* I’ll Make Me a World; PBS Home Video ; 1999 ; 342m. VHS 6973
Profiles African American musicians, artists and authors throughout twentieth century America.
* The “New Negro” Arts Movement; Chip Taylor Communications ; 1998 ; 58m. VHS 7102
Presents a glimpse of the “New Negro” arts movement, also known as the “Black Renaissance” or the “Harlem Renaissance” of the 1920s. The works of performers, writers, and artists such as Josephine Baker, Zora Neale Hurston, James Van Der Zee and Aaron Douglas, are discussed.
* Many Steps: the Origin and Evolution of African American Collegiate Stepping; California Newsreel ; 2002 ; 28m. VHS 8981
The origin and evolution of African American collegiate stepping is explored in this energetic and informative documentary. Stepping is a popular communal art form in which teams of young dancers compete, using improvisation, call and response, complex meters, propulsive rhythms and a percussive attack.
* Rize ; Lions Gate Home Entertainment ; 2005 ; 87m. DVD 2183
A portrayal of inner city youth who have created art where before there was none. Surrounded by drug addiction, gangs and impoverishment, they have developed a completely unique style of dance that evolves on a daily basis.
* Show Girls; Cinema Guild ; 1998 ; 52m. VHS 8263
Depicts the lives of three black women who worked as dancers and singers in nightclubs and theaters in Montreal, Canada during the Jazz Era.
* Baadaassss Cinema: Bold Look at 70s Blaxploitation Films; New Video ; 2002 ; 56m.
DVD 655
In this documentary from the Independent Film Channel, filmmaker Isaac Julien takes us back to the early 70s and the explosion of blaxploitation films.
* Beah: A Black Woman Speaks; Women Make Movies ; 2003 ; 91m. VHS 9251
Beah Richards (1920-2000), actress-poet-activist, shares her wit and wisdom about her life as a black woman in America.
* Classified X; WinStar Home Entertainment ; 1998 ; 50m. VHS 8858
Examines the treatment of black characters throughout the history of American cinema, using examples from classic films beginning with footage by Thomas Edison in 1903 to the present, tracing how Hollywood has aided and abetted the public perception of the African American. From its earliest days, Hollywood reflected society’s fear of blacks and countered with wish-fulfilling images of African Americans as servile, ignorant, superstitious, or untrustworthy.
* Color Adjustment; California Newsreel ; 1991 ; 88m. VHS 1971
Analyzes the evolution of television's earlier, unflattering portrayal of blacks from 1948 until 1988 where they are depicted as prosperous, having achieved the American dream, a portrayal that is, unfortunately, largely inconsistent with reality. The first part is “Color Blind TV? 1948-1968”; second part is “Coloring the dream, 1968-1988”.
* It's Black Entertainment!; Showtime Entertainment ; 2001 ; 80m. VHS 8479
A star-studded tribute to the contributions of African Americans in film over the last century. Film shorts feature premier artists such as Whitney Houston, Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, and many more. Includes interviews with major contemporary stars such as Snoop Dogg, Ice T., Quincy Jones, Spike Lee and Russell Simmons.
* Malcolm X: Man, Myth, and Movie; MPI Home Video ; 1992 ; 23m. VHS 2354
This ABC News Nightline program utilizes excerpts from the feature film Malcolm X. A panel of high school students react to Spike Lee's film about Malcolm X and Spike Lee and others are interviewed.
* Midnight Ramble: Oscar Micheaux and the Story of Race Movies; Shanachie Home Video ; 1994 ; 56m. VHS 4234
Recounts the story of race movies produced for African Americans from the 1920s through 1950 and the role played by Oscar Micheaux, the leading African American producer and director. These movies were designed for African Americans, were frequently shown at midnight, and presented African Americans in a positive light. Features interviews with African American actors, actresses, and historians.
* Roots: Celebrating 25 Years: The Saga of an American Classic; Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; 2001 ; 47m. DVD 1991
For eight nights in 1977, America came face to face with slavery depicted, for the first time, from the black point of view. This penetrating retrospective considers the impact of the landmark miniseries Roots (see DVD 494), a catalyst for a long-overdue dialogue on race relations in the U.S. Interviews with producer David L. Wolper and cast members LeVar Burton, Ben Vereen, Leslie Uggams, Maya Angelou, Richard Roundtree, Sam Bennett, and Ed Asner are featured. Clips from the series -- one of the highest-rated TV events ever — are included, as well as interviews with Larry King, Will Smith, Michael Jordan, and others who disuss how the miniseries affected them.
* Runnin' Man; Fox Lorber Features ; 1997 ; 26m. VHS 8915
Examines the life and film-making career of Melvin Van Peebles.
* Sisters in Cinema; Our Film Works ; 2003 ; 62m. VHS 9017
A documentary discussing the strong visual history of the contributions of African American women to the film industry.
* Small Steps, Big Strides; 20 th Century Fox Home Entertainment ; 1998 ; 60m. VHS 8848
This tribute celebrates African American silver screen legends. Included are interviews and rare footage documenting the kinds of roles black actors were first given, the challenges these performers met, and the real behind-the-scenes story of their acceptance and triumphs in Hollywood.
* Edward Loper, Prophet of Color; Teleduction ; 1999 ; 35m. VHS 7186
African American painter, Edward Loper of Delaware, discusses his life and philosophy of painting. He explains how he got started and how he developed his own style.
* Henry Ossawa Turner; Tanner Film Group ; 1991 ; 16m. VHS 2210
From 19th century America, to the salons and ateliers of turn of the century Paris, Henry Ossawa Tanner overcame obstacles of race and art to become one of the greatest American painters of his time.
* Paul R. Jones Collection; University of Delaware ; 2004 ; 4m. DVD 1705
Shows excerpts from the Paul R. Jones collection at the University of Delaware.
* Persistent Women Artists: Pablita Velarde, Mine Okubo, Lois Mailou Jones; Reading & O’Reilly, Inc. ; 1996 ; 30m. VHS 5801
International artist and art educator Betty LaDuke interviews three American women artists of diverse heritages, who discuss how their art reflects the experience of each as a Native, Asian, and African American woman.
* The Quiltmakers of Gee’s Bend; Alabama Public Television ; 2004 ; 60m. DVD 1857
Records and relates the lives of the women of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, who for more than 150 years have made quilts reflecting their history and daily lives. Having worked in isolation for generations and continuing to inhabit the remote plantation land their parents once slaved, they have received unexpected attention from the artistic world.
* Alice Walker; Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; 1992 ; 30m. VHS 2487
Afro-American writer Alice Walker discusses her life, the Civil Rights movement, and the “womanist” perspective: that of a Black woman whose spirit has been reawakened. Explores how writing has helped Walker to stave off depression and understand herself better.
* Alice Walker and the Color Purple; Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; 1986 ; 62m. DVD 1261
Originally broadcast in 1986 by BBC as part of the television series Omnibus. An interview in which the author’s comments and recitations are juxtaposed with dramatic interpretations of her novel and clips from the film adaptation. Director Steven Spielberg is also interviewed.
* Alice Walker: Author; Schlessinger Video Productions ; 1994 ; 30m. VHS 6544
Provides biographical information about author Alice Walker with comments by historians and other experts about her life, thoughts, and contributions.
* Alice Walker: Stitches in Time; Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; 2004 ; 22m. DVD 1225
What were Alice Walker’s motivations in writing “Everyday Use?” In this program the author discusses her short story with her official biographer, Evelyn C. White. Over the course of the interview, Walker talks about the autobiographical aspects of the story, the significance of quilting to African American women, the perception of class differences, and the important life lessons she wished to explore.
* Amiri Baraka: Conversation with Maya Angelou; Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; 1997 ; 28m. VHS 8234
Maya Angelou interviews 20th century American writer Amiri Baraka about his writing and politics.
* Black American Literature; Omnigraphics, Inc. ; 1988 ; 45m. VHS 1072
Surveys the development of black American literature from the 1890s to the 1930s, examining the achievements of the authors who consolidated the Afro-American literary tradition at the turn of the century, the major poets and novelists of the Harlem Renaissance, and the black women writers who provide a unique, double perspective on racial and sexual oppression in their work.
* The Edge of Each Other’s Battles: The Vision of Audre Lorde; Women Make Movies ; 2000 ; 59m. VHS 9444
Documents black lesbian poet and activist Audre Lordes (1934-92) social vision, using footage from the four-day conference, I Am Your Sisters: Forging Global Connections Across Differences, held in Boston in 1990. At the conference 1,200 men, women and young people from 23 countries examined the issues of the relations between race, class, gender, and sexuality through Lorde's work. Interviews with the organizers of the conference are intercut with conference footage, including performances, controversies, and
speeches.
* Furious Flower: Conversations with African American Poets; California Newsreel ; 1998 ; 369m. VHS 6423
A video anthology of African American poetry from 1960 to 1995. Black verse from the Harlem Renaissance through the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s is discussed and 25 notable poets are introduced and profiled. Included in this anthology are Rita Dove, Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni and Michael Harper.
* Hughes’ Dream: Harlem; California Newsreel ; 2002 ; 61m ; DVD 2283
Langston Hughes was one of the most prominent figures of the Harlem Renaissance and is often referred to as Harlem's poet laureate. This film shows how Hughes successfully fused jazz, blues and common speech to celebrate the beauty of Black life. This multi-layered documentary consists of spoken-word sessions, roundtable discussions and a tour of Hughes’ Harlem hang-outs.
* In Motion: Amiri Baraka; Facets Video ; 1982 ; 60m. VHS 4496
Documentary covering Amiri Baraka from his early days in Greenwich Village to his present (1982) literary and political activities. Focuses on the final two weeks before his sentencing at federal court on the charges of resisting arrest.
* Ishmael Reed; The Foundation ; 1989 ; 60m. VHS 8385
On May 26, 1989, in Venice, CA, Reed read from his New and Selected Poems and his novel The Terrible Threes. Includes portions of an interview with poet Lewis MacAdams.
* James Baldwin: Author; Schlessinger Video Productions ; 1994 ; 30m. VHS 6540
Chronicles the life of author James Baldwin.
* James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket; California Newsreel ; 1990 ; 87m. VHS 2551, DVD 2281
Presents a look at author James Baldwin’s life as reflected in his own words and reminiscences of family and friends.
* Langston Hughes: Poet; Schlessinger Video Productions ; 1994 ; 30m. VHS 6545
Provides biographical information about poet Langston Hughes, with comments by historians and other experts about his life, thoughts and contributions.
* A Meditation on Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance; Water Bearer Films ; 1992 ; 45m. VHS 7018
A surreal dramatization, including documentary film clips, of Langston Hughes’ milieu in the Harlem of the 1930s. The voice-over narration is from the poetry and prose of James Baldwin, Essex Hamphill, Bruce Nugent, and Hilton Als.
* Ralph Ellison: An American Journey; California Newsreel ; 2004 ; 87m. DVD 2278
This documentary profiles on one of the most gifted and intellectually provocative authors of modern American literature. It establishes Ellison as a central figure in contemporary debates over art, politics, race and nationhood. Narrated by Andre Braugher, the film presents the first scenes ever filmed from Ellison’s landmark novel, Invisible Man.
* Richard Wright — Black Boy; California Newsreel ; 86m. DVD 2280
Biographical sketch of the Afro-American writer, Richard Wright. Includes a discussion of his literary works and the times in which he lived, weaving together dramatic recreations from Wright’s work and recollections of friends and scholars. It follows Wright’s journey from a childhood of poverty through the Chicago Black cultural renaissance of the 1930s, the Communist Party during the Depression, the MacCarthy era, the American expatriate community in 1950s Paris, and his final years.
* Toni Morrisson Uncensored; Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; 1999 ; 30m. VHS 8236
Morrison candidly answers questions regarding how she became a writer, the pain of empathizing with her characters, the sensual nature of her novels, and how it felt to win the Nobel Prize.
* A Worn Path; Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; 1999 ; 32m. VHS 8237
This program is based on a Eudora Welty short story about a 95-year-old African American woman who undertakes a long journey into town to get medicine for her ailing grandson.
* B.B. King in Africa; Pioneer Artists ; 1998 ; 48m. DVD 50
Documents B.B. King’s legendary part in the 1974 three-day musical festival in Kinshasa, Zaire.
* Bernice Johnson Reagon: The Singing Warrior; Veterans of Hope Project ; 2000 ; 42m. VHS 8302
Bernice Johnson Reagon, SNCC freedom singer and founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock, was interviewed in Denver, Colorado, on October 27, 1997.
* Black Picket Fence; Image Entertainment, Inc. ; 2001 ; 93m. DVD 2321
Award-winning filmmaker Sergio Goes’ hard-hitting documentary about Tislam Miller, a struggling rapper living in the public housing projects of Brooklyn’s East New York, one of the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods. Tiz is making impressive strides in his career, but remains tied to his old life, primarily through his drug-dealing best friend, Mel, who has just gotten out of prison.
* Bob Marley: Spiritual Journey; Waterfall Home Entertainment ; 2003 ; 58m. DVD 2630
This DVD features the music of Bob Marley, film footage shown for the first time, and exclusive interviews. It seeks to examine his motivations and provide insight into his relationships and the development of his music through the people that knew and worked with him.
* The Darker Side of Black; Filmakers Library ; 1994 ; 59m. VHS 8099
Gangsta chic, violence and nihilism, the hard edge of Rap and Reggae increasingly dominates the image of Black popular culture. This film investigates the issues raised by the genre, such as ritualized machismo, misogyny, attitudes towards homosexuality and religion, and gun glorification. Filmed in dance halls, hip hop clubs, and using interviews and music video clips, this film takes us to London, Jamaica and the U.S. to examine the “darker” side of contemporary Black music.
