Cornelius, Donald Cortez “Don”
1936-2012 · Contribution: 1970-2006
Created, produced, and hosted Soul Train, negotiating unprecedented ownership terms that made him the first Black producer to fully own a nationally syndicated television program, which ran for 35 years (1971-2006) and became the longest-running first-run syndicated show in American television history
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- Business & Misc.
Impact on the world
Cornelius created a self-owned platform that broadcast Black style, music, and dance into American living rooms weekly for a generation, cultural infrastructure that shaped popular music and made Black creativity visible on its own terms.
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