It couldn't have come at a better time.

In early March, when the coronavius was something Americans were just starting to seriously prepare for, Rynell "Showbiz" Williams started the Soul Beat TV Instagram page.

Showbiz is a longtime radio DJ, formerly with 94.9 KWILD, and currently a host on the morning show with 102.5 KDON. He's also from East Oakland, and grew up watching Soul Beat TV on Channel 37.

"Soul Beat in Oakland was everything," Showbiz says, over the phone. "It was (one of) the first black-owned television network(s)... Before BET. Before TV One. There was Soul Beat. And it was started by Chuck Johnson."

Chuck Johnson was a former Marine who spent some time in Hollywood, where he worked on movies like Dolemite before coming to Oakland and starting Soul Beat.

Although the production was sometimes low quality, the network's appeal was immediate in making something for the people, by the people.

"It was black faces that you saw. It was black businesses that you saw," says Showbiz. "The beauty was all about the Soul Beat commercials."

The corny car commercial where everyone waves on cue. The commercial for Harputs, an urban clothing store in San Francisco that has since pivoted to more upscale fashion . The S-Curl commercial that shows the styles of the time.

At this point, it's incredible that this footage has survived. If you lived it, you may or may not want to travel back then. But for me, it's what the big homies always talked about—so I'm fascinated.

Not just by the commercials, but the commentary from Night Dog, whose no-holds-barred call-in talk show was a Soul Beat TV staple. The music videos were the soundtrack to my childhood, with lyrics I didn't fully understood until now. Even the background scenes of Oakland, in the music videos and commercials Soul Beat showed, is now rare documentary footage, what with all the changes that have occurred here.