On Whose Shoulders programs appearing on On CAN TV cable channel 21 carried on AT&T, Comcast, RCN and WideOpenWest cable systems with 1.2 million potential viewers. CAN TV is a 501 c3 nonprofit and the channel is noncommercial.
Airing:
Saturday October 5. 5:00 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.
Saturday October 26. 5:00 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.
Saturday November 9. 5:00 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.
“Claudia Jones: A Woman of Our Times”
5:00 p.m.
Profile of political activist Claudia Jones, the woman who started the Notting Hill Carnival and founded the West Indian Gazette, the first popular newspaper within the Black Community. Claudia Jones, née Claudia Vera Cumberbatch (21 February 1915 – 24 December 1964), was a Trinidad-born journalist and activist. As a child she migrated with her family to the US, where she became a political activist and black nationalist through Communism, using the false name Jones as “self-protective disinformation”.[1] As a result of her political activities, she was deported in 1955 and subsequently resided in the United Kingdom. She founded Britain’s first major black newspaper, West Indian Gazette (WIG), in 1958
“Finally Got the News”
5:30 p.m.
Dir. Stewart Bird, Rene Lichtman and Peter Gessner. Produced in Association with the League of Revolutionary Black Workers| 55min.| 1970
Finally Got the News is a forceful, unique documentary that reveals the activities of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers inside and outside the auto factories of Detroit. Through interviews with the members of the movement, footage shot in the auto plants, and footage of leafleting and picketing actions, the film documents their efforts to build an independent black labor organization that, unlike the UAW, will respond to worker’s problems, such as the assembly line speed-up and inadequate wages faced by both black and white workers in the industry.
Beginning with a historical montage, from the early days of slavery through the subsequent growth and organization of the working class, Finally Got the News focuses on the crucial role played by the black worker in the American economy. Also explored is the educational ‘tracking’ system for both white and black youth, the role of African American women in the labor force, and relations between white and black workers.
“Angela Davis 1972”
6:28 p.m.
In 1972 Angela Davis stopped by Malcolm X College during her presidential campaign for a conversation with fiery journalism pioneer & activist Lutrelle “Lu” Palmer. This is a one-camera recording of that conservation.
American Reds
7:00pm
AMERICAN REDS Director Richard Wormer | 1hr. 25 min | 2016
The documentary AMERICAN REDS provides a historical overview of 20th century Communism and the growth, decline and contemporary relevance of the Communist Party, USA (CPUSA). Since its founding in 1919, the CPUSA has championed the struggles for democracy, labor rights, women’s equality, and racial justice. During its heyday in the 1930s and 1940s, it attracted millions of Americans to support its causes and almost 100,000 men and women to enlist in its ranks. Through powerful and compelling personal stories told by current and former members of the Party, along with commentary from historians and academics, AMERICAN REDS explores the organization’s complex and contradictory efforts to fulfill the highest ideals of human freedom while subordinating itself to the dictatorial policies of the Soviet Union. The program neither demonizes nor romanticizes its subject, but explores its ironies and complexities, and its legacy for today.
Naomi Klein Lecture: “The Shock Doctrine”
8:27 p.m.
Award-winning journalist, syndicated columnist and author, Naomi Klein, talks about her latest book, “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism”
“Black Russians: The Red Experience”
11:29 p.m.
Director Yelena Demikovsky’s work-in-progress documentary about a coterie of dreamers, Black American professionals who left their homeland for the Soviet Union in search of an ideal and saw Stalinist Russia as a promised land. This little known episode in American history resonates with the all-embracing words of Martin Luther King “I have a dream…” that have relevance in today’s world.
“James Baldwin: The Price of a Ticket”
10:02pm
Producer/Director: Karen Thorsen, Producers: William Miles and Douglas K. Dempsey | 87 min. | 1990
The feature-length 16mm documentary James Baldwin: The Price of a Ticket has received stellar reviews and awards. Honored at festivals in over two-dozen countries – including Sundance, London, Berlin and Tokyo – Baldwin was described as “Splendid” by Variety, “A video page-turner” by The San Francisco Chronicle, and “A haunting, beautifully made biography” by the Los Angeles Times. “Stays with you after the program ends,” said the New York Times. An emotional portrait, a social critique, and a passionate plea for human equality, James Baldwin: The Price of a Ticket is now considered a classic. Without using narration, the film allows Baldwin to tell his own story: exploring what it means to be born black, impoverished, gay and gifted – in a world that has yet to understand that “all men are brothers.” Baldwin is a vérité feast. Intercutting rarely-seen archival footage from over one hundred sources and nine different countries, the film melds intimate interviews and eloquent public speeches with astounding private glimpses of Baldwin. The film also includes a rich selection of original footage: scenes from Baldwin’s extraordinary funeral service; explorations of Baldwin’s homes on three continents, including France, Switzerland, Turkey and Harlem; plus on-camera interviews with close friends, colleagues and critics. Witnesses include his brother David; biographer David Leeming; writers Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, William Styron, Ishmael Reed and Yashar Kemal; painter Lucien Happersberger and entertainer Bobby Short. Cinéma Vérité … Passé. Back in 1989,James Baldwin: The Price of a Ticket premiered on PBS/American Masters. Since then, repeated PBS broadcasts have reached millions of people. The film has also been broadcast widely in Europe and Asia – and in 1998, an hour-long version was produced for French National Television. James Baldwin was a major twentieth century American author, a Civil Rights activist and a prophetic voice calling Americans, Black and white, to confront their shared racial tragedy.