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Michael Hemphill

Night is Coming 1024 538 Michael Hemphill

Night is Coming

The Untold Story of African American Triumph and Tragedy at Christiansburg Institute

I invite you to join me on a BUZZ-adjacent journey to discover a remarkable American story that has gone untold for far too long. 

One hundred and sixty years ago, Black Americans in this Appalachian corner of Virginia rose up from slavery and segregation to create a school whose reputation stood alongside Tuskegee, Hampton and other sentinels of Black education. But now external threats from the Trump Administration and in-fighting among its descendants – assault allegations, mental health breakdowns, strokes, and in May 2026 a headline-grabbing lawsuit – threaten to destroy the inspirational legacy and improbable grandeur that once was the Christiansburg Institute.

Five years ago I produced two episodes of my TV show BUZZ starring Christiansburg Institute. On August 13 — the anniversary of sorts marking the dawn of “C.I.” — I’m launching a Substack in which I’ll share excerpts from my still-in-development book Night is Coming, which chronicles C.I.’s triumphant, tragic, inspirational and infuriating saga.

Subscribe for free

I’m offering both free and paid subscriptions in acknowledgment of the hundreds of hours and tens of thousands of dollars that I’ve personally invested in the project – that’s how much this story means to me.

Each Thursday starting August 13, free subscribers will receive an excerpt from our manuscript so that you too begin to appreciate Christiansburg Institute’s place in African American – indeed, American – history.

Each Sunday, for paid subscribers (just $6/month or $50/year), I’ll share a fascinating behind-the-scenes experience from our research: historical documents, personal reflections, audio and video interviews, extended essays, regular online conversations, and more.

Founding Members (one time $65) will get a signed hard copy of the book when it’s published in 2027.

This time-traveling odyssey presents a fascinating cast of characters connected to C.I. since its creation in 1866: 

  • The white Civil War Union officer who founded the school for former slaves and spent his remaining 33 years educating and ministering to them. 
  • Booker T. Washington, the great man himself, who took over as superintendent in 1895 and charged his Tuskegee Institute disciples with building it into a 185-acre destination for Black folks from all over the East coast and as far away as Jamaica.
  • The feisty Amanda DeHart who founded an alumni association after desegregation finally took hold in 1966 and the white powers-that-be closed the school and sold it to the highest bidder.
  • And Chris Sanchez, executive director of the nonprofit charged with preserving C.I.’s legacy, who now must withstand President Trump’s funding cuts and a lawsuit by the Christiansburg Institute Alumni Association. 

But our main character is the school itself, a place that has burned bright for 160 years in the hearts of its alumni — such as the grandmother of NBA great Steph Curry — and those charged with preserving its legacy. 

By joining me, you’ll not only contribute to your own understanding of our nation’s ongoing struggle of racial strife and reconciliation, but you’ll help propel the Christiansburg Institute story to where it rightfully belongs: alongside Selma, Freedom Riders, Tuskegee Airmen, Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson, I Have a Dream, and other seminal moments in America’s history.

Always buzzing,
Michael Hemphill

BUZZ at the Emmys before and after 720 900 Michael Hemphill

BUZZ at the Emmys before and after

Reflections 12 hours before the Emmy Awards Gala on June 21, 2026 …

Tonight we will learn just how much buzz we get at the 68th Emmy Awards Gala in Bethesda, Maryland.

BUZZ is up for 5 awards, but it is not false modesty to say that I am honored just to be nominated.

Let me rephrase: I do not expect to come home with a trophy.

Would it be nice? Of course! But when I look at my fellow nominees — full-fledged networks like WSLS and WDBJ7 and public television companies like my good friends at Blue Ridge PBS and PBS Appalachia — and then multiply them across the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences – Capital Chapter comprising Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., I’m astonished to even have a seat at the table.

I know for sure that Buzz4Good is the smallest operation among the nominees. There’s my videographer extraordinaire Dan Mirolli, responsible for filming four of the nominated episodes, along with my good friend Scott Ramsburg at Roanoke Valley Television for the fifth.

And then there is me — the guy raising production money from foundation grants, corporate sponsors, and charitable donors … coordinating production details with our nonprofit stars along with the marketing professionals who are providing the “buzz” … hosting and assisting with the filming and editing the episodes … promoting their release at watch parties and on social media … rinse, recycle, repeat.

I love everything about the process, and I’m proud of the work we have done highlighting and helping nonprofit organizations that do so much, and in so many ways, for our communities. But I am also realistic about our odds for an Emmy.

Now, if Buzz4Good does get called tonight, I’ll be buzzing from the mountaintop. But having the good fortune and the support of friends and fans to be able to do this the last six years? That’s all the award I need.

Reflections 12 hours after the Emmy Awards Gala …

Well, even with my realistic expectations, last night’s Emmy Awards gala was a bit of a buzz kill.

5 nominations. 0 trophies.

It started so promising! In a ballroom that would’ve envied Trump, packed with more than a hundred tables of journalists and producers from the biggest broadcast stations across Virginia, Maryland and DC, I was seated at Table 4 — the closest to the stage.

