CBS Sports To Air New Earl 'The Pearl' Monroe Documentary As Part Of Black History Month Celebration
(CBS Local)- With Black History Month beginning February 1, CBS Sports is set to celebrate with a new documentary and several animated and regular footage vignettes featuring several influential Black athletes from the past century. The programming will air on CBS Sports Network along with CBS Sports Digital properties.
"It is imperative that we at CBS Sports, and as an industry, work towards a more diverse and inclusive landscape," said Harold Bryant, Executive Producer and Executive Vice President, CBS Sports said in a statement. "Telling these stories of Black athletes is incredibly important, and we are proud that many of our Black employees have the opportunity to lead these productions. These vignettes written, produced and edited by Black CBS Sports employees continue that necessary mission of utilizing our resources in front of and behind the camera to push for more diversity and inclusion."
The network's new documentary, Big House, The Pearl & The Triumph of Winston-Salem State, tells the story of NBA Hall of Famer Earl "The Pearl" Monroe's time in college at Winston-Salem State where he helped the Rams become the first HBCU to win an NCAA championship at any level. Voiced by NBA All-Star and Winston-Salem native Chris Paul, the documentary features interviews with Monroe, teammates Eugene Smiley and Ernest Brown and others discussing Monroe's time at the school and how his play brought the still-segregated Winston-Salem community together. The documentary airs on Thursday, February 11 at 7 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network.
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The Black History Month celebration kicks off 11 days before that on Sunday, January 31 with a special episode of We Need To Talk that features Lesley Visser one-on-one interview with Super Bowl winning quarterback Doug Williams.The episode airs at 2 p.m. ET.
Then, on Monday, February 1, the animated vignettes featuring athletes Josh Gibson, William Edward White, Alice Coachman and Lucy Diggs Slowe, will begin to air. CBS Sports Network will also be producing regular footage vignettes featuring other athletes that are researched, written, edited and produced by Black CBS Sports employees.
Finally, as part of the network's Super Bowl coverage, CBS Sports will have special coverage on Instagram featuring original spoken word compositions, stories from Super Bowl players and more.
CBS Sports Network will also be airing its documentaries and specials from previous years' Black History Month including: The Black 14: Wyoming Football 1969, Jacksonville U: Can Do!, Althea & Arthur, and One2One: Misty Copeland.
For the full programming schedule, check the CBS Sports Network site.