* Deep Blues: Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads; WinStar TV & Video ; 1999 ; 90m. DVD 262
Robert Palmer, author of Deep Blues, and Dave Stewart, a member of Eurythmics, pay tribute to the Mississippi blues and various blues artists.
* Feel Like Going Home; Columbia Music Video ; 2003 ; 76m. DVD 1068
Part of Martin Scorsese's documentary series The Blues. Traces the roots of the blues from the banks of the Niger River to the cotton fields and juke joints of Mississippi.
* Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes; Media Education Foundation ; 2006 ; 61m. DVD 2856
Examines the representation of manhood in hip-hop culture and explores the related issues of race, gender violence and corporate explotation of hip-hop.
* Lyricist Lounge: Dirty States of America; 2003 ; 95m. DVD 2102
The untold story of Southern hip-hop is revealed in this provocative documentary. Along with an exploration of how the region's controversial history continues to resonate throughout the rap community, the program also includes insights from a variety of contemporary hitmakers. Includes appearances by Lil John, David Banner, Ludacris, Scarface, Juvenile, Bubba Sparxxx, and more.
* Godfathers and Sons; Columbia Music Video ; 2003 ; 133m. DVD 1067
Part of Martin Scorsese's documentary series The Blues. Call them the Blues Brothers 2003 -- in Marc Levin's film, hip-hop legend Chuck D and Marshall Chess return to Chicago to explore the heyday of Chicago blues as they unite to produce music that seeks to bring veteran blues players together with contemporary hip-hop musicians such as Common and members of the Roots. Along with archival footage of Howlin' Wolf are original performances by Koko Taylor, Otis Rush, Magic Slim, Ike Turner and Sam Lay.
* Jazz; PBS DVD ; 2000 ; 1140m. DVD 275
Documentary exploring the history of jazz from its beginnings through the 1990s, including the stories of many of its creators and performers. Includes archival video, still photographs, historical performances, and newly recorded interviews and musical performances. Special features include a Making of Jazz featurette (20 min.), three performances not included in the television broadcast (by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Miles Davis), and access during play to information about the performances heard in the program. Episode 1. Gumbo (ca. 90 min.) — episode 2. The Gift (ca. 120 min.) — episode 3. Our Language (ca. 120 min.) — episode 4. The True Welcome (ca. 120 min.) — episode 5. Swing: Pure Pleasure (ca. 90 min.) — episode 6. Swing: The Velocity of Celebration (ca. 105 min.) — episode 7. Dedicated to Chaos (ca. 120 min.) — episode 8. Risk (ca. 120 min.) — episode 9. The Adventure (ca. 120 min.) — episode 10. A Masterpiece by Midnight (ca. 120 min.).
* Jimi Hendrix at the Isle of Wight; Image Entertainment, Inc. ; 1998 ; 56m. DVD 47
Live concert performances of Jimi Hendrix shot in 1970. Songs include: Message to Love — God Save the Queen — Sgt. Pepper — Spanish Castle Magic — All Along the Watchtower — Voodoo Chile — Freedom — Machine Gun — Dolly Dagger — Red House — In from the Storm.
* Piano Blues; Columbia Music Video ; 2003 ; 85m. DVD 1062
Part of Martin Scorsese's documentary series The Blues. Director and piano player Clint Eastwood explores his life-long passion for piano blues , using a treasure trove of rare historical footage in addition to interviews and performances.
* Preservation Hall Jazz Band: A Night in New Orleans; PBS Home Video ; 2001 ; 60m. DVD 1982
A rare performance of New Orleans jazz and musicians who strive to preserve it.
* Rap: Looking for the Perfect Beat; Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; 1994 ; 53m. DVD 895
This program featuring rap artist Melle Mel describes the history of rap and hip-hop from its roots in earlier oral and musical traditions to its full flowering in the mid-1990s.
* Rebel Music: The Bob Marley Story; Palm Pictures ; 2000 ; 89m. DVD 2605
The story of legendary reggae superstar Bob Marley, the musician, the poet and the prophet. Includes previously unheard recordings, news footage of the time and live performances of many of his classic hits.
The story of legendary reggae superstar Bob Marley, the musician, the poet and the prophet. Includes previously unheard recordings, news footage of the time and live performances of many of his classic hits.
* Red, White, and Blues; Columbia Music Video ; 2003 ; 126m. DVD 1064
Part of Martin Scorsese's documentary series The Blues. Mike Figgis' film mixes interviews with dozens of the key players of the British blues movement with new music from an all-star jam session at the Abbey Road studios.
* The Road to Memphis; Columbia Music Video ; 2003 ; 119m. DVD 1066
Part of Martin Scorsese’s documentary series The Blues. Traces the musical odyssey of B.B. King to Memphis and pays homage to the great blues musicians of the Memphis tradition. Filmed on the occasion of the great reunion in which Memphis musicians returned to honor their roots.
* Saturday Night, Sunday Morning: the Travels of Gatemouth Moore; Multicultural Media ; 1996 ; VHS 5228
Documents, through interviews and early photographs, the life of Arnold Dwight “Gatemouth” Moore, a prominent blues singer who left the stage at the height of his career to preach and sing gospel music. Among those interviewed are B.B. King, Al Green, Rufus Thomas, Benjamin Hooks and Reverend A.D. Gatemouth Moore.
* The Soul of a Man: The Film; Columbia Music Video ; 2003 ; 95m. DVD 1063
Part of Martin Scorsese’s documentary series The Blues. Shows contemporary musicians playing their works. Uses dramatization and live performances to look at the lives and works of Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson and J.B. Lenoir.
* That Rhythm — Those Blues ; PBS Video ; 1989 ; 58m. VHS 3977
Explores with rhythm and blues music performed by Black musicians during the 1940s and 1950s in small towns and rural areas of the American South, and their aspirations of performing in the Apollo Theater.
* Tryin' To Get Home: a History of African American Song ; Ellison Horne Video ; 1993 ; 59m. VHS 4417
A musical and dramatic one person show presenting the contributions of African Americans to American music.
* Warming By the Devil's Fire; Columbia Music Video ; 2003 ; 90m. DVD 1065
Part of Martin Scorsese's documentary series The Blues. Charles Burnett explores his own childhood being shuttled between a religious mother and a blues-loving uncle. His film combines fiction with documentary footage in the story of a young boy kidnapped to prevent his being saved by a church that viewed blues as the devil’s music.
* Wattstax; Warner Home Video ; 1973 ; 103m. DVD 1251
On August 20, 1972, more than 100,000 people attended what came to be known as “the black Woodstock” Wattstax documents this historic event and includes the once-lost original ending.
* Wild Women Don't Have the Blues; California Newsreel ; 1989 ; 58m. VHS 8984
Through historic performances and recordings, captures the spirit of such pioneering blueswomen as Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Ethel Waters, Alberta Hunter, Ida Cox, and others.
*7th & T; Telescope Productions ; 1987 ; 56m. VHS 1191
Discusses the Howard Theater located at 7th & T Sts. in Washington, D.C. As the premiere stage for Afro-American performers, the theater was the focal point of the neighborhood. The history of the theater and the neighborhood are discussed.
* August Wilson; PBS Home Video ; 1988 ; 29m. VHS 1660
Playwright August Wilson talks to Bill Moyers about his roots in Black community, how his plays express the African American experience, and how the African heritage of Black Americans is both expressed and repressed in American society today.
* Black Theater, 1950-1980; Insight Media ; 1995 ; 38m. VHS 7787
Contains interviews with the following figures in black theater: Vol. 1. Lloyd Richards, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Joseph Pap, Amiri Baraka (aka Leroi Jones) — vol. 2. Vinnette Carroll, Douglas Turner Ward, Woodie King, Jr., Wynn Handman, Ed Bullins, and Barbara Ann Teer.
* Black Theatre: the Making of a Movement; California Newsreel ; 1978 ; 110m. VHS 4071
Recaptures the birth of a new theatre from the Civil Rights activism of the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. Presents an encyclopedia of the leading figures, institutions, and events. Clips from historic productions include the first all-black production of Genet’s “The Blacks” along with “A Raisin in the Sun,” “Black Girl,” “Dutchman,” and “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf.”
* Lorraine Hansbery: the Black Experience in the Creation of Drama; Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; 1975 ; 35m. VHS 3702
Traces the artistic growth and vision of the black playwright Lorraine Hansberry, largely in her own words and in her own voice. Describes the author’s childhood in Chicago, student days at the University of Wisconsin, work as a journalist in Harlem, life as a housewife in Greenwich Village, and success on Broadway.
* Mama's Pushcart: Ellen Stewart and 25 Years of La Mama E.T.C.; Women Make Movies ; 1988 ; 53m. VHS 7775
With virtually no financial resources, Ellen Stewart created the La Mama theater in New York in 1961, where writers and actors such as Sam Shepard, Elizabeth Swados, and Harvey Fierstein found both encouragement and a home for their work. Includes footage from the early days, interviews and brief excerpts from some of the theater works. Stewart also talks about her experiences as a “colored” working at Saks Fifth Avenue between 1950 and 1957.
* The Negro Ensemble Company; Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; 1987 ; 55m. VHS 740
A documentary exploring the history of the Negro Ensemble Company, through interviews with the co-founders and some of the actors of this premier Black theater company.
* Panorama of African American Theatre; GPN ; 1991 ; 60m. VHS 4037
Brief comments on the history and evolution of African American theatre and entertainment tradition are interspersed with vignettes from important African American plays. Includes excerpts from Leslie Lee’s “Colored People’s Time,” August Wilson’s “Fences,” George Wolfe’s “Colored Museum,” Lorraine Hansberry’s “Raisin in the Sun,” and Ossie Davis’ “Purlie Victorious.”
* Through the Eyes of a Master; Tony Brown Productions ; 1989 ; 26m. VHS 5001
An interview with Bert Andrews, a photographer who has worked with the Negro Ensemble Company since its beginnings and has photographed black theatre since the 1950s. Douglas Turner Ward, one of the founders of the Ensemble joined the interview to emphasize the importance of Andrews' work for the larger black community.
* America: Beyond the Color Line ; PBS Home Video ; 2003 ; 220m. DVD 1689
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. travels to the east coast, the deep South, inner city Chicago, and Hollywood to investigate modern black America and interview influential Americans including Colin Powell, Quincy Jones, Samuel L. Jackson, Alicia Keys, Maya Angelou, Willie Herenton and others.
* Black Indians: An American Story; Rich Heape Films, Inc., 2000 ; 60m. DVD 2285
Explores the issue of racial identity among Native and African Americans. This in-depth documentary examines the coalescence of these two groups in American history.
* Black Philadelphia Memories; WHYY ; 1999 ; 92m. VHS 8436
Documents the history of the African American community in Philadelphia, and features interviews with many prominent community members.
* Blacks and Jews; California Newsreel ; 1997 ; 85m. VHS 7229
Early in the 20th century black and Jewish Americans joined forces against bigotry and for civil rights but in the late 1960s each group turned inward and the coalition fell apart. This film examines the history of this collaboration and recent racial conflicts between Afro-Americans and Jews and attempts at understanding and reconciliation, with particular emphasis on events in New York City and Oakland, California.
* Desire; Women Make Movies ; 2005 ; 84m. DVD 2657
Starting in Desire, a New Orleans public housing development, filmmaker Julie Gustafson collaborates with diverse teenage girls to create autobiographical videos about their developing sexuality and identity. The film examines the complex economic forces that shape the young women’s hopes, dreams and choices.
* Ethnic Notions; California Newsreel ; 1986 ; 57m. DVD 3744, VHS 835
Covering more than one hundred years of United States history, traces the evolution of Black American caricatures and their role in political and social conflicts concerning race.
* Fauberg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans; California Newsreel ; 2007 ; 68m. DVD 4825
Long ago during slavery, Faubourg Tremé was home to the largest community of free black people in the Deep South and a hotbed of political ferment. Here black and white, free and enslaved, rich and poor co-habitated, collaborated, and clashed to create much of what defines New Orleans culture up to the present day.
* Freedom Bags; Filmakers Library ; 1990 ; 32m. VHS 2043
Tells the story of African American women who migrated from the rural south during the first 3 decades of the 20th century. Hoping to escape from the racism and poverty of the post-Civil War South, they boarded segregated trains for an uncertain future “up Northing.”
* Get on the Bus; Columbia TriStar Home Video ; 1996 ; 121m. VHS 5873
Follows a group of different men traveling from Los Angeles to the march in Washington, D.C. On the way they will make friends, make enemies, and make history.
* Ghosts Along the Freeway; First Light Films ; 1991 ; 10m. VHS 4392
This program explores the impact the interstate freeway had on two neighborhoods in the Twin Cities. Rondo Avenue was the heart of St. Paul’s African American community, and Lowry Hill once boasted many of Minneapolis’ most lavish homes. When the freeway tore through these two communities, the character of the neighborhoods was changed forever.
* Goin’ to Chicago; California Newsreel ; 1994 ; 70m. VHS 3650
A group of longtime Chicago residents and African Americans return to Greenville, Mississippi for a reunion with family and friends. Participants talk about their lives and their reasons for moving north. Includes historical footage of Mississippi and Chicago.
* The History Makers: Talking Truth; Image Entertainment ; 2005 ; 3 volumes, 60m ea. DVD 4119, DVD 4120, and DVD 4303
Vol. 1. Success — Focuses on the achievement of success of both well-known and unsung African Americans in the face of adversity. Vol. 2. Faith — Centers on the importance of faith in both oneself and a higher being to achieve the impossible. Vol. 3. Courage — Focuses on possessing the courage to fight for your dreams.
