ABC News has unveiled its Black History Month programming slate that includes the return of the Emmy-winning series, Soul Of A Nation. In its new hour-long special, the producers explore the history of Black entertainers in Las Vegas and celebrates those currently dominating the strip.
Black in Vegas details the pivotal events that paved the way for today’s generation, including the 1971 federal consent decree that forced hotels and casinos to give Black workers the opportunity to be in front-of-the-house positions and Frank Sinatra pushing for Black performers like his peers, Quincy Jones and Sammy Davis Jr., to be allowed to stay at the same hotel as him. Today, several artists, including Usher, are having back-to-back sold out residencies in Sin City.
The special will feature interviews with Smokey Robinson, Usher, Ne-Yo, comedians George Wallace and Luenell, Anna Bailey—the first Black showgirl to perform in Sin City—and a newly surfaced conversation with Sammy Davis Jr. It will also offer inside perspective from cultural commentators and venue executives on what it’s like to make a living on the strip.
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Usher, who will soon kick off the third installment of his Vegas residency, explained to ABC News, “I’m skating on stage, there’s a strip club on the stage, there’s Ush-bucks flying all over the place. You got girls literally hovering in the air, almost 30 feet in the air, and this is of some culture that you’ve never experienced, but you feel like you have.”
After closing his 2022 leg with a plethora of surprise guests, he spoke to the inspiration behind that moment. “When I hear the story about how the Rat Pack did their thing, and how they would show up at each other’s shows and they would support each other, we’re kind of like the new Rat Pack.”
For Ne-Yo, “I feel like Black entertainers in Las Vegas crawled and scraped so that we could fly.”
The Las Vegas native told ABC News, “If not for the struggles they endured, there would be no possibility of somebody like me getting to go back to my hometown and perform on some of the biggest stages in Vegas.”
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Soul of a Nation Presents: Black in Vegas is currently streaming on Hulu in its entirety. Watch the trailer below.
