Danyel Fogarty
Staff Writer
Despite technological and timing setbacks, Niyi Coker, Jr., presented the documentary “The Black 14,” which he produced and directed for PBS, to a University of La Verne audience Tuesday in La Fetra Lecture Hall.
The event was sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences through a grant from the Campus Diversity Initiative.
Although Coker’s flight arrived late from Alabama, where he chairs the African-American studies program at the University of Alabama, and the sound system not working, the presentation proceeded relatively smoothly. A laptop speaker provided the only sound for the presentation. It was quiet and the audience gathered close to the speaker.
“The Black 14” chronicled the struggle of 14 African-American football players from the University of Wyoming in 1969. These 14 players were dismissed from the team the night before a critical game against Brigham Young University. The night before the game the players told their coach, Lloyd Eaton, that they wanted to wear black armbands in silent protest against racist policies of the Mormon Church. In response, the coach kicked the players off the team.
Coker became interested in this story after he started the African-American studies program at UW.
“I was schooled about the ‘Black 14’ at a conference in D.C. for African-American studies,” Coker said. “When I got back to school I started doing research which led to the making of this documentary.”
Teachers and students asked questions about the making of the film during a follow-up discussion.
Coker revealed some of the challenges in producing the documentary. He said that during the interview process for the film, Coach Eaton threatened to call the police if the filmmakers did not get off his property.
Colleen Sullivan, a student at ULV who attended the event, thought that the video was not going to be that great. But to her surprise it was better than she thought.
“It was actually pretty interesting,” Sullivan said.
“Coker is a very prolific gentleman with unique ideas,” said Fred Yaffe, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Coker’s good friend.
Coker received an MFA in directing at the City University of New York where he studied under Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham.
He also received a Ph.D in African American studies from Temple University where he studied with Pulitzer Prize winner, Charles Fuller and social critic Molefi Kete Asante.
Coker has taught at the University of Colorado, the University of Wyoming and Eastern Illinois University. With television and theater projects to his credit, Coker’s latest work is a biographical book on Afrobeat musical legend Fela Kuti. Coker spoke about the book, “The Music and Social Criticism of Fela Kuti” on Wednesday in La Fetra.
Danyel Fogarty can be reached at sadeyez619@hotmail.com.
