African-American Life in Central Illinois
A series of WILL-TV specials produced in 1968 and 1969 presented a vivid snapshot of the lives of African Americans in central Illinois. WILL recovered and preserved this archival material with generous support from the University of Illinois Library and the Center for Democracy in a Multiracial Society. Now we are engaging the community in an effort to relate this material to African-American life in Central Illinois 40 years later.
This Bus Stops
In central Illinois communities in 1968, the yellow school became a central issue in black parents’ insistence on a quality education for their children. This documentary looks at school busing and the grievances of black students and parents. Decatur high school students discuss their reasons for a school walkout on Nov. 25, 1968, including a need for more black teachers and counselors, more black history courses, and a greater voice in the educational process. Champaign activist John Lee Johnson discusses the work of the Concerned Citizens Committee formed to look at what was happening to black students in schools.
view edited segment (length: 5:55)
view full episode archive (length: 1:28:28)
Black and Proud
Black and Proud explores the growing awareness among black residents of central Illinois of their heritage and contributions to American society. Homemaker Eunice Patterson demonstrates her method of cooking soul food including collard greens, chitlins, sweet potato pie, cornbread and heavenly hash. A University of Illinois student group demonstrates African dance, and models present an Afro-American style show with traditional clothing from Africa. In one of several discussion segments, the founders of The Black Vanguard, a black newspaper in Danville, Ill., talk about why they began publishing in April 1968.
view edited segment (length: 7:22)
view full episode archive (length: 1:00:10)
Once a Ghetto
Once a Ghetto looks at urban renewal projects in Decatur, Danville and Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and at the growing awareness that bulldozing a neighborhood for urban renewal involved more than replacing the demolished housing with better structures. Does the bulldozer destroy the social bonds of the residents? What happens to the people who lived in the neighborhoods? What have cities done to assist them? The program examines the Greenwood Urban Renewal Project in Decatur and follows urban renewal attempts by the Committee for Community Rehabilitation in Danville. A panel discussion about the psychological effects of public housing and how public housing could be improved includes Erma Bridgewater, Champaign urban renewal activist, and others.
view edited segment (length: 4:48)
view full episode archive (length: 1:28:15)
Justice: Color Blind … or Just Blind?
Justice: Color Blind … or Just Blind? looks at black community attitudes toward the court system, with discussions among lawyers, public defenders, law professors and prosecutors about the validity of complaints about racial inequities. In part one, black leaders of the Association for Black Action in Decatur voice beliefs that black people in central Illinois are presumed guilty until found innocent. WILL-TV’s Henry Lippold questions officials, including prosecutors and judges, about issues such as whether whites are more often released from jail on their own recognizance than blacks, whether bond is set higher for blacks than whites in similar cases, and whether juries are racially balanced. Part two features discussions with defense attorneys and public defenders about incarceration of indigent defendants before they are found guilty and other issues of inequity.
view edited segment (length: 8:46)
view full episode one (length: 1:01:26)
