"BET News and Facebook Present: COVID-19: Black America's Fight" Airs This Wednesday

Recent data has established that the COVID-19 pandemic is infecting and killing Black people in the United States at disproportionately high rates, highlighting existing racial disparities in resources, health and wellness and access to medical care. To speak to these issues, BET News in partnership with Facebook and CBS News announces a primetime news special "BET News and Facebook Present: COVID-19: Black America's Fight, "airing commercial-free Wednesday, April 22 at 7 PM ET on BET and BET HER and streamed on BET & BET News' Facebook Pages.

Anchored by CBS News' Gayle King and a team of CBS News correspondents in original interviews and taped packages, the one-hour special will address the lopsided impacts of COVID-19 on the African American community and provide helpful and accurate information for viewers looking to protect themselves and their families from the epidemic's spread.

"BET News and Facebook Present:COVID-19: Black America's Fight" will include interviews with Global health official and physician Ambassador Deborah L. Birx, M.D., San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, Ariel Investments CEO Mellody Hobson, Inspirational Speaker Iyanla Vanzant, New York Times Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, Former Obama Education Secretary John B. King Jr., Policy Advocate Heather McGhee, Entrepreneur John Hope Bryant and CBS News' Michelle Miller, Jericka Duncan, Vladimir Duthiers, and Anne Marie Green to provide factual information and guidance to viewers through this unprecedented crisis.

The special will also highlight the challenges faced by the members of our community who cannot afford to self-quarantine, from first responders to delivery workers, home healthcare attendants, child-care providers, and those who are homeless and incarcerated. Across the nation, experts report that the days, weeks and months ahead will be specifically challenging economically for Black Americans; this special will speak to how workers and business owners can survive what will likely be a very severe economic downturn.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to mount, the BET News Special joins BET's array of initiatives and resources that will provide spiritual, emotional, educational, and financial support to communities of color. Additional initiatives include the " Saving Our Selves: A BET COVID-19 Relief Effort" broadcast special, in partnership with United Way Worldwide, airing Wednesday, April 22 at 8 PM ET/PT, our support of the NAACP 's Town Hall Series, airing Bishop TD Jakes special "BET Presents, The Light, An Easter Production, " and daily reporting on BET.com regarding what the African American community needs to know about COVID-19, and how it is impacting our lives.

"BET News and Facebook Present:COVID-19: Black America's Fight" is Executive Produced by Jason Samuels for BET.

For more information on " BET News and Facebook Present:COVID-19: Black America's Fight," as well as resources available around COVID-19, please visit BET.com.

About BET: BET, a subsidiary of ViacomCBS Inc. (NASDAQ: VIACA, VIAC), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news, and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel is in 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, sub-Saharan Africa, and France. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions including BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; BET HER, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the African-American Woman; BET Music Networks - BET Jams, BET Soul and BET Gospel; BET Home Entertainment; BET Live, BET's growing festival business; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET around the globe.