For more than 30 years, journalist Gil Noble – host of straight-talk program “Like It Is” on WABC – has been dedicated to telling the truth about Black history. As a result of his candid, mind-awakening segments, Noble has been both praised with recognition and awards, and threatened – these days with talks of the cancellation of his half-hour show (FYI: It used to be a full hour). 

Our Time Press conducted a one-on-one sit-down with the talented and always humble Noble at Talks With Wolves, Inc.’s Annual Fundraiser Event this past October where he was being honored for his contributions as a journalist. From comparisons with the Native Americans to seeking out and understanding one’s history, to his role as a journalist to the attack on his show, Noble’s responses are as much on-point and real as what get on his program. 

OTP: One of the reasons we’re gathered together at this event is to share the history of Native Americans and how their struggle was similar to that of Africans. Where do you see the connection?

Gil Noble: It’s amazing how much we have in common. The Africans have suffered under the yoke of oppression and brutality. The same [goes] for Native Americans, although I don’t think our suffering was as severe. We were kidnapped and taken across the ocean. But, when you go into people’s homes and put them in the basement and take over, and they are seeing you enjoy their home, that’s awful. That’s what happened to the Native Americans.

OTP: Were you aware of the history of Africans when you were coming up in Harlem?

Gil Noble: I learned the three R’s and certain requirements. I went through public school not knowing who I was. When the Civil Rights Movement erupted, it gave me a lot to think about. I heard names and places that I hadn’t heard before. When I started doing my homework, I started finding out a little more about me. 

OTP: Do you think the youth of today realize all the things that happened to our people?
 

Gil Noble: I don’t see too many young people today who are angry and I don’t know why some of them don’t really try to get some more information so that they can be more activist. If you have a clear understanding of what went on, it would wake you up and make you want to do something about it today. I know it’s difficult because the schools don’t teach you much.

OTP: How important is your role as a journalist?

Gil Noble: Journalism stands on the platform of information and history. You can’t report about today unless you know what happened. Otherwise, you’re not going to be able to give a context. So if you managed [to get] a job with a big broadcast outfit and were trying to go over to Sudan, what would you report on? And so, it’s important to understand the history of a people, of a country, of a gender. It helps you understand yourself and it’s the beginning of a healing process. 

OTP: How did you get involved with Like It Is?

Gil Noble: I landed this part-time job at a radio show called WLIB in Harlem. It was there that I began to assemble what skills I had. The Civil Rights Movement had erupted and it came to pass that the energy of the movement demanded and insisted that downtown media get out of the community because they weren’t telling the truth. The reporters were sent running and were told not to come back until they had reporters who had some melanin. Soon after that, Like It Is was born, not because of me. I just happened to be there. A political struggle was underway. One of the demands of that struggle was that we could get just a glimpse of a chance. Since I was in the studio as a reporter, I began to gravitate toward Like It Is and I became involved as an editor and host. But more importantly, I became a producer – the one who determines what the content of the material is. 

OTP: A few years back, WABC was threatening to cancel the show. Has anything changed?

Gil Noble: It’s still being threatened. But the slave master wasn’t really glad to see Nat Turner or Sojourner Truth… that’s the end of their [the oppressor’s] freebie. There is a deficiency in the thoughts and information [disseminated] and the only anecdote is Like It Is. When we’re informed, we’re dangerous.

There is a campaign asking Gil Noble supporters to demand Like It Is

be restored to its original hour-long time slot. 

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