* A History of Black Achievement in America; Ambrose Video ; 2005 ; 216m. DVD 3003
Vol. 1. Settling the New World and founding the United States of America ; Emergence of the black hero — vol. 2. The fight for freedom ; Blacks enter the Gilded Age — vol. 3. The foundation for equality ; Depression and war — vol. 4. Civil rights ; A new age. This original eight-part series on four volumes documents black achievement in American history, its defining role in the growth of the country, and its influence on current events. The series highlights the many contributions of black Americans that have influenced and shaped the history of the United States.
* Hoop Dreams ; Turner Home Entertainment ; 1994 ; 171m. Video Disc 194, DVD 1729
Follows the high school careers of two young men from inner-city Chicago as they pursue their dream of playing professional basketball.
* I Am A Man: Black Masculinity in America; Media Education Foundation ; 1998 ; 60m. DVD 2890
Documents the thoughts and feelings of African American men and women from more than 15 cities and towns across America and links black men from various socio-economic backgrounds with some of black America’s most progressive academics, social critics and authors to provide an engaging, candid dialogue on black masculine identity in American culture.
* Legacy; California Newsreel ; 2000 ; 90m. VHS 7324
Terrell Collins, a 14 year old African American boy living in Chicago’s Henry Horner Homes housing project and the son of a crack addict, was an honor student initially intended to be featured in a documentary on “ghetto success stories.” On the day filming was to begin, Terrell was fatally shot. His cousin, Nickcole Collins, narrates the documentary that becomes his legacy, chronicling the transformations and triumphs in the life of a family in the wake of a tragedy.
* Love & Diane; Women Make Movies ; 2002 ; 105m. VHS 9443
This documentary presents a searingly honest and moving examination of poverty, welfare, AIDS and drug rehabilitation in the United States today. Filmed in New York City over a five-year period, it documents the struggles of three generations of an urban African American family as they face a myriad of emotional, financial and personal challenges. At its heart, the film is a highly charged story about a mother and daughter searching for love, redemption and hope for a new future. While caught in a devastating cycle of teen pregnancy and the bureaucracy of an over burdened welfare system, they demonstrate an inspiring resiliency and ability to find strength during the most desperate times. Without falling into stereotypes of welfare and poverty, the program casts a fair, non-judgmental eye on the Hazzards and presents a forgotten, but very real, side of the American experience.
* Moving North to Chicago : Great Black Migration; Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; 1999 ; 21m. DVD 1738
Examines urban development, migration from rural to urban areas, and the struggles of African Americans to overcome segregation and other forms of racial discrimination during the first half of the 20th century.
* Nicholas Lemann: Author, The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed
America ; Purdue University Public Affairs Video Archives ; 1991 ; 57m. VHS 4743
Mr. Lemann, correspondent for Atlantic Monthly, discusses his book which details the movement of blacks from the rural South to the industrial cities of the North from 1940 to 1970 through a series of interviews with several generations of blacks who either made the trip or experienced the effects of the migration. Mr. Lemann discusses the origins of the migration, which includes the mass production of the mechanical cotton picker and freed numbers of blacks from the sharecropper system, and the development of ghettos in the industrial cities of the North.
* No Loans Today: South Central Los Angeles; First Run / Icarus Films ; 1995 ; 56m. VHS 7772
A documentary film which examines daily life in the African American community of South Central Los Angeles, which centers on the ABC Loan Company, a pawnshop/check cashing outlet and the economic services it provides to the local community. Through interviews with African American business owners and local residents film examines the economic and social problems endured by community residents such as crime, gangs and unemployment.
* Religion, Rap and the Crisis of Black Leadership; Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; 1994 ; 30m. VHS 3603
A conversation and interview with Cornel West, professor at Harvard University, about religion, rap music, and the crisis of black leadership in America.
* Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story; Anchor Bay Entertainment ; 2005 ; 87m. DVD 2647
March 24, 1962: Rival boxers Emile Griffith and Benny Paret entered the ring for their anticipated world title bout. Earlier Paret allegedly taunted his homosexual opponent with a slur. That night Griffith beat Paret to death in the ring. Tells the story through archival footage and new interviews with journalists, historians and others, and Griffith himself. Takes a look at the intersection of race, sexuality, and the world of boxing.
* Sermons and Sacred Pictures; First Run / Icarus Films ; 1989 ; 29m. DVD 1456
A film on the life and work of Baptist minister, L.O. Taylor, who recorded the rich texture of middle class black life and culture in Memphis from the 1920s through the 1950s with movie camera, still camera and 78 rpm recordings, for his congregation at the Olivet Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee.
* A String of Pearls: 1979-2001; DuArt Film and Video ; 2002 ; 57m. VHS 9029
The third film of the trilogy by Camille Billops looks at four generations of men in her family and considers why their fathers died so young and what prospects face the survivors.
* Suzanne Suzanne; DuArt Film and Video ; 2000 ; 26m. VHS 8538
A documentary film by Camille Billops which focuses on the tense relationship between a young African American woman, Suzanne (a former drug addict), and her mother. Both were victims of the father’s abusiveness.
* Tongues Untied; Frameline ; 1989 ; 55m. DVD 3568, VHS 6987
In an experimental amalgam of rap music, street poetry, documentary film, and dance, a gay African-American man expresses what it is like to be gay and black in the United States. Although he deals with social ostracism and fear of AIDS, he affirms the beauty and significance of the gay black man.
* The Vanishing Black Male; Indiepix ; 2005 ; 75m. DVD 4142
Actor Melvin Jackson, Jr. interviews a variety of people in order to understand why the ratio of black men to black women has been steadily decreasing in African-American communities.
* When the Levees Broke; HBO Video ; 2006 ; 256m. DVD 3180
Four acts document distinct perspectives on the pivotal events that preceeded and followed Katrina’s passage through New Orleans, a catastrophe during which the divide between race and class lines has never been more pronounced.
* Unforgiveable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson; PBS Home Video ; 2005 ; 220m. DVD 2145
The in-depth and intimate story of one of the most important African Americans to live in the first half of the 20th century. Tells the story of Jack Johnson, who was the first African American boxer to win the most coveted title in all of sports - Heavyweight Champion of the World. Includes his struggles in and out of the ring and his desire to live his life as a free man.
* The Aggressives; Seventh Art Releasing ; 2005 ; 73m. DVD 3051
Features intimate interviews with 6 transgendered lesbians (5 African American, 1 Asian) living in New York City who define themselves as “aggressives.” They exhibit masculine appearances and behaviors, but do not aspire to be men. Shows their daily lives and their participation in the underground lesbian “ball” scene, where cross-dressers compete for trophies.
* Black Women, Sexual Politics, and the Revolution; Third World Newsreel ; 1992 ; 30m. VHS 9382
Black feminist women discuss the plight of the Afro-American woman in the United States.
* Great Black Women: Achievers Against the Odds; Films for the Humanities ; 1991 ; 52m. VHS 6771
Throughout American history, Black women have had two factors play against them — their color and their gender. This program looks at the women who succeeded despite the odds, asking what made them tick, what drove them to challenge the prejudices against them, what enabled them to succeed. The program looks at the ways in which Black women today and throughout our history have triumphed over adversity to make significant contributions in the fields of politics, entertainment, civil rights, business, public service music, and sports.
* Living With Pride: Ruth Ellis @ 100; Our Film Works ; 1999 ; 60m. VHS 9028
Documentary with narrative recreations about the life and times of Ruth Ellis, the oldest “out” African American lesbian.
* Million Woman March: Sisterhood Alive and Well; Cinema Guild ; 1997 ; 25m. VHS 8268
This video is of the Million Woman March that took place in Philadelphia on October 25, 1997. It is estimated that approximately one million African Americans, mostly women, participated in the event to identify and address issues and concerns of the African American community. This video includes interviews with participants, including civil rights activists Dick Gregory and Ramona Africa, regarding the purpose of the event. This video also includes selected segments of the speeches and entertainment given at the event.
* The Noble Struggle; Women Make Movies ; 2006 ; 29m. DVD 3770
A fascinating and powerful portrait of an African American Muslim woman, Amina Wadud, who found herself the subject of debate and Muslim juristic discourse when her actions caused global awareness of the struggle for women’s rights within Islam.
* Now Is Our Time: Healthy Living For Black Women 40 - 55; Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; 2006 ; 37m. DVD 2946
In America, black women have statistically high incidences of certain illnesses and conditions. Therefore, as they approach their menopausal years — a time of greater health risks for all women — it is expecially important that they focus their attention on wellness. In this program hosted by dancer/celebrity Debbie Allen, several black women talk about their midlife health concerns, while two doctors and a diabetes educator discuss the importance of monitoring for diabetes, heart disease, and cancer; the pros and cons of hormone replacement therapy; and other topics, including the importance of a healthy lifestyle.
* The Way Home ; World Trust ; 1998 ; 92m. VHS 7297
Over the course of eight months, 64 women come together to share their experiences of oppression through the lens of race. Separated into eight ethnic councils, Indigenous, African American, Arab, Asian, European-American, Jewish, Latina, and Multiracial, the women explore their stories of identity, oppression, and resistance.
* Baby Boomers ; WGBH Boston Video ; 1999 ; 540m. VHS 7357
This series contains an episode entitled “Skin Deep, 1948-94” (v3): “Watch the American Civil Rights movement explode from small southern towns to a national force.”
* Black Power, White Backlash; Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; 2000 ; 57m. VHS 7494
When the radical wing of the civil rights movement began equating redress with rebellion rather than nonviolent protest, “Black Power” became the rallying cry. In this program, filmed in 1966, Mike Wallace explores public sentiment during that turbulent period by assessing the attitudes, opinions, and reactions on both sides of the color line. Interviews with major figures of the movement discussing black militancy, economic power, fair housing, nonviolence, and the tensions in Cicero, Illinois, the Selma of the North, capture the fervor of 1966.
* Cases in Controversy: The 14th Amendment; Jumby Bay Studios ; 2003 ; 54m. DVD 2244
Using the actual Supreme Court decisions, interviews with legal educators and professionals, and historical reenactments, this program examines the amendment which formally defines citizenship and requires the states to provide civil rights.
* A Dream Deferred: Remembering the 1968 Occupation: The National Guard in Wilmington, DE; Delaware Humanities Forum ; 2007 ; 39m. DVD 3604
Provides a brief glimpse of the civil rights movement in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s through film and audio clips and personal reminiscences. Depicts the rioting that took place in Wilmington, Del. after the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, and the subsequent 9-month occupation of Wilmington by the National Guard. Includes remembrances by Joseph E. Johnson, Harry G. Haskell, Littleton P. Mitchell, Rev. Canon Lloyd S. Casson, John Taylor, James S. Sills, James M. Baker, Russell W. Peterson, and Judge Leonard L. Williams.
* Eyes on the Prize; PBS Home Video ; 1989 ; 7 discs x 120m. DVD 2966 ; 14 tapes x 60m. VHS 2, VHS 8852, Videodisc 54
Vols. 1-6 tell the story of America's civil rights years from 1954 to 1965; v. 7-14 examines the new America from 1966 to 1985, from community power to the human alienation of urban poverty. The series presents the Civil Rights movement as multifaceted, using archival footage and contemporary interviews with participants in the struggle for and against Civil Rights. Vol. 1. Awakenings, 1954-1956 — v. 2. Fighting back, 1957-1962 — v. 3. Ain’t scared of your jails, 1960-1961 — v. 4. No easy walk, 1962-1966 — v. 5. Mississippi : Is this America?, 1962-1964 — v. 6. Bridge to freedom, 1965. — v. 7. The time has come, 1964-1966 — v. 8. Two societies, 1965-1968 — v. 9. Power! 1967-1968 — v. 10. The promised land, 1967-1968 — v. 11. Ain’t gonna shuffle no more, 1964-1972 — v. 12. A nation of law? 1968-1971 — v. 13. The keys to the kingdom, 1974-1980 — v. 14. Back to the movement, 1979-mid 1980s.
* Eyes on the Prize II; PBS Video ; 1990 ; 8 tapes x 60m. VHS 1420
Series depicts a portion of the struggle for civil rights as it affected the lives of the population during that 20 year period. v.1 The time has come (1964-65) — v.2 Two societies (1965-68) — v.3 Power! (1967-68) — v.4 The promised land (1967-68) — v.5 Ain’t gonna shuffle no more (1964-72) — v.6 A nation of law? (1968-71) — v.7 The keys to the kingdom (1974-80) — v.8 Back to the movement (1979-mid-1980s)
* February One; California Newsreel ; 2003 ; 60m. DVD 1443
Tells the inspiring story of four remarkable young men who initiated the lunch counter sit-ins in Greensboro, NC on February 1, 1960. Based largely on first hand accounts and rare archival footage, the film documents one volatile winter in Greensboro that not only challenged public accommodation customs and law in North Carolina, but served as a blueprint for the wave of non-violent civil rights protests that swept across the South and the nation throughout the 1960s.
* Home of the Brave; Bullfrog Films ; 2003 ; 75m. DVD 1801
Documentary on the civil rights activist, Viola Liuzzo, who was murdered in 1965 as she campaigned for black suffrage in Selma, Alabama, and its effect on her family.
* Little Rock Central: 50 Years Later; HBO Video ; 2007 ; 70m. DVD 4263
In 1957, Little Rock Central became a symbol of the struggles and hopes of the Civil Rights Movement. An eye-opening look at racial equality, education, and class at the high school today.
