Oprah Winfrey Network to air Black Lives Matter television special in SA

In response to the continuing civil unrest in America following the tragic murder of George Floyd, OWN: the Oprah Winfrey Network has announced a special titled OWN Spotlight: Where Do We Go From Here? that will be simulcasted to South African viewers on the Discovery Channel, TLC and Realtime.

The two episodes will air on Sunday, 14 June at 8.55pm and will be played back to back for a duration of 1 hour and 50 minutes.

According to a statement issued by the network, the in-depth conversations in the episode aim to offer insight and tangible plans to answer the questions “What matters now?”, “What matters next?” and “Where do we go from here?”

Featured guests include politician Stacey Abrams, journalist Charles M. Blow; Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms; Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay (When They See Us, 13th, Queen Sugar), professor and author Jennifer Eberhardt (author of Biased); journalist and Pulitzer prize-winning founder of the “1619 Project” Nikole Hannah-Jones; historian and author Ibram Kendi (How to be an Anti-Racist), award-winning actor David Oyelowo (Selma), Color of Change founder Rashad Robinson; and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) national board member Rev Dr William J. Barber II.

“I’ve been having private conversations with friends and thought leaders about what’s next and where we go from here,” said Oprah Winfrey.

“I thought it would be both of interest and service to bring their ideas, concerns and comments into a national spotlight.”

Tina Perry, president of OWN, said: “As a network dedicated to supporting and uplifting black lives, OWN is committed to providing our community with important dialogue and helpful resources in this challenging time as we mourn the murder of George Floyd and ask ourselves how can we come together to create meaningful change.

“I am proud that our Discovery family has joined us to amplify this message in solidarity.”

David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery Inc said: “There is no one like Oprah to bring us all together at this critical moment in our history to offer insights, perspective and action.

“We are honoured to partner with OWN and use our global reach to amplify this important discussion about the global issues of economic and social justice and equality to a potential audience of one billion people across more than 200 markets in a way that only Discovery can.”

As the number one global content provider of factual entertainment, Discovery Inc delivers over 8,000 hours of original and entertaining content to viewers each year. In South Africa, Discovery’s portfolio of premium brands includes Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Travel Channel, Discovery Family and RealTime.

The episodes are also available on YouTube:

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