1967 before being nominated by President Lyndon Johnson for a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of New York. He had been recommended by New York Senator Robert Kennedy. John Curtin was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 14, 1967. In 1976 Judge Curtin ordered that Buffalo public schools be desegregated. He ruled that minority students in Buffalo had been denied equal protection under the law, and that a segregated school system in Buffalo had been intentionally maintained. His rulings led to the hiring of more minority teachers and the creation of academically strong magnet schools that would encourage students of all races to accept being bused to these high level schools. Though Judge Curtin was targeted for criticism and sometimes even death threats by those who felt his rulings were overreaching, he consistently ruled in favor of removing barriers that had been built on “unfairness, bigotry (and) bias” against minorities, women, children, and those with special challenges.
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The Life and Legacy of Rev. Bennett Walker Smith
WIVB-TV
Series of reports on the life of Rev. Bennett Smith of Buffalo, who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1960s. He died on August 7, 2001. Reports cover Rev. Smith's funeral, attended by New York Senator Hillary Clinton, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, among the dignitaries. Archival interviews with Rev. Smith are included, as he reflects on his efforts to help those he once referred to as 'the least, the lost, and the left out.' He was the pastor of St. John Baptist Church in Buffalo for twenty-nine years. He was a player on the national civil rights stage. Interviews include Buffalo NAACP President Frank Mesiah, Rev. Smith's widow, Marilyn Smith, Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark, and former New York Assembly Deputy Speaker Arthur O. Eve. Rev. Smith's funeral lasted four hours. His last project was building the Family Life Center for education, health, recreation and counseling. Speakers at his funeral included Hillary Clinton, Governor George Pataki, Buffalo Mayor Anthony Masiello, and Buffalo Common Council President Jim Pitts.
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The Promise of 100 Years: The Pride of a People
WIVB-TV
The organized struggle for civil rights in America had its early roots in Buffalo, New York in 1905. Hoping to create a great "current of protest," W.E.B. Dubois and fellow activists met at the home of Mary Talbert and voiced their demands for equality by establishing the Niagara Movement. It led to the creation of the N.A.A.C.P. A century later, African Americans in Buffalo's inner city are still struggling with poverty, crime, and unemployment. Many students fall far behind in school because of poor reading skills. See how these challenges are now being addressed, and how African culture is being preserved and promoted through the arts. "Minute by minute, hour by hour," says and old African proverb, "if we lose our history, we lose our power." Features reflections by former New York Deputy Assembly speaker and Buffalo mayoral candidate, Arthur O. Eve.
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The Road to Freedom
WIVB-TV
Highlights Buffalo's unique role in the abolitionist movement. Uses reenactments, old photographs and drawings, and interviews with historians and preservationists such as Dr. Monroe Fordham, Jesse Nash, Jr., George Arthur, Rev. William Henderson, and Kevin Cottrell, to tell the story of Buffalo's critical role as the last stop on the Underground Railroad. Discusses significant sites in Buffalo to be preserved, such as the Michigan Street Baptist Church and the Nash house.
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The Vision and the Victory
WIVB-TV
The election of Byron Brown as Buffalo's first African American mayor came one hundred years after the nation's modern civil rights movement was born on the Niagara Frontier. The Niagara Movement, which began in 1905, was the forerunner of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "The Vision and the Victory" celebrates Brown's historic election and shows how Buffalo's historic role in the struggle for civil rights has received national recognition, including perspectives from former Secretary of State Colin Powell, N.A.A.C.P. Chairman Julian Bond, and New York Senator and former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.