* The Long Walk to Freedom; Bullfrog Films ; 2004 ; 30m. DVD 1615
Twelve civil rights activists share their experiences with San Francisco students. Includes brief video autobiographies of the activists and a section where students respond with questions, poetry, songs and essays.
* Memorial Service for Rosa Parks; C-SPAN Archives ; 2005 ; 176m. DVD 2237
Following a period during which Ms. Parks was honored by lying in repose in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, a memorial service was held to honor her life and legacy prior to ther funeral scheduled in Detroit the following Wednesday. Participants paid tribute to Ms. Parks for her contributions to the civil rights movement, legacy as a voice for the black community, and service to the nation. The primary speaker was Julian Bond. Other speakers include: Julia Carson, John Conyers, Dorothy I. Height, Edward M. Kennedy, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Melvin Watt, and Oprah Winfrey.
* Negroes with Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power; California Newsreel ; 2005 ; 53m. DVD 2317
Documents the life and times of political activist, Robert F. Williams. From his childhood in Monroe, North Carolina to his self-exile and eventual return to the U.S., the film uses interviews and stock footage to tell the story of the forefather of the Black power movement in the United States.
* Public Enemy; First Run / Icarus Films ; 1999 ; 50m. VHS 9457
Documentary look at the Black Panther Party, combining footage from the 1960s with shots of 4 former members as they appear now (Bobby Seale, Kathleen Cleaver, Jamal Joseph, and Nile Rodgers).
* The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow; California Newsreel ; 2002 ; 225m. VHS 8730 p1-4
The rise and fall of Jim Crow offers the first comprehensive look at race relations in America between the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement. This four-part series documents the context in which the laws of segregation known as the “Jim Crow” system originated and developed. p1. Promises betrayed (1865-1896) — p2. Fighting back (1896-1917) — p3. Don't shout too soon (1917-1940) — p4. Terror and triumph (1940-1954).
* Rosa Parks: The Path to Freedom; Filmmakers Library ; 2005 ; 26m. DVD 2256
This documentary contains an overview of the events that took place in Montgomery, Alabama: Mrs. Parks’ arrest, the bus boycott and the segregation laws that were finally overturned. It also tells the story of the Rosa Parks that few people know — the former seamstress whose life was committed to social justice for all people.
* Scottsboro: An American Tragedy; PBS Home Video ; 2001 ; 90m. VHS 7807
In 1931, two white women stepped from a boxcar in Paint Rock, Alabama to make a shocking accusation: they had been raped by nine black teenagers on a train. So began one of the most significant legal fights of the twentieth century. The trials of the nine young men would draw North and South into their sharpest conflict since the Civil War, yield two momentous Supreme Court decisions and give birth to the civil rights movement.
* The Second Revolution, Pt. I & II; PBS Home Video ; 1988 ; 58m. VHS 1758 & VHS 1759
Hosts Bill Moyers, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis trace black history from the beginning of the 1800s through the 1930s, when the foundations for the civil rights movement were laid. Series won 1984 Emmy Award for outstanding informational series and the 1984 George Foster Peabody Broadcasting Award for significant and meritorious achievement.
* Standing On My Sisters' Shoulders; Women Make Movies ; 2002 ; 61m. VHS 9226
This documentary tells the story of the three Mississippi women in 1965, who walked into the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington D.C. to seek their civil rights. These living legends give their firsthand testimony and capture a piece of history that is often overlooked in history books.
* Still Revolutionaries; University of California Extension Center for Media and Independent Learning ; 2000 ; 16m. VHS 9288
This documentary explores the lives of two women who were in the Black Panther Party between 1969 and 1975. Katherine Campbell and Madalynn Rucker reflect on the reasons and events that led to their joining the Black Panthers, the type of work they did within the Party, and the challenges they faced as they chose to leave it and reconstruct their lives.
* Teaching About the Montgomery Bus Boycott; Teaching for Change ; 2006 ; 15m. DVD 3597
First grade teacher Maggie Donovan introduces her students to the desegregation of the buses, placing Rosa Parks in the context of the larger community efforts. We see how the lesson involves families, promotes literacy, and culminates with a student-authored play.
* Tribute to Rosa Parks; C-SPAN Archives ; 2005 ; 172m. DVD 2236
For a second day, Ms. Parks was honored as mourners passed by her remains lying in repose in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. Among those in attendance were government officials, dignitaries, civil rights leaders, and members of the general public. She was the 29th person and, first woman to be given such an honor. Following the public viewing, the casket was carried to a hearse by a military honor guard, where the cortege then left for the Metropolitan A.M.E. Church for a memorial service.
* The Two Nations of Black America; PBS Home Video ; 1998 ; 60m. VHS 6221
Measures the economic and social success of the civil rights movement and the gap between middle class and poor African Americans.
* A House Divided: Structural Therapy with a Black Family; Golden Triad Films ; 1990 ; VHS
2493
A videotaped counseling session with a black family addressing the important family issues and problems while presenting an approach to structural therapy.
* Issues in Counseling Women; Microtraining Associates ; 1988 ; 74m. DVD 1787
Contents include: Return to school — Career counseling — Superwoman complex — Black women and feminism — Date rape — Men and feminist therapy — Interview with Norma Gluckstern. Six vignettes present appropriate and inappropriate techniques for counseling women.
* No!; California Newsreel ; 2006 ; 92m. DVD 3111
Provides a comprehensive lens through which to examine the impact of sexual violence on Black women and girls, calling to task in particular the behaviors and attitudes of Black men in reinforcing a cultural assault. Includes messages from violence prevention advocates as well as testimonials from survivors who defy victimization.
* After Ten Years: The Court and the Schools; Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; 2000 ; 59m. VHS 7496
The 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka ruling made it clear that segregation would not be tolerated and that states must comply with federal law. In this program, filmed ten years after Brown, news correspondents report on the mixed progress made toward integrating public schools in Nashville, New Rochelle, New Orleans, and Prince Edward County, Virginia. Stumbling blocks such as faculty segregation, busing, and segregational zoning are examined. A discussion featuring Attorney General Robert Kennedy, Governor of Georgia Carl Sanders, and Executive Secretary of the NAACP Roy Wilkins concludes the
program.
* Beyond Brown: Pursuing the Promise; Firelight Media ; 2004 ; 60m. DVD 1096
Explores the legacy and impact of Brown vs. Board of Education, the 1954 Supreme Court decision ending legal segregation in American education.
* Black America and the Education Crisis; Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; 1999 ; 45m. VHS 7258
Syndicated columnist Juan Williams moderates a town meeting at Howard University on the crisis of education in the black community. Educators, politicians, and other prominent personalities discuss such issues as why black children score lower on standarized tests, how to improve academic performance, and Ebonics.
* Black Student Survival in White Colleges; Florida State University ; 1990 ; 56m. VHS 1792
Videocassette made of an address by Na”im Akbar at a meeting of the Florida State University Black Student Union. Na’im Akbar addresses the problems Black students may face in predominately white colleges. Explaining their relationship to the system he tells students how to get access to knowledge that helps them discover who they are.
* Black Studies: From Kneegrow to Afrikana; Production Plus ; 2005 ; 31m. DVD 4136
Documentary on the origins of Black studies programs at American colleges and universities, including news footage of events of the 1960s and interviews with figures involved.
* Brown V. the Board of Education; Coronet / MTE Film & Video ; 1991 ; 19m. VHS 8530
Traces the history of educational opportunities for black Americans and highlights the Brown case, which overruled Plessy v. Ferguson by declaring segregation in public schools unconstitutional. Illustrates the lasting impact the decision has had.
* The Color Line on Campus; Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; 1963 ; 31m. VHS 7498
For most U.S. colleges today, racial diversity is a goal — but almost nine years after the Brown decision, it was quite another story. This 1963 CBS news program features interviews with James Meredith and other African American students who broke ground and tradition at universities in the South. Faced with attitudes ranging from passive tolerance to violent rejection, each had achieved enrollment, but not acceptance.
* Mary McLeod Bethune: Educator; Schlessinger Video Productions ; 1994 ; 30m. VHS 6543
Chronicles the life of educator Mary McLeod Bethune.
* The Morehouse Men; Turner Home Entertainment ; 1995 ; 60m. VHS 4962
Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia is the only African American men's college in the United States. For 128 years, Morehouse has educated the black elite, and boasts Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Spike Lee as graduates. This film follows a group of freshmen students and explores the formal and informal processes whereby boys are molded into “Morehouse Men.”
* Racism 101; PBS Home Video ; 1988 ; 58m. VHS 944
Frontline episode focusing on the racism problems at the University of Michigan campus.
* The Road to Brown; California Newsreel ; 1990 ; 58m. VHS 3599
Presents the role of Charles Hamilton Houston in the cases which let to the landmark Supreme Court case of Brown vs. Board of Education. Gives background history of segregation, Jim Crow laws, NAACP and bio-data on persons influential in the desegregation movement.
* Shattering the Silences; California Newsreel ; 1997 ; 86m. VHS 5770
Explores issues of faculty diversity in American higher education in the mid-1990s, focusing on the experience of eight minority scholars in the humanities and social sciences at various institutions.
* Simple Justice; PBS Home Video ; 1993 ; 3 x 45m ; VHS 7541 p1-p3
Docudrama recounts the remarkable legal strategy and social struggle that resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.
* With All Deliberate Speed: The Legacy of Brown V. Board; Serviam Media, Inc. ; 2004 ; 59m. DVD 967
Documentary about the history of racial segregation in U.S. education in the U.S. leading up to the case of Brown v. the Board of Education and beyond.
* All My Babies: A Midwife's Own Story ; Museum of Modern Art Film Library ; 1952 ; 55m. VHS 6451
This training film for midwives features African American midwifery in Georgia. Shows in detail a complete delivery and demonstrates the approved procedures to be used by the midwife before, during, and after delivery. Follows a midwife in her work with various cases under both favorable and unfavorable circumstances.
* Finally Got the News; First Run / Icarus Films ; 1971 ; 55m. DVD 1367
A documentary presenting the workers' view of working conditions inside Detroit's auto factories. It focuses on the activities of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers in their efforts to build an independent African American labor organization which, unlike the United Auto Workers, would respond to the racism and dangerous working conditions faced by African American workers in the industry. It also explores the educational “tracking” the role of African American women in the labor force, and racial relations between workers.
* I Am Somebody ; Icarus Films ; 197-? ; 30m. VHS 3251
Records the 1969 strike by African American, predominantly female, hospital workers in Charleston, S.C. for better working conditions and higher wages. IT shows how the struggle was won by a coalition of local and national union and civil rights groups plus the local black community through nonviolent marches and demonstrations.
* Librarians for the Information Age; HarmonArt Studio ; 1990 ; 11m. VHS 2130
Presents the need for African American librarians.
* Standing Tall; Filmakers Library ; 2000 ; 50m. VHS 7734
Working in noisy and wet factories for minimum wage, without any benefits, bathroom breaks, or recourse if mistreated, a few African American women working at Delta Pride Catfish worked together to organize a United Food and Commercial Workers local 1529 at their plant.
* Struggles in Steel: a Story of African American Steelworkers; California Newsreel ; 1996 ; 57m. VHS 5232
Interviews with more than 70 retired black steelworkers who tell of struggles with the company, the union and white co-workers to break out of the black job ghetto. Film traces a century of black industrial history — the use of African Americans as strikebreakers against the all-white union during the 1892 Homestead Strike, the Great Migration of fieldworkers to the North in World War I, the racial divisions between workers during the Great Steel Strike of 1919 and the ultimate success of the CIO organizing drives of the 1930s. When black vets returned to the mills after WWII, they were still locked into the worst jobs with no rights to bid on better-paying, higher-skilled work. The steelworkers recount how they finally won agreement in 1974 compelling the company and the union to set hiring and promotion goals for women and minorities. Based on the book Out of the Crucible by Dennis C. Dickerson.
* Andrew Young: Minister of the Beloved Community; Veterans of Hope Project ; 2000 ; 34m. VHS 8301
Andrew Young, former executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, as interviewed at Iliff School of Theology, Denver, Colorado on January 29, 1998.
* Barack Obama; New Video ; 2007 ; 50m. DVD 4596
Originally broadcast as an episode of the A&E Television series Biography. Traces the rise of the democratic political star during the Democratic National Convention in 2004 from Obama’s childhood in Honolulu and Indonesia, to his formative years at Columbia University and Harvard Law School, all the way to his current status as a leading political figure.
* Booker T. Washington: Slave and Statesman and Back of the Dream; AIMS Media ; 1984 ; 25m. Laserdisc 16
Biography of Booker T. Washington. Though born into slavery, he became one of America's foremost educators and founded the Tuskegee Institute.
* Breaking the Ice: the Mary Ann Shadd Story; First Run / Icarus Films ; 1997 ; 24m. VHS 8059
A dramatic recreation of the story of Mary Ann Shadd, an abolitionist, suffragete and integrationist. Living in Windsor, Ontario, she fought for integrated education, battled segregationists, and started the first integrated school in Canada. She later became the first female newspaper editor and the first black female attorney in North America.
* Brother Outsider: the Life of Bayard Rustin; California Newsreel ; 2002 ; 83m. VHS 8983
Bayard Rustin was a key figure in the civil rights movement for over 40 years. He brought non-violent resistance to a new level in the American Civil Rights movement. The film captures Rustin’s commitment to justice and human rights, his brilliant intellect and charismatic personality, as well as the public scorn he faced from both black and white because of his openness about his sexual orientation. Presents a look at the role race, politics, and orientation play in American radicalism.
