I thought I knew all I needed to know about Ed Sullivan. I knew he hosted a popular television show Sunday nights that ran for more than 20 years. I knew that up-and-coming musicians craved his spotlight.

Elvis. The Beatles. Janis Joplin.

I’ve seen archival tapes of those appearances. That’s how I know Ed Sullivan himself was dull, dry, and droll. He also bore an uncanny resemblance to Richard Nixon.

I missed the debut of The Ed Sullivan Show on June 20, 1948. I was 11 months old. But I wouldn’t have seen it anyway because my mother disapproved of television. No TV set would ever occupy a place in our home. Besides, we went to church every Sunday night.

Every. Sunday. Night.

So I grew up ignorant of that show until my high school girl friend breathlessly announced that The Beatles were going to be on THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW. This Sunday!!

The what?

I missed it. The next day it was the talk of the school. And wonder of wonders, my girlfriend seemed to wanna hold my hand more than usual.

Sweet.

I recently watched the Netflix documentary Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan. I learned that he was a hero to many Black people.

In the 1950s this country was a starkly segregated society. Schools, lunch counters, churches, sports, television. Sullivan defied racial norms. His show was open to all even though many powerful people urged him to exclude Black artists.

But if you ever do host any, DO NOT TOUCH THEM.

Sullivan shook hands, hugged bodies, and kissed cheeks.

Nat King Cole, Lena Horne, Harry Belafonte, Pearl Bailey, Sammy Davis Jr., The Supremes, The Temptations, James Brown, The Jackson 5, Sam Cooke, Chubby Checker, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Ike and Tina Turner, Bo Diddley, Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, and others.

In 1929, when Sullivan was a sports columnist for the New York Daily News, he attended a football game between the integrated New York University team—with one Black player—and the all-white Georgia University team. The Georgia coach refused to play unless the NYU team kept the Black player off the field.

NYU consented. He sat on the bench for the entire game.

Sullivan witnessed that and knew it was wrong.

Terribly wrong!

A conviction was formed. A calling was found. Grace was cultivated.

Ed Sullivan changed what he could not accept.