ASCENDING | The War Against Black Creatives with Leslie Fields-Cruz of Black Public Media
January 11, 2026
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46:40NIGHT SCHOOL: Maduro Snatched, Will Smith Sued, Donnie McClurkin Accused
56:10Now PlayingASCENDING | The War Against Black Creatives with Leslie Fields-Cruz of Black Public Media
YouTube Description
as posted by the channelASCENDING with APRIL R. SILVER (host) welcomes to ground zero a media arts nonprofit leader to give insight into the war against Black creatives. Leslie Fields-Cruz is the executive director of Black Public Media (BPM). The organization is the nation’s only nonprofit solely dedicated to the development of nonfiction Black content for distribution on public media.
On mission, BPM supports filmmakers and other creatives by helping to develop their content and by distributing their stories about the global Black experience. At the same time, like all others in public media in the United States, BPM has been hit hard with Congress’ vote to rescind billions of dollars in funding for public media. As a result, BPM lost $1.8 million from its annual budget. Today’s discussion will focus on how we got here, and what we can do – right now – to thrive, soar, and self-secure our future of Black creatives.
Trusting in the power of US, Fields-Cruz, is leading a charge to raise $9 million over the next two years to help BPM in their ongoing mission. Learn how you can help lift up independent voices in telling the stories of American and world history.
Original Episode 47: From centering the world through a positive Black creative lens to a wider view for all humanity to appreciate, we're talking about it all here on ASCENDING. Chime in! We'd love to hear from you.
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