The onslaught of the Trump administration’s mandate for federally funded outlets to shut down their DEI initiatives or face the pull of federal funding has affected long-stranding cultural platforms like PBS.
Earlier this month, Paula Kerger, President and CEO of PBS, issued a statement about the changes. “To ensure that we are complying with the president’s executive order, we have closed our DEI office,” the statement read.
While the PBS DEI office may be closed, the network remains steadfast in presenting cultural programming for all. “Our mission to educate, engage and inspire the wide variety of American communities we serve will continue to be at the center of our work, and we’ll also continue to ensure that PBS remains a welcoming place for everyone.”
One highly-anticipated project is American Masters – The Disappearance of Miss Scott, a documentary about the groundbreaking singer and civil rights activist, premiering tonight.
“For the first time, here is a film celebrating a groundbreaking artist we sadly know almost nothing about today,” filmmaker Nicole London told EBONY. “She was one of the first Black women to host a television show in the U.S., used her platform to challenge segregation and was blacklisted during the McCarthy era for her outspoken stance against racial injustice.”
The film features excerpts of Scott’s unpublished autobiography voiced by Sheryl Lee Ralph. “One fascinating thing about Hazel is the uncompromising way she advocated for herself: for her talent, artistry and dignity. So much so that she refused to perform in segregated venues at the height of Jim Crow, insisted on having control over how she was portrayed on screen, made sure that she never played stereotypical roles and commanded a salary that reflected her prodigious talent. This level of agency was almost unheard of for Black artists in the 1940s.”
Adam Clayton Powell III, the son of Scott and renowned politician Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., added: “Two things I hope everyone can take away from this documentary: First, my mother’s sheer musicianship. GRAMMY Award winner Michelle Cann has led a project to recreate and record my mother’s improvisations. Michelle says trying to play them is like performing in the Olympics, but when you look at the clips, my mother isn’t even looking at the keyboard. She’s looking at the audience and smiling. And second, my mother’s determination to do what is right, even if it ended her Hollywood movie career and pioneering network TV show.”
American Masters – The Disappearance of Miss Scott airs on February 21 on PBS. For more Black History Month programming, see “TV Shows Celebrating Our Past and Present.”
