Changing State: Black Diplomats, Civil Rights, and the Cold War

FAIN: TR-259189-18

Women in Film and Video, Inc. (Washington, DC 20036-2506)
Leola Calzolai-Stewart (Project Director: August 2017 to present)

Production of a one-hour documentary about three African American men who broke the color line at the U.S. State Department in the years following World War II.

Changing State: Black Diplomats, Civil Rights, and the Cold War (working title) is a one-hour documentary about three African-American men who broke the color line at the U.S. State Department in the years following World War II. Our characters (Edward R. Dudley, Carl T. Rowan, and Terence Todman) helped dismantle long-standing color barriers in the Foreign Service yet were caught in the crossfire of the civil rights movement, Cold War politics and international public relations. Their diplomatic careers reveal the struggles inherent in representing a country that didn’t represent them. As African-American envoys of a segregated America, could they ignore the wrongs in their own country—and should they? They were pioneers, but pioneers with a problem: as they broke new ground, they were stepping into quicksand. Changing State is intended for national public television broadcast, with a strong educational tie-in and curriculum package.

Associated Products

The American Diplomat (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: The American Diplomat
Writer: Ken Chowder
Director: Leola Calzolai-Stewart
Producer: Rachell Shapiro
Producer: Kiley Kraskouskas
Producer: Leola Calzolai-Stewart
Abstract: The American Diplomat explores the lives and legacies of three African American ambassadors — Edward Dudley, Terence Todman and Carl Rowan — who pushed past historical and institutional racial barriers to reach high-ranking appointments in the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson administrations. At the height of the civil rights movement in the United States, the three men were asked to represent the best of American ideals abroad while facing discrimination at home. Oft reputed as “pale, male and Yale,” the U.S. State Department fiercely maintained and cultivated the Foreign Service’s elitist character and was one of the last federal agencies to desegregate. Through rare archival footage, in-depth oral histories and interviews with family members, colleagues and diplomats, the film paints a complex portrait of three men who left a lasting impact on the content and character of the Foreign Service and changed American diplomacy forever. THE AMERICAN DIPLOMAT is co-produced by GBH/American Experience and FLOWSTATE Films.
Year: 2022
Primary URL: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/american-diplomat/
Primary URL Description: Available to stream for free at PBS American Experience: The American Diplomat explores the lives and legacies of three African American ambassadors — Edward Dudley, Terence Todman and Carl Rowan — who pushed past historical and institutional racial barriers to reach high-ranking appointments in the Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. At the height of the civil rights movement in the United States, the three men were asked to represent the best of American ideals abroad while facing discrimination at home. Oft reputed as “pale, male and Yale,” the U.S. State Department fiercely maintained and cultivated the Foreign Service’s elitist character and was one of the last federal agencies to desegregate. Through rare archival footage, in-depth oral histories and interviews with family members, colleagues and diplomats, the film paints a portrait of three men who left a lasting impact on the content and character of the Foreign Service and changed American diplomacy forever.
Secondary URL: https://www.amazon.com/American-Diplomat-Andre-Braugher/dp/B09KGFDZGY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2MWQW0WEBRRAG&keywords=american+diplomat&qid=1651172340&s=instant-video&sprefix=%2Cinstant-video%2C111&sr=1-1
Secondary URL Description: Available via Amazon Prime: Explore the lives and legacies of three African-American ambassadors — Edward R. Dudley, Terence Todman and Carl Rowan — who pushed past racial barriers to reach high-ranking appointments in the Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. Asked to represent the best of American ideals abroad while facing discrimination at home, they left a lasting impact on the Foreign Service.
Access Model: The film streams domestically at no charge from the PBS American Experience website.
Format: Video
Format: Digital File
Format: Web

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