Mr. Soul!

MR. SOUL! begins with the ironic observation that just as black-and-white television began to expand to technology that allowed in-color broadcast transmissions in the 1960s, representations of Black life and Black talent were pointedly nonexistent on the medium. Black producer Ellis Haizlip tried to change that, creating a public television show produced in New York City that showcased the talent of Black dancers, actors, musicians, singers, and poets. Much of what those gifted young performers had to say highlighted the prejudice and oppression they faced in daily life, oppression that dated back to the origins of slavery in the United States. Haizlip, an unlikely host of his show with an unassuming manner, had an eye for up-and-coming talent as well as the established. Musicians Gladys Knight, Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Billy Preston, Ashford & Simpson, Patti LaBelle, Earth, Wind & Fire, actors Sydney Poitier and Harry Belafonte, dancer Carmen DeLavallade, and writers Nikki Giovanni and James Baldwin all appeared on the show during its iconic five-year run. Those who participated comment as well as academics and historians who review the show's lasting influence. The movie plays recordings from meetings in Nixon's Oval Office in which the president stated the need to cut federal funding to public television and to especially remove liberal and Black voices from that national podium. The show was not refunded, essentially canceled, in 1973.