News & Notes- Farewell to One of My Favs

One of my all-time favorite radio shows, NPR’s News and Notes is having its last show today. Too sad. I love this show!

News & Notes is a show that tells news from an "African American Perspective" and I catch it on Clark Atlanta’s jazz station 91.9 FM (a cool place to hang your radio dial). They tell stories about Hazel Scot, the first black woman to have her own TV show in the 1940’s (It didn’t last too long, she was blackballed by Hollywood. But imagine a black woman on TV in America in the 40’s and only in 2008 did someone write a book about her- News & Notes is where I heard her story). They profiled a movement of women in Liberia that went on to play an integral role in ending the violence ravaging their country in war time. These are only 2 examples of what I’ll truly miss about the show— the varied perspectives and points of view they brought to the table (and these 2 examples don’t do it justice— they really covered news and stories from every corner of black life. I"m just too lazy to list others).

It’s on NPR so I guess you could say there’s a bit of “liberal” slant if you’re one to categorize, but listening to the show I got the idea that there was no concern about advancing an ideology or a specific take on black life. They just wanted to tell true stories about the millions of people that are born black (however that manifests itself) and the world they live in. I haven’t seen any broadcast on tv or radio attack news and stories from such varied angles as this show. I know there’s always the internet/google, but News & Notes brought a myriad of viewpoints under one roof. Not to mention the host, Farai Chideya, is a class act who really knows how to get to the heart of any interview in very little time all while displaying a genuine interest in whatever the topic may be.

Sigh, it will be missed.