"I Am Always Remembering..."

Today, I made a conscious effort not to watch television and so far I've not turned it on once today.  This got me thinking back to a time a long time ago when I was a boy and even later as a young man when broadcast television was not on 24/7.  I remember quite clearly, that most stations ended their "broadcast day" sometime after midnight with an announcement like this...

I remember that around the time I was 14 or so, the first 24 hour station in Detroit was WGPR-TV62 which also had the unique distinction of being the country's first and only black owned and operated television station. They played very old movies all night.  During the summer months, I'd stay up until nearly dawn watching old films from the early talkies era.

Interestingly, although WGPR was the first station here to begin around the clock broadcasting, they nevertheless continued to follow the industry practice of broadcasting the national anthem each night around 2am, but with a twist... Sometimes in addition too, but usually instead of the "Star Spangled Banner" they played the "Black National Anthem - Lift Every Voice And Sing" (listen to the song here).  I remember having very mixed feelings about this practice, being both proud that we had a black owned station, and confused that they wanted to be so distinctly separate in playing a song that was not in fact our national anthem.  I realize now, that it was a political statement, but at the time, I never quite understood it.

Anyway, that's what I was thinking of this evening... now time to watch some television before drifting off to sleep.

"Fear Eats the Soul"