Noble began hosting the show alongside African-American actor Robert Hooks in the late 60s, eventually becoming the show's main host and producer in 1975. Noble's interviewing style was direct much like the title of his show, never mincing his words and engaging his subjects head on. The show was created by WABC-TV to help provide Black-oriented programming at a time where it was a severe lack of shows geared towards African-Americans.

Although Noble's style was often seen as low-key, he was a staunch supporter of Civil Rights and proudly spoke about the Black experience in America. Noble counted Malcolm X as his greatest influence, mentioning the Muslim leader in his 1981 memoir Black is the Color of my TV Tube. “[Malcolm X] taught me the cold, brutal facts of the Black existence in this country. He told me who I am, and I have kept that knowledge with me ever since, even as I walk down the corridors of ABC wearing a smile.”

Noble suffered a stroke last July, which prompted his family to publicly announce that the host would not return to his duties at Like It Is last fall. In his passing, Mr. Noble leaves behind a rich legacy of reporting and journalism from the Black perspective. As colleagues and fans will undoubtedly sing his praises in the coming days, many aspiring journalists would do well in studying the career of Gil Noble.

Rest In Peace, Gil Noble. Thank you for telling it “Like It Is.”

--

Photo: Tim Soter/WIRE

24 Wired TV: Love and Hip Hop (S2) Ep. 10: “Nude Beach” [Bonus Clip]

Current Hip-Hop:  Ya Boy (ft. Problem) - "Gettin' Money [Download]

Vibe:  V Exclusive! Amber Rose Talks Rapping, Dream Collabos, Favorite Songs

Drunken Stepfather:  Heidi Klum in March 2012 InStyle UK of the Day

Madame Noire:  8 of The Most Notorious Male Celebrity Cheaters

The Root:  Revolution Starts at Home, Says Bill Cosby

Hit Hip-Hop:  The Narcicyst - Fly Over Egypt (Official Video)

Black Voices:  Will Smith & Eddie Murphy's Ex-Wives To Star In New Reality Show

Hollywood Tuna:   Kelly Brook's Sweet Bikini Coconuts

Style Blazer:  Currently Trending: Flirty Peplum Waistlines, Are You Ready to Embrace The Bold Style?

Cosby, a graduate of the famed Fashion Institute of Technology, recently moved her three-year-old boutique called PB & Caviar, from Tribeca to the Lower East Side.

TAP correspondent Eno Alfred attended the grand opening party of the new location and asked Cosby about her career in fashion and, of course, launching a business as a daughter of a celebrity icon.

[Watch Here]

On an episode of the “Today Show”, Cosby told host Meredith Viera that he was sick of hearing the business mogul talk about a possible 2012 Presidential run and wished he'd keep quiet or take action.

“Oh, please, with Donald Trump, take him home with you! […] You run or shut up!”

Trump obviously got word of his comments and prepared a statement defending himself and accusing Cosby of having "hatred pouring out of his eyes."

According to Trump he was put off by the criticism considering that he and Cosby have met several times and the comedian even offered to take him to dinner

He also adds that Cosby—“an obvious Obama fan” greeted him in his green room before bashing him on-air.

Trump writes,

“The other day on The Today Show, right after I was interviewed by Meredith Vieira, a terrific person and reporter, I happened to watch Bill Cosby who was on at the end of the show. While I have never been a fan of Cosby's, I had always assumed he liked or respected me because every time I met him—the last time at the David Letterman show where I preceded him as a guest—he was always so nice, saying “let's get together”—asking me out to dinner, and being polite to the point of offering to buy me a suit because he has a “great tailor.”

In any event, as I watched the show, the subject of Donald Trump came up.  I was surprised to hear him blabber, somewhat incoherently “you run or shut up.” The hatred was pouring out of his eyes when he said this. As I am sure he must know I cannot run until this season of Celebrity Apprentice ends. I know that he has taken a lot of heat over the years  in that he seems to be talking down to the people he's talking to and purportedly trying to help. Actually, based on the way he acted, things are not looking too good for Cosby.

I wish he would be more honest, and if he doesn't want me to run because he's obviously an Obama fan, he should state the reasons and not come into my “green room” in front of numerous witnesses and treat me like his best friend, only to denigrate me when I'm not around.”

Cosby has yet to respond.

The Pre$ident Talks Possibly Signing With Grand Hustle & Konvict Records

Freddie Gibbs, Dom Kennedy & Cassie Veggies Rock Vitaminwater Uncapped LIVE In LA [Video Interview]

Toddler Hospitalized After Being Served Margarita At Applebee's [Video]

Ladies Love La Flare: A History Of Women Linked To Gucci Mane

It looks like Will Smith is following in his wife's footsteps.

As previously reported, Willow Smith and Jada Pinkett are remaking the film Annie for their daughter Willow.

Will Smith is also in talks about remaking a classic, of the  1974 comedy Uptown Saturday Night. Will Smith is to produce the movie, and star alongside Denzel Washington.

The two will have leading roles, who's original production consisted of Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier for those leads.

