Initial Broadcast Date: April 17, 1972
30 minutes -- Color
The black Mayor of Newark, NJ, who is attempting to govern a predominately black city of 400,000 suffering from the dismaying cycle of soaring taxes, a massive black unemployment rate, insufficient municipal services and a high crime rate – still remains optimistic about the quality of life in Newark and says: “I don’t think the solutions to the city’s problems will come dramatically. I think they will come gradually.”
That’s just one observation made by Newark Mayor Kenneth A. Gibson on Black Journal program entitled “Black Newark.”
A second report on Newark will be presented a week later on Black Journal. That program, “Nowhere to Live,” will examine the critical housing problem in Newark and will feature interviews with Imamu Amiri Baraka and his supporters who have been waging a six-month effort to have the stalemated Kawaida Towers project erected but have encountered heavy opposition from Assemblyman Anthony Imperiale and his followers.
In its continuing profiles of American cities that have majority black populations, Black Journal examines Newark, a city that previous to Gibson’s administration was fraught with embezzlement and fraud. Newark is now being partially revitalized through government aid and private investments in the core area. Mayor Gibson has established a national reputation for his role in attempting to stabilize the city.
Appearing on the program will be Dennis Westbrooks, Sharee James and Earl Harris, Newark’s three black councilmen. The program will also report on the controversy at the Vailsburgh High School – a current source of racial tension – and feature an interview with Newark School Board member Adhimu Chunga (Lawrence Hamm), the 18-year-old black appointed to the Board by Mayor Gibson
“Black Journal” is a production of WNET New York.
Executive producer: Tony Brown
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