* Citizen King; PBS Home Video ; 2004 ; 120m. DVD 1539
In exploring the last few years of his life, this production traces King’s efforts to recast himself by embracing causes beyond the civil rights movement, by becoming a champion of the poor and an outspoken opponent of the war in Vietnam. Tapping into a rich archive of photographs and film footage and using diaries, letters, and eyewitness accounts of fellow activists, friends, journalists, political leaders and law enforcement officials, this film brings fresh insights to King's impossible journey, his charismatic leadership and his truly remarkable impact.
* Colin Powell: Military Leader; Schlessinger Video Productions ; 1992 ; 28m. VHS 6559
Black historians and leaders comment on the life and career of Colin L. Powell, who became a United States general and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, D.C., overseeing the U.S. invasion of Panama and the Persian Gulf War.
* Condoleezza Rice; A&E Home Video ; 2005 ; 50m. DVD 3028
As one of the few African Americans to hold a high position in the Bush administration, Condoleezza Rice has been seen as both an inspiration and a lightning rod for controversy. Condoleezza is the first woman to hold the post of National Security Advisor, she is an accomplished pianist and hopes one day to be commissioner of the National Football League.
* A Conversation with Colin Powell ; C-SPAN Archives ; 2005 ; 31m. DVD 1835
General Powell discusses his childhood, education, and military career.
* Conversation with Jane E. Mitchell: African American Nurse; Hagley Museum and Library ; 2003 ; 25m. VHS 9325
Jane E. Mitchell discusses the challenges she faced as an African American pursuing a career in nursing in the days of segregation. She was so successful that she now has a building named for her at the Delaware Psychiatric Center.
* El Hajj Malik El Shabazz; Xenon Home Video ; 1991 ; 60m. VHS 2335
A documentary showing the life of Malcolm X, his leadership in the Black Muslim movement, and his influence on black Americans and African nations.
* Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons: Following the Call; Veterans of Hope Project ; 2000 ; 45m. VHS 8300
Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, Islamic scholar and SNCC organizer, as interviewed over two days in June, 1998 in Denver, Colorado.
* Having Our Say: The Delaney Sisters' First One Hundred Years; CBS Video ; 1999 ; 97m. VHS 8056
Holding dear to their family and faith, Sadie and Bessie survive and surmount segregation. Sadie’s quiet determination leads her to become the first African American home-ec teacher in New York City. The outspoken Bessie becomes the city’s second black dentist. An interview with Sadie (103 years old) and Bessie Delaney (101 years old).
* How to Become Sheriff When Poor and Black in Segregated Mississippi : a Documentary; Filmakers Library ; 2002 ; 50m. VHS 8830
Interviews several African American sheriffs in Mississippi as they discuss the threats and challenges faced by minority law enforcement officers during the last four decades of the twentieth century. Focuses on the experiences of Sheriff Frank Davis, elected four times as sheriff of Claiborne County, Mississippi. Includes background on the civil rights movement in Claiborne County and features a videotaped rally speech delivered by Charles Evers.
* Ida B. Wells: A Passion for Justice; PBS Home Video ; 1989 ; 58m. VHS 2042
Chronicles the life of Ida B. Wells, an early Afro-American activist who protested lynchings, unfair treatment of African American soldiers, and other examples of racism and injustice in the early 20th century United States.
* James Lawson: The Seamless Cloth of Faith and Struggle; Veterans of Hope Project ; 2000 ; 40m. VHS 8303
James Lawson, former pastor of the Holman United Methodist Church in Los Angeles and teacher and practitioner of nonviolence, was interviewed over several days in June, 1998 in Denver, Colorado.
* Madame C.J. Walker ; Schlessinger Video Productions ; 1992 ; 26m. VHS 6556
The story of Madame C. J. Walker, entrepreneur. Adapted from the book Madam C.J. Walker by A'Lelia Perry Bundles.
* Malcolm X: Make It Plain; PBS Video ; 1994 ; 150m. VHS 9501
This biography weaves together interviews, archival footage, photographs, and an original score to portray the intellectual journey of a complex man whose ideas resonate today.
* Malcolm X: Militant Black Leader; Schlessinger Video Productions ; 1992 ; 32m. VHS 6555
Black historians and leaders comment on the life of Malcolm X, who experienced violence from the Ku Klux Klan as a child and grew up to become a leader of the Black Muslims and a spokesperson for Black nationalism. Adapted from the book Malcolm X by Jack Rummel.
* Malcolm X: The Real Story; Fox Video ; 1992 ; 60m. VHS 2291
CBS News examines the facts of the extraordinary life of Malcolm X in footage and excerpts from some of his most important speeches. Family, friends, and contemporary artists discuss his legacy in the Black community.
* Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind; PBS Home Video ; 2001 ; 88m. VHS 7860
This documentary uses a wealth of archival film, photographs and documents to uncover the story of this Jamaican immigrant who between 1916 and 1921 built the largest black mass movement in world history.
* Martin Luther King, Jr.: Civil Rights Leader; Schlessinger Video Productions ; 1992 ; 31m. VHS 6558
Examines the life of the Baptist minister and civil rights leader who helped American blacks win many battles for equal rights. Adapted from the book Martin Luther King Jr. by Robert Jakoubek.
* Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Personal Portrait; Michaelis Tapes Inc. ; 1987 ; 53m. VHS 2751
A personal portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr. in conversation with Arnold Michaelis including Dr. King’s comments on Vietnam, the struggle for equality, religious beliefs as a Baptist minister, his role as husband and father, receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize, etc.
* Martin Luther King Commemorative Collection; MPI Home Video ; 1988 ; 115m. VHS 741
Presents two stirring documentaries on the work and life of Martin Luther King. “In Remembrance of Martin” is composed of testimonies by his family, associates, and government leaders, and includes documentary footage. The second documentary is “The Speeches of Martin Luther King.”
* Martin Luther King, “I Have a Dream”; MPI Home Video ; 1988 ; 25m. VHS 3632
Recording of Martin Luther King’s televised speech given on August 28, 1963, to the civil rights marchers at the Lincoln Memorial, with additional footage from other demonstrations and King's funeral.
* Martin Luther King: The Legacy; Media Guild ; 1988 ; 76m. VHS 1099
Documentary marks the 20th anniversary of Martin Luther King's death. Program provides a portrait of the civil rights leader, his character, the historic campaigns and speeches, including rare archival footage and recollections of friends and key figures such as Andrew Young and Ralph Abernathy. Shows King’s prophesies to be uncannily accurate and his solutions still profoundly relevant.
* Paul Robeson: Here I Stand; WinStar Home Entertainment ; 1999 ; 120m. VHS 8963
A documentary presenting the life and achievements of Paul Robeson: athlete, singer, scholar, and champion of the rights of the poor, disenfranchised, and people of color.
* Paul Robeson: Speak of Me As I Am; Kultur International ; 2007 ; 58m. DVD 4145
The story of an African-American man who influenced and was one of the front-runners of the civil rights movement in the 1960s is shown in this program that also examines his life as a scholar, athlete, humanitarian, and artist.
* Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey; William Greaves Productions ; 2001 ; 117m. VHS 7947
Discusses the personal and professional life of the statesman and diplomat who was one of the founders of the United Nations and who received the Nobel Prize for his peacemaking efforts. Based on the biography Ralph Bunche: An American Life by Brian Urquhart.
* Ruby Sales: Standing Against the Wind; Veterans of Hope Project ; 2000 ; 40m. VHS 8304
Ruby Sales, Episcopalian seminarian and SNCC organizer, as interviewed at Iliff School of Theology, Denver, Colorado in October 1998.
* Sojourner Truth: Anti-Slavery Activist; Schlessinger Video Productions ; 1992 ; 30m. VHS
6554
Black historians and others comment on the life of Sojourner Truth, who was born a slave in New York state, freed by law in 1827, and went on to become a preacher and supporter of women's rights and antislavery, speaking throughout the Northeast.
* The Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.; MPI Home Video ; 1990 ; 60m. VHS 3856
Presents a collection of Martin Luther King’s major speeches and minor asides, tracing the development of his oratorical style.
* Thurgood Marshall: Supreme Court Justice ; Schlessinger Video Productions ; 1992 ; 30m. VHS 6551
Black historians and others comment on the life and times of Thurgood Marshall from his childhood to his work with the NAACP and his career as a Federal judge and a Supreme Court justice.
* W.E.B. Du Bois: A Biography in Four Voices; California Newsreel ; 1995 ; 115m. VHS 4359
Four prominent African American writers each narrate a period in the life of the sociologist and author W.E.B. Du Bois, and describe his impact on their work. They chronicle Du Bois’ role as a founder of the NAACP, organizer of the first Pan-African Congress, editor of Crisis, a journal of the black cultural renaissance, and author of a series of landmark sociological studies. Anathematized during the McCarthy years, Du Bois immigrated to Ghana, the first independent African state, where he died.
* African American English: An Introduction ; Info-Link ; 1997 ; 64m. VHS 9209
Dr. Toya Wyatt discusses historical origins, regional variance, and grammatical features of African American English.
* Black English as an American Dialect ; Chip Taylor Communications ; 1998 ; 30m. VHS 9197
John Rickford, Professor of Linguistics at Stanford University, who has been studying Black English as an American dialect for 25 years, clarifies the issues surrounding the “ebonics” controversy. He and host Jim Bettinger also discuss controversies surrounding language in general.
* Language and Communication ; Insight Media ; 1994 ; 29m. VHS 7119
Shows how language, the primary means of human communication, is expressed in the sounds and movements of every culture to express feelings and aspirations. Discusses the structure of language and its relationship to thought, as well as the significance of body language. Examines dialect, looking at certain African American dialects. Using the example of the Nuer, whose language includes 400 words related to cattle, discusses whether thought reflects or influences culture.
* Another America: A Documentary; National Asian American Telecommunications Association ; 1996 ; 56m. VHS 5790
Both the riots in Los Angeles and the murder of an uncle at his store in Detroit forced the filmmaker to start a personal investigation to examine the relationships between the Korean-American and Afro-American communities. Through his camera and many personal interviews, Cho reveals a rarely seen portrait of life in the inner city and takes a hard look at his own uncle’s murder, telling how this crime affected not only his family, but the entire city.
* Banished; California Newsreel ; 2007 ; 84m. DVD On Order
Recounts the forgotten history of racial cleansing in America, when thousands of African Americans were driven from their homes and communities by violent racist mobs in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The film places these events in the context of present day race relations, by following three concrete cases of towns that remain all-white to this day: Forsyth County, Georgia; Pierce City, Missouri; & Harrison, Arkansas
* Fatal Flood; PBS Home Video ; 2001 ; 60m. VHS 9078
In the spring of 1927, after weeks of incessant rains, the Mississippi River went on a rampage from Cairo, Illinois, to New Orleans, inundating hundreds of towns, killing as many as a thousand people and leaving a million homeless. In Greenville, Mississippi, efforts to contain the river pitted the majority black population against an aristocratic plantation family, the Percys — and the Percys against themselves.
* Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and Other Identities; Monterey Video ; 1993 ; 88m. VHS 8827
On Aug. 19, 1991 in Crown Heights ( Brooklyn, N.Y.) a Hasidic man accidentally ran over a 7-year old Black boy (Gavin Cato). Three hours later a young Jewish scholar (Yankel Rosenbaum) was murdered by Black youths. Four days of fire-bombing and riots ensued. Utilizing verbatim excerpts from interviews she conducted, Anna Deavere Smith acts out the roles of 18 people involved in the racial conflict, trying to present the differing viewpoints. Includes actual film footage of the riots and violence.
* 4 Little Girls; HBO Home Video ; 1998 ; 103m. VHS 7894
On Sunday morning, Sept. 15, 1963, dynamite planted by the Ku Klux Klan, exploded in the 16 th St. Baptist Church building in Birmingham. Under the fallen debris, the bodies of four girls were found: Denise McNair, Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley. The film features archival film footage, home photographs, comments by surviving family members, and interviews with local and national figures of the time.
* In the Dead Fire's Ashes: The Lynching a Town Forgot ; 2005 ; 60m. DVD 2016
This film tells the story of the murder of Helen Bishop, a white school girl, and the lynching of George White, a Black farm hand who was arrested but never tried. The lynching took place at Price's Corner in Wilmington, DE in June 1903.
* A Lynching in Marion; PBS Home Video ; 1995 ; 28m. VHS 7374
In August, 1930, a 16 year-old African American named James Cameron survived a lynching in Marion, Indiana. Now, 65 years later, Cameron tells his compelling story in vivid detail.
* 1968: The Siege of Delaware; WHYY ; 1989 ; 30m. VHS 6606
When Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated in April 1968, many cities in America underwent rioting. Many states used their National Guard to quell the rioters. However, Wilmington, Delaware was the only city to have the Guard on patrol for 9 1/2 months. This film attempts to explain why Governor Charles Terry allowed this to occur.
* Strange Fruit; California Newsreel ; 2002 ; 58m. VHS 8703
A history of the anti-lynching protest song made famous by Billie Holiday.
* Two Towns of Jasper; PBS Home Video ; 2002 ; 83m. VHS 8955
In 1998 in Jasper, Texas, James Byrd, Jr., a black man, was chained to a pickup truck and dragged to his death by three white men. The town was forever altered, and the nation woke up to the horror of a modern-day lynching. The filmmakers set out to document the aftermath of the murder by following the trials of the local men charged with the crime. The result is an explicit and troubling portrait of race in America, one that asks how and why a crime like this could have occurred.