How thoughtful were the judges! They obviously didn’t want to tire me making so many trips to accept all my awards!

Alas, the only body part worn out after the four-hour ceremony was my backside from nonstop sitting. My hands did get a workout applauding my good friends Blue Ridge PBS and PBS Appalachia at Table 3, which nearly collapsed under the weight of all their hardware.

So I am settling now for “Emmy Award nominated TV show” … because this gala is my last. The journey takes too much time, energy and resources that could be expended helping another nonprofit on BUZZ.

Rather than entering another Emmy Awards, later this year I’ll launch my own competition — the ”Buzzy” — the winner of which will be featured in a new episode in 2027. Stay tuned for details.

Until then, continued thanks to you all for being in my hive and supporting our mission. And if you’re in Roanoke this Wednesday, please join me at my BUZZ Watch Party stars Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center. We’ll all be winners there!

Birthday BUZZ 789 1024 Michael Hemphill

Birthday BUZZ

Dear Hive:

Today is my 55th birthday so I ask for your indulgence by reading all the way through.

I was recently asked by a friend what’s the mission of BUZZ.

Well, I answered, to produce a TV show that highlights and helps nonprofits.

That’s the “what,” he replied. But what is the “why?”

Why, indeed?

To help nonprofits do more and better? Sure.

So that the lives of more people and more communities are enhanced? Yep.

Selfishly, to create something meaningful and be my own boss? Absolutely.

But the more I contemplate this question, the more I think the answer revolves around promoting a worldview in which we value “profit” not by how much noise or fame or power or influence or money we generate, but how much good we do.

In their purest forms, nonprofits are the best expressions of this. They shelter the homeless, heal the uninsured, rebuild communities hit by disaster or poverty, teach kids to dance and paint and sing, rescue abused animals, re-home immigrants and resettle refugees, promote local business, help adults with disabilities and veterans with PTSD, preserve history and culture, care for nature, and on and on and on.

Sure, the folks working for them deservedly earn a paycheck, but that’s part and parcel of living in this world we’ve constructed. Just like it costs money to create each episode of BUZZ ($2500-$10,000).

But the motivation behind this work isn’t the scale of your wallet but the size of your heart.

So today I invite you to journey more deeply into this worldview. Do something more for that nonprofit you care about, and reply here with the name of the org.

Or let me know which of these nonprofits that have recently reached out to me deserves some buzz:

  • 3 Balloons
  • Renaissance Music Academy
  • Camp Easterseals
  • EnCircle
  • Friends of Washington Park
  • Camp Bethel
  • She Leads Tomorrow
  • Renovation Alliance

And if you’re inspired, donate to my work so we can bring them to the screen.

Donate Here

A scripture passage increasingly dear to me comes from the Gospel of John: “We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work.”

It’s still daylight, friends. There’s a lot of goodness in the world, but a lot of work to be done as well.

Let’s get buzzing!

Michael Hemphill
BUZZ Creator

BUZZ garners 5 Emmy Award nominations 900 507 Michael Hemphill

BUZZ garners 5 Emmy Award nominations

Dear Hive:

I am buzzing to announce that BUZZ has received five EMMY nominations!

  • Franklin County NAACP’s “Raising the Shade” – Documentary Historical, produced in partnership with Dan Mirolli Photography and Virginia Tech’s Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia.
  • Greater Williamson Road Area Business Association – Business/Consumer (Long Form Content), produced in partnership with Roanoke Valley Television and Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge.
  • Masterpiece Alliance – Diversity/Equity/Inclusion (Long Form Content), produced in partnership with Dan Mirolli Photography and Robertson Family Foundation
  • Elimisha Kakuma – Education/Schools (Long Form Content), produced in partnership with Dan Mirolli Photography and Cranwell Family Foundation
  • Angels of Assisi – Societal Concerns (Long Form Content), produced in partnership with Dan Mirolli Photography

BUZZ is a program of the American Advertising Federation of Roanoke and broadcast on Blue Ridge PBS.

The nominations were announced Wednesday night by the Capital Emmys Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, which represents all TV producers broadcasting within Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. The Awards Gala is June 20 in Bethesda.

Stay tuned, and as always, thank you for supporting of our mission to highlight and help the real award winners of our communities – our nonprofit organizations!

Always buzzing,
Michael Hemphill
BUZZ Creator

Buzz4Good! voted Gold for Best Local Podcast in RoanokeR Magazine 819 1024 Michael Hemphill

Buzz4Good! voted Gold for Best Local Podcast in RoanokeR Magazine

I am buzzing by the news that The Roanoker Magazine has awarded Gold to Buzz4Good! for Best Local Podcast in its Best of Roanoke 2026!

Thank you to all who took the time to vote for our show! I’m grateful to my friends at WFIR who first invited me in 2022 to start the show, which you can listen to each Saturday 4p ET or at buzz4good.com/podcast.

In each episode I chat with the inspiring people who lead nonprofits not only in Southwest Virginia but around the U.S. who work tirelessly each day to make our communities even better places to live. You are all gold to me!