The story is about two friends who get robbed, loosing their wallets in a night club. Throughout the movie the two buddies try to get their hands on their lost winning lottery ticket.

Directed by David Dobkin of the film 'Wedding Crashers,' and is expected to hit theaters in 2014.

MORE  HIP-HOP WIRED NEWS AND VIDEO

Sneak Peak Of Katy Perry & Kanye West's New Video "E.T." [Video]

Mack 10 & Glasses Malone feat. Richie Rich - "D.E.A." [Video/ Exclusive Interview]

Rick Ross Signs Teedra Moses To Maybach Music

The beef still cooks between actor Bill Cosby and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons.

According to Simmons he tried to quell the animosity between the two at the recent Jackie Robinson Annual Awards Dinner where both attended, but Mr Huxtable wasn't having it.

Simmons recounts the failed apology that went nothing like he planned in his blog on Globalgrind.com writing…

"I wanted to find him to apologize, to tell him I was sorry about my statements and to tell him that I loved him."

But instead the Def Jam co-creator says when he went to apologize Cosby told him, "Get the [bleep] out my face!"

Simmons goes on further in his blog to claim that Cosby even gave him a shoulder shiver when they crossed paths at the event, saying Cosby,

"walked by me and bumped me with his shoulder as I walked offstage after presenting my award to Sean Combs, who was honored at the event] . . . I then loved him even more."

The two men have had an ongoing misunderstanding since 2009 when Cosby launched his "State of Emergency" campaign calling for the clean up of hip-hop lyrics. Simmons vocally opposed Cosby's campaign but was apparently ready to let bygones be bygones at the recent Jackie Robinson event.

It seems Cosby, however, still holds a grudge.

Reps for Cosby refused to comment on the incident.

MORE  HIP-HOP WIRED NEWS AND VIDEO

Amber Rose Lands New Show On Jamie Foxx's Foxxhole Radio

Pretty Boy Swag: A History Of Ladies Linked To Soulja Boy

Jada Pinkett-Smith Talks Willow Smith's ‘Annie' Remake

Feuding With 50 Cent: The Rappers That Have Crossed Paths With Curtis

Toccora Sips On Hennessy & Talks Looking For Love & New Reality Dating Show With Donald Trump [Video]

The Jackie Robinson Foundation held its annual Robie Award Ceremony Gala Monday (March 7) at The Waldorf Astoria in NYC.

As previously reported, Bill Cosby was the host and P. Diddy received the ROBIE Achievement in Industry Award.

Industry heavyweights Russell Simmons and Andre Harrell were also in attendance at the event, which was serenaded by Chrisette Michelle.

Peep the pics of the event below:

As we close out Black History Month, Hip-Hop Wired evaluates Bill Cosby's Black History: Lost, Stolen or Strayed' and takes a look at how Cosby tried and helped change the way African-Americans are portrayed on television starting with this documentary which went against the grain and could have ruined his carrer in the 1960's.

But if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything so take a look and read about  a militant Bill Cosby.

“Now, this country has a psychological history - there was a master race, and there was a slave race - and though there's no political slavery anymore, those same old attitudes have hung around,” determined a socially-conscious Bill Cosby during his revealing documentary.

It gets deeper after the jump!!! [More]

At the time ‘Black History: Lost, Stolen or Strayed' was aired on July 2nd 1968 – rebroadcasting 3 weeks later - it was hosted by the first Amerikkkanized-Afrikan to be featured in a lead-role on TV.  Cosby, and Robert Culp, co-starred in the top-rated ‘I Spy' – a globe-trotting espionage series on NBC.

This exposure afforded the Philly-native the opportunity to utilize his star-power and influence to produce and air an informative film which daringly challenges the lies that the establishment has been indoctrinating millions of people with.

I- Spy

This is not the funny man, stand-up comic Cosby. Nor is it the animated one from Fat Albert cartoons or the Jello pudding commercials with the various facial gestures. It's not even the well-disciplined, family-oriented “Cliff Huxtable” from the award-winning Cosby Show. Rather this is a younger, serious-minded, rebellious Black man speaking during the climate of the turbulent Black Power era.

Clip From ‘Black History: Lost, Stolen or Strayed'

“Why is it that my-story is a mystery, while his-story is believed to be the truth by the masses?” is often asked by many who seek their Afrikan ancestry. That question is answered easier after the blood-sucking systems of capitalism and white supremacy is better understood – which the conscious comedian touches upon.

“Now, if you turn the history of slavery right, you have a big problem on your hands. The slave-trader didn't take some savage out of Afrika, he took a human being… sold him – like an animal – and separated him from his family,” Bill reveals.

“And although Amerikkka gave us slavery, they kindly gave us religion and a lik or two of education - and when we get more jobs and more education… up from slavery!” Cosby sarcastically comments. “.…but we had something before we left Afrika, more than just rhythm. We had a high culture.” He then displays the blatant plagiarism of Afrikan art by Europeans.

“The strange thing is, how little there is about us in the text books. Napoleon once said… ‘history is a fable agreed upon', and the fable agreed upon up ‘til now is that… Amerikkkan history is white-on-white,” Cosby concurs.

