RIP: Gil Noble, Journalist Who Told It "Like It Is"

February 22, 1932 - April 5, 2012

The content of Noble's groundbreaking show, "Like It Is", was developed for a Black audience to address Black issues and the plight of African people. However, the genius of Gil Noble was that he was able to show people from all walks of life that the struggles affecting Blacks and Africans are the struggles of us all. Thus, his documentaries and special reports took on a whole new dimension and allowed his audience to expand and include people of all races. How many in the history of journalism have been able to accomplish such a feat? I would say the number is in the single digits.   

From The G-Man will reserve "space" for the late WABC-TV icon and not publish any news or information until April 16. The next two and a half days of "non-coverage" will serve as a special tribute to a man that was the personification of excellence and integrity... and relentless in his pursuit of the truth and uplifting the Black race. 

Thank you, Mr. Noble, and may you forever rest in peace.

This commentary is from the heart and......from The G-Man.

Note: The Noble family is accepting donations for the preservation of the Gil Noble Archives. Donations can be mailed to the following: Gil Noble Archives, P.O. Box 43138, Upper Montclair, New Jersey 07043. Contributions can also be made online at www.gilnoblearchive.com.

Herb Boyd to Host Discussion on Malcolm X

"By Any Means Necessary Malcolm X: Real, Not Reinvented" Will be the Focus

On March 16, at 7:30 pm, Amsterdam News reporter Herb Boyd will host a discussion on his latest publication By Any Means Necessary Malcolm X: Real, Not Reinvented. 

The book, which was edited by Boyd and several other acclaimed authors, and the discussion take a close look at how and why El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, the iconic Malcolm X, some forty-seven years after his 1965 assassination, remains an indelible figure on the American political landscape. 

The discussion will also examine how the legendary leader's words, stance, and his behaviors ever bring to the fore debates and controversy regarding the better path by Blacks towards their own liberation and justice within the American social and economic construct.

The Iconic Malcolm X

The event will be held at the Hubert Hubert Harrison-Theodore Allen Society (HAS) at the Brecht Forum, 451 West Street, New York (Bank & Bethune Streets, at the Westside Drive in the Village).  

HAS is an outgrowth of lectures lead by Jeffrey B. Perry, Ph.D. Its purpose is to deepen the understanding of the Black/Euro-American Divide through the use of selected texts, books, studies and experiences in all aspects, historical and contemporary.

Boyd is an awarding-winning author and journalist and has published 22 books and countless articles for national magazines and newspapers. Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America: An Anthology (One World/Ballantine, 1995), co-edited with Robert Allen of the Black Scholar journal, won the American Book Award for nonfiction.

In 1999, Boyd won three first place awards from the New York Association of Black Journalists for his articles published in the Amsterdam News. Among his most popular books are Black Panthers for Beginners (Writers & Readers, 1995); Autobiography of a People: Three Centuries of African American History Told By Those Who Lived It (Doubleday, 2000); Race and Resistance: African Americans in the 21st Century (South End Press, 2002); The Harlem Reader (Crown Publishers, 2003); We Shall Overcome: A History of the Civil Rights Movement (Sourcebooks, 2004); and Pound for Pound:The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson (Amistad, 2005).

In 2006, Boyd worked with world music composer Yusef Lateef on his autobiography The Gentle Giant, which was published by Morton Books of New Jersey. In 2008, he published Baldwin's Harlem: A Biography of James Baldwin, and is working with filmmaker Keith Beauchamp on several projects.

Boyd has been inducted into both the Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent and the Madison Square Garden Hall of Fame as a journalist.

Along with his writing, Boyd is national and international correspondent for Free Speech TV. A graduate of Wayne State University in Detroit, Boyd teaches African and African-American History at the College of New Rochelle in the Bronx, and is an adjunct instructor at City College in the Black Studies Department.

For more information on the event, call (212) 242-4201. 

Photos courtesy of Herb Boyd.

News Icon and 'Like It Is' Host Gil Noble Suffers Stroke

Doctors Say Stroke Was Very Serious, But Noble in Stable Condition

Details provided in the following article that was published in the August 4 edition of the New York Daily News.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2011/08/04/2011-08-04_wabcch_7s_like_it_is_host_gil_noble_hospitalized_for_serious_stroke_but_in_stabl.html

From The G-Man wishes the legendary journalist a full and speedy recovery.

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