* The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords; California Newsreel ; 1998 ; 86m. VHS 7335
Presents a history of African American newspapers and journalism from the mid-19th century through the 20th century. Tells of the struggles against censorship and discrimination and for freedom of the press, with commentary by historians, journalists, and photojournalists. Accompanied by an interactive CD-ROM with the same title which contains bibliographic and biographic information as well as a time line, still photos, and a study guide.
* Epidemic: HIV In the Lives of Black Men; Sandyground Film Company ; 2004 ; 26m. DVD 2952
This educational video takes a very candid look at this disease, which includes frank discussion and honest language from African American men who live in the community and have to make important choices about their sexual behavior.
* Health Watch; History On Video ; 1998 ; 40m. VHS 6993
In this video, minority physicians who treat victims of violence talk about the causes and remedies for this outburst across America’s streets, in homes, businesses and schools. This is a call to minority physicians, health care professionals and people pursuing health careers to find methods to solve this epidemic hurting the nation.
* In Medical Science; History on Video ; 1997 ; 30m. VHS 6992
Features two African American epidemiologists who discuss their duties at the Center for Disease Control and the academic and professional training that has led to their current positions. They talk about the key aspects of their professions for an insight into epidemiology. This program gives students exposure to medical research careers and provides awareness about what minorities are doing in the profession.
* Medical Leaders; History on Video ; 1999 ; 27m. VHS 6994
Medical science experts provide solutions to major health issues. Profiles on African American doctors David Satcher, U.S. surgeon general and assistant secretary for health and Louis Sullivan, former secretary for Health and Human Services, and president of Morehouse School of Medicine.
* One Doctor: Daniel Hale Williams; History on Video ; 1997 ; 45m. VHS 6995
This program is a video biography of the African American surgeon who was the first person to successfully perform an operation on the human heart. Covers his life and career and his heart operation that gave him critical acclaim in 1893. He also founded the nation’s first interracial hospital, Provident Hospital in Chicago.
* The Buffalo Soldiers; Goldhil Video ; 1996 ; 47m. VHS 4412
A photographic history of the two black cavalry regiments that served to keep peace on the frontier from 1867 to 1891. Also shown is the 1992 dedication ceremony at Fort Leavenworth of a monument to the Buffalo soldiers by sculptor Eddie Dixon, with speeches by General Colin Powell and other high ranking black officers of the U.S. Armed Forces.
* The Forgotten Fourteen; Jackson Associates ; 1997 ; 27m. VHS 5908
A documentary depiction of the Battle of New Market Heights, which occurred in September, 1864, for which fourteen African American soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor. Includes reenactments.
* Royal Federal Blues: The Story of the African American Civil War Soldier ; Lou Reda Productions ; 1991 ; 30m. VHS 4413
An award winning documentary that graphically documents the inception of African Americans into the Union Army.
* The True Story of Glory Continues; Columbia TriStar Home Video ; 1991 ; 45m. VHS 5612
The soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, the first Black fighting unit of the American Civil War, are portrayed through period drawings, sketches, paintings and photographs, along with film and additional footage from the motion picture Glory.
* Tuskeegee Airmen; Carousel Film & Video ; 1992 ; 23m. VHS 2178
Shows old black-and-white footage of the training and work of the black pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group in World War II, and present day interviews with former pilots.
* The Tuskegee Airmen; PBS Home Video ; 2003 ; 60m. DVD 1608
The story of an experiment “to see if Blacks had the intellectual and physical ability to fly an aircraft in combat.” These pilots, trained in the deep South, became the Tuskegee Airmen, flying combat aircraft during World War II for their country. They had to battle on 2 fronts: the Axis powers in Europe and North Africa, and the racism at home.
* American Blackout; Disinformation Company ; 2006 ; 86m. DVD 3355.
Examines the contemporary tactics used to control our democratic process and silence political dissent. Chronicles the patterns of voter disenfranchisement from Florida 2000 to Ohio 2004 while following the story of African American Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.
* Dylan’s Run; National Film Network ; 2002 ; 95m. DVD 2924
The experiences of Dylan Glenn in his quest to become the first African-American Republican from the Deep South to be elected to Congress since the Reconstruction.
* Street Fight; Bullfrog Films ; 2005 ; 82m. DVD 2403
Follows the bare-knuckles race for Mayor of Newark, N.J. between 32 year-old Cory Booker and four-term incumbent Sharpe James, the undisputed champion of New Jersey politics. Fought in Newark’s neighborhoods and housing projects, the battle pits the young challenger against an old style political machine that uses any means necessary, including harraassment and police intimidation, to crush its opponents. A bold look at urban politics.
* African American Heritage: Compiled Program; Purdue University Public Affairs Video Archives ; 1997 ; 52m. VHS 5086
The C-SPAN Schoolbus visited nine different African American historical sites and museums across the United States during 1994 and 1995. This is a compilation of those visits. Sites visited included Tuskegee University, the George Washington Carver Museum, Spelman College, the Civil Rights Museum, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, the Greenville Cultural Exchange Center, and the Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center.
* The African Burial Ground: An American Discovery; Kutz Television, Inc. ; 1994 ; 112m. VHS 4280
Film covers the discovery of an African American cemetery in New York City and efforts to preserve and protect it.
* African American Lives; PBS Home Video ; 2006 ; 240m. DVD 2472
Originally broadcast as a four-part television series in 2006. A compelling combination of storytelling and science, this series uses genealogy, oral histories, family stories and DNA to trace roots of several accomplished African Americans down through American history and back to Africa.
* America In Black and White: A Question of Identity; Films for the Humanties & Sciences ; 2003 ; 23m. DVD 2912
Videodisc release of a segment of the ABC News program Nightline originally broadcast Nov. 21, 2003. The story of Wayne Joseph Nelson, an African-American man who, after having his DNA tested to determine how much of him is African, readdresses the age old question “Who am I?”
* Are You Black, White or What?; WHYY, Inc. ; 1996 ; 57m. VHS 7941
Biracial people discuss their feelings, concerns, etc. about how society views them and how they view themselves.
* Black Is — Black Ain't: A Personal Journey Through Black Identity; California Newsreel ; 1995 ; 88m. VHS 4158
American culture has stereotyped black Americans for centuries. Equally devastating, the late Marlon Riggs argued, have been the definitions of “blackness” African Americans impose upon one another which contain and reduce the black experience. In this film, Riggs meets a cross-section of African Americans grappling with the paradox of numerous, often contradictory definitions of blackness. He shows many who have felt uncomfortable and even silenced within the race because their complexion, class, sexuality, gender, or speech has rendered them “not black enough,” or conversely, “too black.” The film scrutinizes the identification of “blackness” with masculinity as well as sexism, patriarchy, and homophobia in black America.
* A Class Divided; PBS Video ; 2000 ; 55m. DVD 1005
In 1968, after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jane Elliott, a public school teacher in Riceville, Iowa, divided her all-white third-graders into blue-eyed and brown-eyed groups for a lesson in discrimination. On successive days, each group was treated as inferior and subjected to discrimination. A 1970 documentary, Eye of the Storm, presented this experiment on television. This documentary reunites the teacher and students 15 years after the experiment to analyze its enduring effects.
* C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America; Genius Products ; 2004 ; 89m. DVD 2996
Satirically humorous, and sometimes frightening, look at the imagined history of an America where the South won the Civil War.
* Derrick Bell: Author, Faces at the Bottom of the Well; Purdue University Public Affairs Video Archives, 1996 ; 58m. VHS 4895
Derrick Bell discusses his book, Faces at the Bottom of the Well. He argues that racism is a permanent part of American society.
* Family Across the Sea; California Newsreel ; 1990 ; 58m. VHS 1982
A delegation of Gullah people travels from the United States to Sierra Leone to trace the roots of their heritage.
* Hardwood; Filmmakers Library ; 2004 ; 29m. DVD 1698
Former Harlem Globetrotter Mel Davis fathered two sons. One was with a white woman with whom he was in love but felt he couldn't marry in the racial climate of the sixties. The other was with a black woman with whom he had an unhappy marriage. Hubert Davis, the film director, was the mixed race son who for many years did not know his father. This film explores the pain of sons growing up with an absent father and its effect on their mothers.
* In Search of Our Fathers; Filmakers Library ; 1992 ; 55m. VHS 3103
Marco Williams, a young filmmaker from Harvard, decided to try to track down his father, a man he never knew. In searching for his roots, he interviews his large family in which nobody had a known father, in order to find out all he could about his own mysterious father. His mother refused to tell him any details about his father, but in 1987 his mother relented and spoke about the affair. James Berry in Springfield, MA was the man he was looking for. After great effort Berry agreed to meet his son.
* Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible; World Trust Educational Services ; 2006 ; 50m. DVD 3153
Features the up close and personal stories of white activists and their ongoing journeys of transformation. Participants will talk about being unconscious about their learned and internalized sense of white supremacy. They will share what was required and what actions they took to move through the common first stages of denial, defensiveness, guilt, fear and shame into making solid commitments towards ending racism. The video uses art, theatre, movement, photographs and music to amplify stories that share richly varied experiences and life processes informed by deep reflection and social justice action. The individuals’ interviews will also be enhanced by historical sources, spoken word, photographs and video archives which will serve to address systemic racist oppression.
* Race: The Power of an Illusion; California Newsreel ; 2003 ; 168m. DVD 841, VHS 8992
In three episodes, this program challenges one of our most fundamental beliefs that human beings come divided into a few distinct groups. A look at why race is not biologically meaningful yet nonetheless very real. [ep. 1] Difference Between Us ; [ep. 2] Story We Tell ; [ep. 3] House We Live In
* Secret Daughter; PBS Home Video ; 1996 ; 117m. VHS 6276
Cross tells the story of her own family through the prism of the changing face of race relations in America. Cross, born to a white mother and an African American father in the early 1950s, was given away by her mother to live with a black family in Atlantic City when she was four. This Frontline special takes viewers on a journey across the racial divide and into the relationship between a daughter and the mother who gave her away.
* Struggle and Success: the African American Experience in Japan ; Center for Global Partnership ; 1993 ; 86m. VHS 2827
African Americans discuss conflicting views of race relations in Japan based on their personal experiences.
* A Time for Burning; New Video ; 1966 ; 58m ; DVD 2331
The pastor of an all-white Lutheran church in Omaha, Nebraska tries to get his congregation to reach out to their fellow black Lutherans, only to find a wall of resistance among his church. The candid result is considered by some to be one of the most honest, accurate, and effective expose of the civil rights impasse ever filmed.
* Understanding Race; Films for the Humanities ; 1999 ; 52m. DVD 1803
Examines the history and power of the artificial distinction called “race,” viewing it within historical, scientific, and cultural contexts. Topics include the anthropological unity of Homo sapiens, sanctioned discrimination, such as segregation, cultural biases based on racial stereotypes, and the underlying humanity that inextricably links us all.
* What's It Like Where You Live?; New Dimension Media ; 1997 ; 22m. VHS 5778
African, Asian, Latino and white American teens in Chicago share their neighborhoods and attitudes about race relations with the viewer.
* From Dreams to Reality: A Tribute to Minority Inventors ; Education Video Network ; 1986 ; 28m. VHS 3253
Pays tribute to minority inventors whose many inventions have contributed to American science, technology, and medicine.
* Forgotten Genius; WGBH Boston Video ; 2007 ; 112m. DVD 3313
Story of Percy Julian's scientific breakthroughs and a biography of his life with period reenactments based on newly opened family archives and interviews with dozens of colleagues and relatives.
* Matthew Henson: Explorer; Schlessinger Video Productions ; 1994 ; 30m. VHS 6546
Chronicles the life of arctic explorer Matthew Henson.
* Africans in America: America's Journey Through Slavery; PBS Home Video ; 1998 ; 388m. VHS 6317
Considers the contradictions that lay at the heart of the founding of the American nation. The infant democracy pronounced all men to be created equal while enslaving one race to benefit another. Portrays the struggles of the African people in America, from their arrival in the 1600s to the last days before the Civil War.
* Black Sugar: Slavery from the African Perspective; Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; 1993 ; 26m. VHS 2741
In a narrative style, an African old man tells his grandson how his fellow men and women were seized, uprooted from native soils, and sold to the United States.
* Go Down Moses; CRM Films ; 1964 ; 49m. VHS 3976
Discusses the Underground Railroad, emphasizing the role of Harriet Tubman in the movement and the conflicts and trials involved in a slave's flight to freedom prior to the Civil War.
* Harriet Tubman: Antislavery Activist; Schlessinger Video Productions ; 1992 ; 26m. VHS 6552
The story of the well-known anti-slavery activist, adapted from the book Harriet Tubman by M.W. Taylor.
* Middle Passage; HBO Video ; 2003 ; 76m. DVD 658
The story of an African slave who was sold into slavery by the King of Dahomey, shackled and transported on a journey shared with some six hundred others -- a journey barely half would survive.
* Reconstruction and Segregation; Schlessinger Media ; 1998 ; 30m. DVD 2114
The conclusion of the Civil War marked the end of slavery and of the Confederacy, but also the beginning of the monumental challenges of how to readmit the southern states into the Union and how to ensure the liberty of over three million newly freed African Americans. This program examines the antebellum struggles of Congress to rebuild the south as an equal and free society by means of the Reconstruction Amendments. It also looks at social and economic opposition to the citizenship of former slaves, including such obstacles as the Ku Klux Klan, sharecropping and black segregation.