The video delves into the origin of, and psychological effects caused by, the demeaning and demoralizing portrayals of Original people that are consistently being reinforced; not just by the propagandized media at-large, but also by the slave-producing mis-education system as well.

“Whoever controls the images, controls your self-esteem, self-respect and self-development. Whoever controls the history, controls the vision,” asserted Dr. Leonard Jeffries – President of Afrikana Studies at Harlem's City College.

In this Emmy award-winning documentary video, an introspective Cosby lays out how Caucasian jews financed certain Hollywood-made movies depicting Amerikkkanized-Afrikans as slow, bumbling, non-educated buffoons; who were… “typical negroes - lazy, stupid and happy the way he was,” according to Bill. Negative movies like D.W. Griffith's ‘Birth Of A Nation' and ‘Uncle Tom's Cabin' are referenced here.

Birth Of A Nation

“By the time they made a movie of it, in 1903, Uncle Tom was just the white man's idea of a good ni*ger!” Bill points out. “You might say that he was what H. Rap Brown ain't!”

He names some of the usual suspects, mainly – Amos & Andy, Aunt Jemimah, Stepin' Fetchit, and white people wearing blackface. Those subservient characters helped to refortify certain myths about, and instill fear in, some Black men. The movies always portrayed Caucasoids as ‘mighty whitey.'

“The tradition of the lazy, stupid, craps-shooting, chicken-stealing idiot; was popularized by Lincoln Monroe Andrew Perry. Cat made 2 million dollars in 5 years, in the mid-‘30s, and anyone who ever saw a movie, laughed at Stepin' Fetchit!” indicated Cosby.

“The character he played was planted in a lot of people's heads and they remembered it for the rest of their lives. He played the part most Amerikkkans considers typical negro- he was afraid of most everything.”

“Producer's were trying to make money. Nobody was sitting around like… ‘Hey, let's go take care of the ni*gers!” Cosby explains.

Stepin' Fetchit

He'd go on to compare the ‘master and pet' relationships white entertainers, like Shirley Temple, enjoyed with their “yessah boss” cohorts. “If you weren't Black, they were funny, I guess.”

“When you look back at these old films, the patterns come jumping out at you. The most consistent thing about them was the attack on the Black man. He was never even given the privilege of being a man, he was a boy! You know, like – ‘Here boy!'” assessed Cosby.

He also details how significant contributions by some not-so-prominent people throughout history have been omitted from the text books. During the video, Cosby narrates, uncovering distorted facts regarding Black history, naming-off numerous inventors, such as: Norrbert Rillieux, Jan Ernst Matzeliger, James Beckworth.

“The 186,000 soldiers who fought on the Union side. How about Teddy Roosevelt's charge up San Juan Hill, it wasn't just the Rough Riders who made it… 4 Black regimes made it up with Teddy. They didn't get lost going up the Hill, they got lost in the history books. Mathew Henson, 1st man to the North Pole.

He was Admiral Perry's navigator, and although he made it first to the Pole, he never quite made it to the history books. Daniel Hale Williams, first performed open heart surgery, successfully… now this list could go on forever… Blacks who made it, Blacks who made history but who didn't get into the history texts at all.”

‘Black women on the other-hand were sturdy and unperturbed. They stood like a rock and faced things that scared Black, men!” he warns while displaying the footage. “Everything suggested the Black man was nothing!”

In John Churchill's Black pre-elementary school, he challenges a youth, asking him, “How are you going to get your freedom?” The 4-year-old responds, “I will use any means necessary to get my freedom now!”

He surmises,

“Amerikkka invented the cruelest slavery in the history of the world, because it broke up Black families, and after slavery was over Amerikkka kept breaking up the Black man's family. Now that's some awful history to teach, but if you look history straight in the eye, you're going to get a black eye. Because it isn't important whether a few Black heroes got lost, stolen or strayed in Amerikkka's history text books, what's important is why they got left out!”

After viewing Black History, you'll understand why the powers-that-be stopped him from purchasing NBC because he was projecting positive images of Blacks, across Amerikkka's airwaves.

Cosby concludes,

“It's 300 years we've been in this Amerikkkan melting pot, and we haven't been able to melt in yet, and it's a long wait. We've been trying to play it straight and white, but it's been just bit parts. From now on, we're going to play it Black!”

Order your cop of Bill Cosby - Black History: Lost, Stolen or Strayed Here:

MORE  HIP-HOP WIRED NEWS AND VIDEO

Fefe Dobson Talks New Album ‘Joy', Friendship With Drake, And Work With Pusha T [Video]

Attorney Offers Juelz Santana Free Advice: "Keep Your Mouth Shut & Stay Off The Radio Discussing Your Case" [Video]

Willow Smith Hosts Exclusive Skating Party For Fans [Picts]

Lil Kim "Carbon Copy" Nicki Minaj Diss [Video]

Kelly Rowland Talks Love For Gucci Mane And Waka Flocka, Plans To Work