that were not always positive and did not always center black life and culture in a way in which we wanted to see ourselves. - and these were very much shows that were made to allay white fears and to protect white comfort. you're talking about the jim crow era. - and i've seen the promised land. - as the civil rights movement was kicking up, the naacp wanted to show black people in a different light. black people were going to college and making money and entering the middle class. took until 1968 for us to have a show that was served as a counterweight to shows like "beulah and "amos 'n andy." - when i think about the history of black television, i think of diahann carroll. she personifies the brilliance that has existed in black hollywood. - "julia" premiered in 1968. the country was in the midst of incredible unrest. this is right around the time that martin luther king, jr. was assassinated. - diahann carroll herself, she didn't feel that it portrayed the black experience