* Reconstruction: The Second Civil War; PBS Home Video ; 2004 ; 180m. DVD 2506
Tells the story of how ordinary Americans struggled to reconstruct their lives in the years immediately following the Civil War. Shows the struggles and triumphs of both African Americans and whites in the North and the South.
* Slavery and the Making of America; PBS Home Video ; 2004 ; 240m. DVD 1618
This program examines the history of slavery in the United States and the role it played in shaping the new country's development. v. 1. The Downward Spiral — v. 2. Liberty in the Air — v. 3. Seeds of Destruction — v. 4. The Challenge of Freedom
* Unchained Memories: Readings from Slave Narratives; HBO Video ; 2003 ; 75m. VHS 8884
When the Civil War ended in 1865, more than 4 million slaves were set free. By the late 1930s, 100,000 former slaves were still alive. In the midst of the Great Depression, journalists and writers traveled the country to record the memories of the last generation of African Americans born into bondage. Over 2,000 interviews were transcribed as spoken, in the vernacular of the time, to form a unique historical record.
* Underground Railroad; New Video ; 1999 ; 95m. VHS 7701
This History Channel production tells the story of a 200 year struggle to break the bonds of slavery in the American South; a story of secret codes, hidden way-stations and clandestine conductors; a story not of a railway, but of a loosely organized network of runaway slaves, freed blacks and anti-slavery whites, all willing to risk their lives in the name of liberty.
* Whispers of Angels: A Story of the Underground Railroad; Teleduction ; 2001 ; 59m. VHS 8196
The Underground Railroad was the principle means used by slaves to escape their captivity. Two important “stationmasters,” Thomas Garrett and William Still, are depicted in this documentary on the Underground Railroad in Delaware.
* A Woman Called Moses; Xenon Home Video ; 1982 ; 200m. VHS 3305
This is the story of Harriet Ross Tubman, founder of the Underground Railroad, who led hundreds of slaves to freedom in the North before the Civil War. To those she helped get to the Promised Land, she became known as Moses.
* Every Mother's Son; Transit Media Communications ; 2004 ; 52m. DVD 1928
Story of three mothers fighting for justice for their sons, slain by police. The victims’ stories are tragic, and the courage subsequently shown by their mothers, heroic.
* God Among the Children; Bullfrog Films ; 2000 ; 25m. VHS 7949
Part 22 of a series on how the globalized world economy affects ordinary people. The Boston Ten Point Coalition is an ecumenical group working to mobilize the community around issues affecting black and Latino youth — especially those at risk from violence and drug abuse. The coalition's goals are to make the local churches more effective in the work of rebuilding the community by getting out into the streets to work with the city’s growing numbers of alienated young people.
* Innocent Until Proven Guilty: James Forman, Jr., Public Defender; Filmakers Library ; 1999 ; 67m. VHS 7735
Follows Forman both in his role as public defender and as educator at an alternative high school for juvenile ex-offenders, which he co-founded. Using his knowledge of the judicial system, his understanding of the streets, and his commitment to the African American community, he is trying to help at-risk youth get back on track.
* Mumia Abu-Jamal: A Case for Reasonable Doubt?; Fox Lorber ; 1997 ; 74m. VHS 6738
America's most “celebrated” death row inmate, Mumia Abu-Jamal, speaks for the first time behind prison walls in this program.
* The Storm; PBS Home Video ; 2005 ; 60m. DVD 2409
Frontline investigates the political storm surrounding the devastation of America’s Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina. Veteran producer/reporter Martin Smith leads a team that asks hard questions about the decisions leading up to the disaster and beyond.
* This Black Soil: A Story of Resistance and Rebirth; Bullfrog Films ; 2004 ; 59m. DVD 1797
Chronicles the successful struggle of Bayview, Virginia, a small and severely impoverished rural African American community, as it overcome the state of Virginia’s plans for building a prison in their backyard. Under the leadership of visionary women, a new community is built from the ground up.
* Jim Brown: All American; HBO Home Video ; 2002 ; 130m. DVD 4827
Spike Lee directs this moving portrait of Jim Brown and his days in the spotlight, first making football history as one of the 20th century’s greatest athletes, and later as the star of numerous Hollywood features.
* Circle of Recovery; Mystic Fire Video ; 1991 ; 60m. VHS 3138
This film is about people recovering from alcohol and drug addiction: men, women, mothers, fathers, children, and grandparents. Its focus is a group of people in northern California who are overcoming addiction to become mirrors of hope in their community. The talk is frank and the subjects are personal as seven African American men share their struggles, hopes, and achievements.
* Ali; Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment ; 2002 ; 157m. DVD 583
Dramatic biography of boxing great Muhammad Ali, which focuses on the ten-year period of 1964-1974. In that time, the brash, motor-mouthed athlete quickly dominates his sport, meets and marries his first wife, converts to Islam (changing his name from Cassius Clay), and defies the United States government by refusing to submit to military conscription for duty in Vietnam. His world heavyweight champion title thus stripped from him entirely for political reasons, the champ sets about to win back his crown, culminating in a legendary unification bout against George Foreman in Zaire, dubbed the “Rumble in the Jungle.”
* American Gangster; Universal Studios Home Entertainment ; 2008 ; 174m. DVD 4461
Following the death of his employer and mentor, Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) establishes himself as the number one importer of heroin in the Harlem. Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) is a dedicated and honest policeman who heads up a joint narcotics task force with the Federal government. Based on a true story.
* Amistad; DreamWorks Home Entertainment ; 1997 ; 155m. DVD 2708
Chronicles the 1839 revolt on board the slave ship Amistad bound for America. Much of the story involves the court-room drama about the slave who led the revolt.
* Antwone Fisher; 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment ; 2002 ; 120m. DVD 880
Guided by a determined Navy psychiatrist, a troubled sailor embarks on a personal, emotionally inspiring journey to confront his past and connect with the family he never knew. Inspired by the true life experiences of Antwone Fisher.
* Baadasssss!; Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment ; 2004 ; 109m. DVD 1273
A candid portrait of Melvin Van Peeble’s struggles as a young, black director during the society-shifting 70s. Determined to make a film that matters, Melvin deals with two-faced backers, a rag-tag crew, threatening creditors, and various shades of Hollywood hypocrisy. With everything on the line, his only choice is to stick to his guns and do whatever it takes to get his neo-blaxploitation epic to the audience for which it was envisioned.
* Bamboozled; New Line Home Entertainment ; 2000 ; 136m. VHS 8007, DVD 385
In a searing parody of American television, Spike Lee takes a humorous look at how race, ratings and the pursuit of power lead to a network executive's stunning rise and tragic downfall.
* Basquiat; Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 1996 ; 106m. Videodisc 166, DVD 1815
In 1981, a nineteen-year-old unknown graffiti writer takes the New York art world by storm.
* Blacula; Orion Home Video ; 1972 ; 91m. VHS 7854
In 1815 the African Prince Mamuwalde is cursed by Dracula and sealed in a coffin doomed to be tortured by an unquenchable lust for blood. Until today! Two decorators purchase Blacula’s coffin and unwittingly release him and become his first victims.
* Boyz N the Hood; Columbia TriStar Home Video ; 1991 ; 112m. VHS 4212, DVD 898
For three young men growing up in South Central Los Angeles, the ’hood is a place of drive-by shootings, unemployment, drugs and pain. But their reactions to the world around them vary; one is an unambitious drug dealer, his brother is a college bound teenage father, and the brother’s best friend is guided by a strong father who hopes for a better life for his son.
* Bulworth; 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment ; 1998 ; 108m ; VHS 6434, DVD 2265
A mix of hip-hop and politics. Senator Jay Bulworth is facing speculation-induced financial ruin, so he puts out a contract on his own life in order to collect a large new insurance policy for his family. Living each moment on borrowed time, he suddenly begins spouting raw, unfiltered — and sometimes offensive in word but satirical in spirit — thoughts to shocked audiences and handlers. His newfound uninhibitedness and new relationship with Halle Berry carry him on a journey of political and spiritual renewal.
* Clockers; Universal Home Video ; 1995 ; 129m. DVD 4652
Two brothers grow up together in the same Brooklyn housing projects, but they are as opposite as good and evil. Victor Dunham has a family, works two jobs and leads a respectable life. His 19-year-old brother, Strike, hangs out with his friends on a bench and sells crack cocaine. Strike agrees to kill a rival dealer as a favor to Rodney, the neighborhood drug kingpin, but when the man is murdered, it is Victor who confesses. Detective Rocco Kleine won’t buy Victor’s confession, and begins to attempt to break down the stories of both brothers in order to save Victor.
* Cooley High; Orion Home Video ; 1991 ; 107m. VHS 2148
Fun-loving and warm movie about high school life in the 1960s. Preach, a serious-minded writer and Cochise, a basketball hero headed for college, are best friends at Cooley High in Chicago. Together, they cut classes to go to the zoo, crash parties, put the hustle on some hustlers, and dream of getting out of their impoverished, rough neighborhood.
* Crash ; Artisan Home Entertainment ; 2005 ; 113m. DVD 1947
A car accident brings together a group of strangers in Los Angeles. This film examines the complexities of racial tolerance in contemporary America.
* Crooklyn; MCA Universal Home Video ; 1994 ; 114m. DVD 165
A bold, flavorful picture of family life in a crowded but cozy Brooklyn neighborhood nicknamed “Crooklyn” by the Carmichaels, who experience one very special summer in their hometown under difficult but often wonderful circumstances.
* Cry Freedom; Universal ; 1987 ; 159m. DVD 2716, VHS 745
Set in South Africa in the mid-1970s, this film tells the story of Stephen Biko, a Black political activist, and Donald Woods, a liberal white newspaper editor who risks his own life to bring Biko’s message to the world.
* Dangerous Minds; Buena Vista Home Entertainment ; 1995 ; 99m. DVD 2286
When an ex-Marine becomes a high school teacher, she is assigned to a tough class of inner-city teenagers.
* Daughters of the Dust; Kino International ; 1991 ; 113m. VHS 3476, DVD 1783
Story of a large African American family as they prepare to move North from the Sea Islands off the coast of Georgia at the dawn of the 20th century.
* Devil in a Blue Dress; Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment ; 1998 ; 101m. DVD 501
Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins is a decorated war hero who returns home to work as a private eye. His job of finding a missing socialite puts him between the white power elite and the vibrant black community of Central Avenue. As soon as Easy and his trigger-happy friend Mouse find Daphne Monet, trouble follows. Based on a book by Walter Mosley.
* Diary of a Mad Black Woman; Lions Gate Home Entertainment ; 2002 ; 116m. DVD 2709
Tyler Perry’s first film featuring his stage persona Madea centers on a character named Helen McCarter. She's married to Charles, who is one of Atlanta’s most successful attorneys. Despite having wealth and prestige, things are not as they seem in the McCarter home. On the evening of their anniversary, Charles drops a bombshell on Helen — he's divorcing her for another woman. Thrown out of the house with nowhere to go, Helen moves in with her grandmother Madea, a sassy woman with no shortage of opinions and a gun that she’s not afraid to use. As Madea helps Helen get back on her feet emotionally, she meets Orlando, a nice and handsome man who is obviously attracted to her. But after her experiences with Charles, Helen isn’t sure if she's ready to trust a man again.
* Dreamgirls; Paramount Home Entertainment ; 2006 ; 131m. DVD 3502
Three young women (Deena Jones, Effie White, and Lorrell Robinson) desire to become pop stars. They get their wish when they are picked to be backup singers for the legendary James “Thunder” Early. When they are set free for leads, Curtis Taylor and Effie’s brother C.C. decide that Deena should be the lead singer, which upsets Effie. The girls discover exactly what it takes to be in the music business and what they must give up to realize their dreams.
* For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide; Insight Media ; 2000 ; 77m. VHS 7765
The visions and frustrations of six young women who are trying to come to terms with themselves and with being black. Originally produced by the New York Shakespeare Festival.
* Freedom Song; Warner Home Video ; 2000 ; 117m. DVD 3604
Stirring account of the civil rights struggle in the early 1960s, based on first-hand recollections of veteran activists, burning with realism, commitment, and the urgency of the lives in crisis.
* Girl 6; Anchor Bay Entertainment ; 1996 ; 108m. DVD 4714
When an attractive, talented actress discovers that the only job she can get is working as a fantasy telephone operator, she decides to make the most of it. As Girl 6, she soon becomes the most popular girl in town.
* Glory; Columbia TriStar Home Video ; 1989 ; 125m. DVD 4180, VHS 5610
Two idealistic young Bostonians lead the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, America's first Black regiment in the Civil War. Based on the books Lay This Laurel by Lincoln Kirsten and One Gallant Rush by Peter Burchard and the letters of Robert Gould Shaw. (Also see The True Story of Glory Continues; Columbia TriStar Home Video ; 1991 ; 45m. VHS 5612)
* The Great Debaters; Genius Products ; 2008 ; 123m. DVD 4857
Melvin B. Tolson is a professor at Wiley College (a small African-American college) in Texas. In 1935, Tolson inspired students to form the school’s first debate team. Tolson turns a group of underdog students into a historically elite debate team which goes on to challenge Harvard in the national championship. Inspired by a true story.
* Guess Who's Coming to Dinner ; Sony Pictures Home Entertainment ; 1967 ; 108m. DVD 1933
When the daughter of well-to-do liberal parents plans to marry a black doctor, both families must sit down face to face and examine each other's level of intolerance.
* He Got Game; Buena Vista Home Entertainment ; 1998 ; 136m. DVD 4715
With promises of a reduced sentence, Jake Shuttlesworth is granted temporary release from state prison in order to persuade the nation’s top college basketball recruit, his estranged son Jesus, to play ball for the Governor’s alma mater.
