In 1970, Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown, set up a Motown spoken word label. It was called Black Forum and recorded poetry, civil rights speeches, African-American soldiers in Vietnam and more. The label closed in 1973 after eight releases. In recent years those releases have started to attract interest and some have been reissued.
Check out this fascinating audio piece recently broadcast on the BBC. But you have only until Jan. 16 (that's Thursday) to listen before the podcast is taken down.
Listen
here.