Black Public Media Mourns the Loss of Founding President Mable Haddock

Mable Haddock, a public media figure and advocate for Black television and film, has died. The founding president and first CEO of the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC) — now Black Public Media (BPM) — died on Saturday, July 23, 2022, in New York City at 74 of kidney disease. 

BPM is a Harlem-based media arts nonprofit dedicated to creating and producing media content about the Black experience.

“Mable exemplified what it meant to be authentically Black and female in a professional space. She wasn’t afraid to speak truth to power, both verbally and in her writings,” BPM Executive Director Leslie Fields-Cruz said. “A true trailblazer, she was a warrior in the fight for equity in public media and a friend to all.”

Haddock dedicated her life to bringing diverse voices to the public. In 1979, she helped found NBPC in Columbus, Ohio, to support Black stories and storytellers in film and television. During her tenure, more than $6 million in funding was raised for hundreds of film and television producers, scores of documentaries, and programs.

Some were aired on public television through series she produced, which included Matters of Race, Unnatural Causes, Mandela, The Fannie Lou Hamer Story, The State of Black America (I and II), and other programs. 

"Haddock was a television programmer, film curator, and producer. A founding director of the Firelight Media Documentary Lab — an intensive fellowship for emerging producers of color — she was also a panelist/reader for ITVS, POV, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Ohio Arts Council, Pennsylvania Council for the Arts, the Jerome Foundation and an emeritus board member of BPM," BPM shared in a statement.

She also served on the Columbus Cable Advisory Board, the Pittsburgh and Columbus Public Access Boards, the PBS Programming Board, the National Minority Consortia, and Ohio Arts Council multicultural advisory board. 

"A contributing writer for Dialogue Magazine, she lectured across the U.S. and around the world about the aesthetics, politics, and role of Black film," BPM stated. "Haddock was the recipient of numerous film, television, and media industry awards during her 30 years of public media service. Among the awards she received were: The Founders Awards from the Black Women’s Preservation Project, three Communications Excellence to Black Audiences (CEBA) Awards, the Leo Award from the Flaherty International Film Seminars, a New York Women in Film & Television Award, Women of Achievement Award from the Columbus YWCA, a Trailblazer Award from Blackfilm.com and a leadership award from the National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture (NAMAC), now known as The Alliance."

Haddock graduated from Mercy College and was a certificate holder in public broadcast management from the Wharton School of Business; she was also bestowed the Columbia University’s Revson Fellowship.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for Haddock here: https://gofund.me/3513b5de.