Powerpoint audio recordings
Collection
0602-MMC
PowerPoint premiered on September 21, 1997 on National Public Radio member stations as the first live call-in radio show that focused on African American communities’ issues and concerns in their two-hour interactive format. It was broadcast from 1997-2007. The show later moved to WCLK-FM, a jazz radio station in Atlanta, Georgia which is licensed to HBCU Clark Atlanta University. PowerPoint was carried on 30 radio stations that served over 40 markets, as well as 60 public station radio networks. It was also available to 450 other stations that make up the public radio system.
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3 Linear Feet (6 audio cassette boxes )
212 Sound Cassettes : audio cassettes
English
PowerPoint was the first live radio show that focused on African American issues and concerns through their two-hour interactive call-in format. It aired on Sundays at 9:00 p.m. PowerPoint premiered September 21, 1997 on National Public Radio and other affiliated stations in Washington D.C. and later moved to WCLK-FM, a jazz radio station in Atlanta, Georgia, in September 1999. This collection consists of 212 digital audio cassettes (DATs), each containing one complete two-hour program. The recordings include interviews with many Black luminaries and discussions about current events at the time.
PowerPoint was the first live call-in radio show that focused on African American communities’ issues and concerns in their two-hour interactive format. It aired on Sunday from 9-11pm (EST) and broadcast from 1997-2007. The series premiered on September 21, 1997, on National Public Radio member stations, and two years later moved to WCLK-FM, a jazz radio station in Atlanta, Georgia which is licensed to HBCU Clark Atlanta University. PowerPoint was carried on 30 radio stations that served over 40 markets, as well as 60 public station radio networks. It was also available to 450 member stations that comprise the public radio system. The show ended in 2007.
PowerPoint was produced by Debi Wiliams, Rose Holmes, Lee McDaniel, and was executive produced by Reggie Hicks and Tony Reuters. They produced several live shows throughout America in Montgomery, Alabama, San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Miami. Verna Avery Brown, Bruce Dourton, and Fonda Smith were the directors of the show’s news segments, and various guest hosts throughout the years included Kenny Walker, Ralph Wiley, Carmen Burns, Dr James Gavin II, and Dr. Mary Harrison.
PowerPoint created many series that explored the Black experience through different lenses. One of their most popular series was “Evening With” in which the episode’s host interviewed Black celebrities, musicians, writers, athletes, activists, scholars, and scientists. These interviews included blues singer Koko Taylor, activist Angela Davis, sci-fi author Octavia Butler, poet Nikki Giovanni, and ball player Buck O’Neill, among many others. Their “Ambassador Roundtable” series was also groundbreaking for public radio at the time, according to Hicks, because they tackled political, economic, and current and historical topics from African nations such as Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, and Somalia. The show also collaborated with the National Urban League for their annual "State of Black America", and PowerPoint’s “Journey to Wellness” series, which educated listeners on important health topics, won the Best Media Healthcare Program award from The Atlanta Medical Association.
This collection contains audiovisual materials. Items that cannot be used in the Special Collections reading room or are too fragile for researchers require that a digital copy be made prior to use. If you would like to access these materials, please contact us prior to your visit.
This collection was donated to the University of Maryland Libraries by Reginald F. Hicks on July 20, 2022.
This collection has been fully processed. The collection came to the Libraries in no particular order. The processing archivist arranged tapes chronologically.
Tapes were placed in acid-free boxes, and the archivist noted that some tapes are not housed in individual cases.
The inventory list was created by using information that was created by the donor. Some tapes remain untitled.
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