Illinois Bell “Black Youth”

Transcript (Download)

Since the beginning of man's recorded history on this planet, he has made his pilgrimage through time and through space with both his effort and his essence centered around eternity.

Eternity for man is that level of achievement and interaction where his human acts and deeds are not only conceived but they are passed on in orderly progression from one generation to the next.

Whatever the accomplishments, whatever the heights of glory, whatever the failures and misgivings of any culture, they are measured by the trials and the triumphs of those who inherit the legacies of the past and test them in the future.

To the un -gifted at land, oh what a lovely precious dream.

To the un -gifted at land, open your heart to what I give.

In the whole world you know, there's a billion more that go to market.

Black youth, the purpose and promise for black community building.

For any culture, the tests come from the kinds of investments that are made by the adult population for its young.

The essence of the black experience is being strengthened and passed on through today's black youth.

We see this in the young blacks who populate our urban communities, reaching, straining, striving to overcome the odds of their ghetto lives and the hardships suffered by their parents and other black adults.

To these black youths struggling with educational processes, the barriers to self -sustaining knowledge may appear very steep but not insurmountable.

Black youth grapple and deal with the realities of black community living at the level of economics and politics.

They have inherited the drawbacks and the pitfalls that result from the absence of real financial and political independence in their areas.

But they have also inherited the fortitude from their forebears to test and challenge all existing and all probable levels of power and authority in search of their own power and authority.

Black youths enter manpower centers and apply for positions that will provide them with extra skills and training, as well as money so direly needed in their homes and families.

Other black teenagers sign up with the Neighborhood Youth Corps for work that will help them in career development.

Still others seek employment through college work -study programs, performing clerical duties or assisting in direct community services.

Important to the entire scope of black youth involvement is the reality of peer relationships.

Employed youths and those still in school lend a hand to those of their group who have lost faith in and abandoned what is commonly accepted as the normal channels of advancement and stability.

Black youth help those of their own generation who have dropped out, who have dropped out of school, out of self, out of society, and out of sight.

The cords of our cultural community are strong enough to support young blacks' involvement with each other.

Whether they are college students at Malcolm X Community College or members of the Black Panthers or the Black Peasstone Nation, in the community of the young and the black, there is an understanding, the human understanding that there are no differences in aspirations and frustrations, only differences in individual situations, opportunity, timing, and luck.

The purpose of black men throughout the historical experience has been to carve out, affirm, politicize, and pass on that special niche which was and still is our own claim and human right to self -preservation and self -determination.

As black youth take up the tattered banners of those who have fought for the fulfillment of dreams and promises, they also find themselves in the midst of an almost worldwide revolt of youths, a revolt against systems, codes, tactics, and techniques.

The major point of departure between the young of other cultures and the young of black culture is a revolutionary arousal and assertion of a black identity.

The search and the insistence for broader participation in the rapidly advancing technologies have been coupled with the urgency and the pride of the quest for cultural exposure and its relationship to everything that makes up the entire black experience.

Young black artists communicate the black expression on murals of brick and mortar.

Black students incorporate black cultural life into regular school and community life, viewing not one aspect of their lives as separate from the other.

This is the essence of black community living.

One hand linked directly to the past, the other reaching for the future.

Black hands reach out for involvement.

They reach out in massive black voter registration drives.

Young black hands are in eager pursuit of career training like that provided by the companies of the Bell System.

Young black hands stretching for the future.

And as these young black hands and these young black minds make the qualitative leap from the pilgrimage of their fathers, as they surge toward the goals of self -realization, we must understand their mission as one that has been underwritten and sealed by our one overriding purpose, liberation.

We must embrace, encourage, direct, assist, and support our young, gifted, and black community as our black youth give evidence, life, vitality, and substance to the promise of a people bound for freedom.

Identifier

F.2010-01-0163

Date Of Production

1972

Abstract

Sponsored film made by Goldsholl Associates for Illinois Bell Telephone Company. Community activist and journalist Lu Palmer wrote and narrated the film, which looks at the black experience and issues of community building. Through photo animation and Palmer's narration, the film discusses these issues of community building specifically in relation to youth culture. The film only briefly touches on career training opportunities provided by Illinois Bell and features songs by Nina Simone and Osibisa (Malcome X Community College Stage Band).

Run Time

0:08:40

Format

16mm

Extent

315 feet

Color

Color

Sound

Optical

Reel/Tape Number

1/1

Has Been Digitized?

Yes

Language Of Materials

English

Element

Print

Genre

Sponsored

Form

Short

Subject

African Americans
City and town life
Black Panther Party
Industry

Related Collections

SERIES I: Goldsholl Design & Film Associates Films

Related Places

North America ➜ United States ➜ Illinois ➜ Chicago

Sponsor/client

Illinois Bell Telephone Company

Main Credits

Goldsholl Design & Film Associates (is producer)

Additional Credits

White, John (is contributor)

Participants And Performers

Palmer, Lu (is narrator)

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