Harold Burke was that quiet giant among us who took Black excellence seriously, who
saw us as history-makers and tried his damnedest to capture it and make us value and
preserve it.

Harold Burke: A Quiet Giant
There was a muted elegance about Harold Burke.
His tall, frosted Afro. His slim-fitted shirts and sharply creased pants. His warm,
respectful greeting, always delivered with a beaming smile that no cloud of
unhappiness could suppress.
Harold Burke was that quiet giant among us who took Black excellence seriously, who
saw us as history-makers and tried his damnedest to capture it and make us value and
preserve it.
Harold rests with our ancestors now.
The angels blanketed him in their
mercy to relieve his suffering from
cancer and respiratory ailments. He
was 78 years old and lived in the
Washington, DC, area.
Harold earned his way into the
hearts of CBTU members, staff and
officers during the 30 years that he
served as CBTU's AV Manager for
conventions and conferences. It was
a job that challenged his nerves and
his stamina. But it also fulfilled his
desire to be in the room with real
history-makers -- serious Black working people taking care of serious business. He
oversaw the live presentation and recording of most convention speakers, panels and
awards dinners. But he also worried incessantly about CBTU's sloppy treatment of its
video legacy. Harold worked patiently with numerous CBTU committees that needed
guidance or reassurance to create presentations during the conventions. No matter
how tardy the presentations were, Harold always found a way to make them shine.
One of Harold's proudest CBTU achievements was being the field producer of a video
conversation between Willie Baker, CBTU VIce President Emeritus, and William "Bill"
Lucy, CBTU President Emeritus and cofounder. The taped conversation aired during
the Retiree Conference held during CBTU's 50th Anniversary Convention in August this
year. In spite of his mounting health challenges. Harold made the trek to Mr. Lucy's
home to witness and facilitate this historic conversation. He knew the moment was
bigger than the occasion. It was as though Harold knew this special video would
complete his own legacy.
But it would be wrong to confine Harold's greatness to his CBTU years. Most CBTU
folks have little or no knowledge of Harold's prior achievements. He worked many
years at Howard University, where he was hired to be the Research Assistant for Media
Documentation with the Institute for the arts and Humanities. He went on to oversee
the audio-visual recording of hundreds important events that captured the life and
history of Black people.
Among them:
• The National Afro�American Writers
Conference
• First National Black
Folklorist Conference
• African Liberation Day
• Black Political
Convention in Little Rock
Ethelbert Miller, renowned
scholar, poet and a
colleague of Harold's at
Howard ended a lengthy
tribute to him with a
magnificent passage:
Harold did, indeed, leave a roomful of tapes, DVD's and boxes of photos. He was guilty
of being a hoarder of history. Harold also kept four full storage units with his life's work
of archiving our history -- the progress and setbacks, the joy and pain.
CBTU will not let Harold's legacy to be buried in boxes. We appreciate him too much to
let his story go untold and his collection to go unhoused.
To Harold's bereaved family, we send our deepest sympathies with everlasting
appreciation for sharing this quiet giant with us and the world.
Rest in Power, Dear Brother Harold
"Dear Harold - what
survives us must be more
than memories. We must
have blueprints and we must continue to build. We must also struggle against"

Harold did, indeed, leave a roomful of tapes, DVD's and boxes of photos. He was guilty
of being a hoarder of history. Harold also kept four full storage units with his life's work
of archiving our history -- the progress and setbacks, the joy and pain.
CBTU will not let Harold's legacy to be buried in boxes. We appreciate him too much to
let his story go untold and his collection to go unhoused.
To Harold's bereaved family, we send our deepest sympathies with everlasting
appreciation for sharing this quiet giant with us and the world.
Rest in Power, Dear Brother Harold