A new program made its debut earlier this month, "GBH News Rooted" is a successor to "Basic Black," the long running, iconic public TV program that was itself a successor to "Say Brother." The show covered topical issues pertaining to communities of color in Massachusetts, largely the African American community. Joining NEPM's Kari Njiiri is Paris Alston, the host of "GBH News Rooted."
Kari Njiiri, NEPM: Paris, welcome!
Paris Alson, "GBH News Rooted": Thank you so much for having me. It's like a family reunion!
Well, "GBH News Rooted" has been described as a reimagined "Basic Black." What does that mean for you?
For me, that means continuing a legacy that starts in 1968 with, "Say Brother" and extends all the way now to 2025, when we find ourselves, definitely not in the wake of a civil rights figure's assassination, but I think in in a moment when the country is really digging deep to try to find its soul again, right? And what better way to provide a little bit of soul than with a show like "GBH News Rooted?"
I am here to cement my place and the program's place in this history that we are living through, just as "Basic Black" and "Say Brother" did in the past. And I'm excited to see what comes with that — challenge and triumph alike.
What kinds of topics are you looking to cover?
We have this tagline that we use, which is that "GBH News Rooted" is serving up Black intellect, culture, and joy. And so we want to run the gamut in all of those categories. We are prioritizing having a full spectrum of the Black experience on this show.
The program came about after a great deal of public input from people across the state, including here in Western Mass., following the decision to discontinue "Basic Black." It was one of the few programs that dealt with communities of color in the Bay state. It was also heavily focused on metro Boston. How will "GBH News Rooted" be different, or will it be?
...during our period of doing what we called listening sessions in the community, we came out to New England Public Media and met with stakeholders and residents in Springfield, who gave us some really amazing and poignant insights about what the show had done before and what they wanted it to see it do in this new iteration. And what I really appreciated about that moment was having this intergenerational conversation among people who knew the show really well and its past iterations, and people who didn't know the show at all, right. And maybe even didn't know GBH at all. And so I love Springfield. I'm a huge basketball fan. And so I'm like, can we do something at the Basketball Hall of Fame? But also, can we do something in the streets of Springfield?
I came there in 2021 to do a story about vaccination rates among communities of color there, and I would love to follow up on a story like that and just see, you know, how Covid and the impact of Covid is resonating. And I'm sure there are so many other stories on your streets. And so I'm hoping to learn more about that in the coming months.
There's a digital component to "GBH News Rooted." How important is that online presence?
This is extremely important, because this is a digital first program. We are really producing content that we want to shine on platforms like YouTube, TikTok or Instagram, as well as making social media first content on those platforms. This is something we've never done before. We're so used to producing a television show and then having the residual sprinkles of that show go elsewhere, but we're really having to rewire the way we think about this and the way that we produce content like this, to make sure that we can meet that goal. And the intention there is to meet people wherever they may be.
Some of that digital content is also going to be found on the broadcast versions.
Exactly. So, what we'll be doing is having content that we place there to air as part of the show.
Do you plan on highlighting other communities of color?
Yeah, I appreciate this question a lot. We have a lot of intersection with other marginalized communities, and we have to talk about those relationships in a symbiotic way. NPR did a story a while back about the impact of Asian women coming to the US after the Vietnam War and and doing things like learning how to do nails and setting up nail salons. And so now there are a few spaces that we see Black and Asian American women holding hands. And we want to talk about things like that and what that relationship may mean.
Also, thinking about indigenous cultures and Latino cultures as well, and understanding the intersect around something like spirituality, right? When you think about Yoruba or indigenous spiritual religions. In a time when I think spirituality is a really big thing on a lot of people's minds, it would be fascinating to have a conversation about how it shows up in those different places. I'm thinking about Black Muslims and kind of where they stand in the context of the conflict that we're seeing in Gaza and even in Black Jewish people as well.
I think we can all recognize how the Black experience crosses over so many aspects of everyday life, not just in the US, but in the world. "Say Brother" and "Basic Black" had those conversations and we are looking to continue them.