* Hi De Ho; Alpha Video Distributors ; 1947 ; 64m. VHS 5088
A feature movie with Cab Calloway performing some of his all time hits such as “Minnie the Moocher,” “St. James Infirmary Blues,” and “Hi De Ho.”
* The Hurricane; Universal ; 1999 ; 118m. DVD 263
Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, in the prime of his boxing career, finds himself wrongfully convicted of murder. Sentenced to life in prison, Carter’s published memoir, The Sixteenth Round, inspires a teenager from Brooklyn and three Canadian activists who believe in the truth, to join forces with Carter to prove his innocence.
* Hustle and Flow; Paramount Pictures ; 2005 ; 116m. DVD 2868
Rapper DJay, who dreams of becoming the next big rap superstar, works all the angles to get his first record made. He even has the help from assorted people in his Memphis 'hood. When he hears that rap superstar Skinny Black is heading to his area, DJay decides to throw together a supreme hustle to grab Skinny's attention.
* Inside Man; Universal Studios Home Entertainment ; 2007 ; 129m. DVD 4642
NYPD Detective Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) struggles to outsmart Dalton, a high-stakes bank robber who, along with a well-trained crew of accomplices, has seized control of a Wall Street bank. The robbers turn what initially looks like a hostage crisis into a personal crusade to expose some mysterious evil secrets. As the dangerous cat-and-mouse game unfolds, Madaline, a power broker with her own agenda, emerges and injects even more instability into an already volatile situation.
* In the Heat of the Night; MGM Home Entertainment ; 1967 ; 110m. VHS 658, DVD 2404
A small town Southern sheriff finds himself in an uneasy alliance with a big-city black homicide detective as they investigate a murder.
* Introducing Dorothy Dandridge; HBO Home Video ; 1999 ; 115m. DVD 405
Halle Berry plays Dorothy Dandridge, an acclaimed stage performer, who struggled with the challenge of her color in a time that wouldn’t let some stars in by the front door. Against the odds, she beat out many more famous rivals for the role of Carmen Jones and became the first black woman ever nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award.
* The Jackie Robinson Story; MGM Home Entertainment ; 1950 ; 77m. DVD 516
A biographical picture about Jackie Robinson’s life and role in baseball.
* Jungle Fever; MCA / Universal Home Video ; 1991 ; 131m. VHS 3803
An African American architect begins an affair with his working class Italian secretary. Their relationship causes them to be scrutinized by their friends, cast out from their families and shunned by their neighbors in this moving view of inner-city life.
* Killer of Sheep; Milestone Film & Video ; 1977 ; 164m. DVD 4198
A masterpiece of African American filmmaking and one of the finest debuts in history. Stan, a sensitive dreamer living in the Los Angeles community of Watts, grows detached and numb as he works in a slaughterhouse. Frustrated by money problems he finds solace in moments of simple beauty.
* Malcolm X; Warner Home Video ; 1992 ; 201m. DVD 2515, VHS 2875
Screen version of the life of Malcolm X, who through his religious conversion to Islam, found the strength to rise up from a criminal past to become an influential civil rights leader.
* Mississippi Burning; MGM Home Entertainment ; 1988 ; 127m. DVD 2721, VHS 1825
Set in Mississippi in 1964, this is a fictionalized version of the case of the murder of three young civil rights workers, the FBI’s attempts to find the missing boys and the clash between the authorities and the locals in a Klan-dominated town.
* Miss Evers' Boys; HBO Home Video ; 1997 ; 118m. DVD 2332
Based on a true story. In 1932, Nurse Eunice Evers is invited to work with doctors on the Tuskegee Experiment to study the effects of syphilis. She is faced with a terrible dilemma when she learns the patients, all African-American men, are denied treatment that could cure them.
* Mo' Better Blues; Universal Studios ; 1990 ; 130m. DVD 4740
Talented trumpeter Bleek Gilliam is obsessed by his music and indecisive about his girlfriends. But when he is forced to come to the aid of his manager and childhood friend, Bleek finds his world more fragile than he ever imagined.
* Murder in Harlem: Based on “The Stanfield Murder Case” ; Matinee Classics ; 1935 ; 96m. VHS 8866
A young woman is murdered at the National Chemical Labs and the nightwatchman is arrested. The scene shifts back three years when a man fell in love with a woman but is unable to express his true feelings. Now the man is a lawyer and the woman he loved is the sister of the nightwatchman who is on trial for murder. Together, they find the real murderer and fall in love.
* New Jack City ; Warner Home Video ; 1991 ; 101m. DVD 1926
This modern-day crime epic focuses on the efforts of two unorthodox police officers to bring down a drug gang at the height of New York City's crack cocaine epidemic.
* New Orleans; Kino International ; 1947 ; 110m. DVD 492
Nick, the proprietor of a Bourbon Street gambling joint, an artistic haven for African American musicans who gather and jam from dusk til dawn, falls in love with an opera-singing socialite. After losing his nightclub Nick tries over the course of many years to get jazz the respect and audience it deserves.
* Our Friend, Martin; 20 th Century Fox Home Entertainment ; 1998 ; 60m. VHS 8060, DVD 1001
What begins as a routine class project for a diverse group of sixth-graders turns into a magical, time-traveling adventure they'll never forget. Authentic historical footage of Martin Luther King, Jr. is blended with colorful animation as the students learn about- and actually meet the civil-rights leader who challenged all Americans to turn his dream of freedom into reality.
* Our Song; MGM Home Entertainment ; 2000 ; 97m. DVD 709
Late summer finds inner-city best friends Maria, Joycelyn and Lanisha at a crossroads. Though once inseparable, they drift apart when their high school abruptly closes and Maria discovers she’s pregnant. As Joycelyn rejects school for a paycheck and Lanisha opts to continue her education, each girl must chart a new course for herself ... but can their friendship survive?
* Poetic Justice; Columbia TriStar Home Video ; 1993 ; 109m. DVD 617
A mismatched pair pushed together on a road trip from South Central L.A. to Oakland find themselves reluctantly attracted to each other, when they are confronted once again by the shocking violence they thought they'd left behind.
* Pride; Lionsgate ; 2007 ; 109m. DVD 3638
Based on the true story of inner city Philadelphia swim coach Jim Ellis. From his roots in Salisbury, North Carolina, Ellis goes on to build a swim team in one of Philly’s toughest neighborhoods in the 1970s.
* Remember the Titans; Buena Vista Home Entertainment ; 2000 ; 121m. VHS 7885
A drama of forced high school integration in Alexandria , Virginia in 1971. After leading his team to fifteen winning seasons, white football coach Bill Yoast is demoted and replaced by African American Herman Boone, tough, opinionated and as different from Yoast as could be. The two men overcome their differences and turn a group of hostile young men into champions.
* Roots; Warner Home Video ; 1977 ; 573m. DVD 494
An adaptation of Alex Haley's Roots, in which he traces his family's history from the mid-18th century when one of his ancestors was captured and sold into slavery. Follows the struggle for freedom that began with the boys' abduction to America and continued throughout the generations that followed. See Roots: Celebrating 25 Years: The Saga of An American Classic (DVD 1991).
* Roots: The Next Generations; Warner Home Video ; 1979 ; 686m. VHS 2401
Videocassette release of the television miniseries originally broadcast Feb. 18-23 and 25, 1979 by the ABC Television Network. Continuation of the chronicle of Alex Haley's family history, covering from 1882 through the 1970s. Based on the books Roots and Search and additional material by Alex Haley.
* Sankofa; Mypheduh Films, Inc. ; 1993 ; 125m. VHS 4356, DVD 4607
The story about the transformation of Mona, a self-possessed African American woman sent on a spiritual journey in time to experience the pain of slavery and the discovery of her African identity.
* The Scar of Shame: With the Early Sound Short Sissle and Blake; Library of Congress ; 1926/1923 ; 80m. VHS 3069
1st work: In no film was the racial theme more apparent than in this story about an ill-matched marriage between a black concert pianist and a poor, lower class young black woman. Secretly ashamed of her, the young man keeps his wife hidden from his socially-prominent middle-class mother. Despite the melodrama, it is a strong statement on the issues of class and the color caste system which existed within the African American community, as well as probing questions of ambition and authority. 2d work: The short was shot in Lee De Forest's New York studio with his sound-on-film process in 1923, four years before Hollywood began to experiment with sound. Pianist Eubie Blake joined by his partner Noble Sissle performed their 1918 composition “Affectionate Dan” and a jazzed-up spiritual.
* She's Gotta Have It; Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment ; 1986 ; 85m. DVD 4666
When it comes to love, Nola Darling has gotta problem: she’s just gotta have “it.” And she’s having a hard time deciding who’ll give “it” the best. Choosing between a romantic-but-possessive nice guy, a flashy-but-vain fashion model and a fast-riding but faster-talking bicyclist, Nola finds that lessons in love can be enlightening, heart-rending, but mostly, exasperating.
* A Soldier's Story; Columbia TriStar Home Video ; 1984 ; 101m. VHS 256, DVD 2593
A black army attorney is sent to Fort Neal, Louisiana, near the end of World War II to investigate the murder of Sgt. Waters, a black man who despised his own roots.
* Something New; Universal Studios Home Entertainment ; 2006 ; 100m. DVD 3205
A beautiful L.A. career woman, Kenya, works as a senior manager at a prestigious accounting firm, and is on the verge of making partner. But she has yet to find her own partner and a fulfilling personal life. After another Valentine's Day spent working late, Kenya agrees to a blind date with Brian, a sexy and free-spirited landscape architect who is not exactly what she'd pictured for herself. Then again, she does need the yard of her new house fixed up. Her girlfriends are there for her with advice. Kenya's socially prominent parents Joyce and Edmond and womanizing younger brother Nelson also voice their own opinions. But it's when her perfect match, Mark, enters the picture that Kenya is truly thrown into confusion and ultimately, Kenya has to decide for herself what she truly wants.
* The Spook Who Sat by the Door; Obsidian Home Entertainment ; 1973 ; 102m. DVD 823
Based on the novel by Sam Greenlee. Disgusted by tokenism at the C.I.A., a black agent organizes a revolution against the government.
* The Tuskegee Airmen; HBO Home Video ; 2000 ; 106m. DVD 1600
It is 1943 and the Germans are winning the Second World War as the U.S. suffers huge losses on the ground and in the air. Four newly recruited pilots are united by a desire to serve their country, at a time when Black flyers are not welcomed in the Air Force. Now, through the brutal demands of their training, to the perils of flying over nations at war, the men they call “The Tuskegee Airmen” must undertake the riskiest mission of their lives to prove to America that courage knows no color. Their success could earn them respect, save lives and help win a terrible war. Their failure could destroy more hopes and dreams than their own.
*25th Hour; Buena Vista Home Entertainment ; 2002 ; 134m. DVD 4673
Monty Brogan is facing a seven year prison sentence for dealing drugs. On the night before he has to go to prison, he decides to go out with his friends one last time, and re-examines his life in the process.
* Twilight, Los Angeles; PBS Home Video ; 2001 ; 90m. VHS 8067
On March 3, 1991, an African American man was brutally beaten by four white Los Angeles police officers who stopped him for speeding. On April 29, 1992 , when the jury’s “not guilty” verdict dismissed the officers on trial for the assault, the city ignited into three days of rioting, looting and violence that left neighborhoods smoldering. “Twilight: Los Angeles,” adapted from Anna Deavere Smith’s searing one-woman play, captures this tumultuous and challenging moment in America's race relations.
* The Water is Wide; Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions, Inc. ; 2006 ; 98m. DVD 3795
Tells the story of Pat Conroy’s year of teaching at Yamacraw School on an island off the coast of South Carolina. Yamacraw is a poor, run-down island which is home to a largely illiterate population who are nearly all directly descended from slaves and who have had little contact with the mainland or its people.
* The Watermelon Man; Columbia TriStar Home Video ; 1970 ; 97m. VHS 9222
Comedy concerning a white suburban bigoted insurance man who wakes upone morning to find he has turned into a black man. Now he is a white bigot in black skin who has to contend with a shocked wife, his kids, angry neighbors, cold shoulders at the office and a back seat on the bus.
* Watermelon Woman ; First Run / Icarus Films ; 1996 ; 79m. VHS 5244
Set in Philadelphia, this is a story of Cheryl, a twenty-something black lesbian struggling to make a documentary about Fae Richards, a beautiful and elusive 1930s black film actress popularly known as “The Watermelon Woman.” While uncovering the meaning of the Watermelon Woman’s life, Cheryl experiences a total upheaval in her personal life.
* What’s Love Got To Do With It; Buena Vista Home Video ; 1993 ; 120m. VHS 4637
The turbulent relationship of Ike and Tina Turner eventually forces Tina to leave and find the courage to believe in herself. Based on the book I, Tina by Tina Turner and Kurt Loder.
* Within Our Gates; Library of Congress ; 1919 ; 79m. VHS 3073
The earliest surviving feature directed by an African American (Oscar Micheaux), Within Our Gates tells the story of a young African American woman who seeks a Northern white patron for a Southern school for Black children. The scenes of lynching and attempted white-on-black rape may be a response to D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation.
* The Wiz; MCA Universal Home Video ; 1992 ; 133m. VHS 5338
Modern African American version of The Wizard of Oz, based on the Broadway show. Dorothy is a shy Harlem kindergarten teacher who is transported to the land of Oz during a blizzard. There she meets up with assorted characters who accompany her on her journey down the yellow brick road.
* Anthology of Negro Poets; Smithsonian Folkways Records. Cassette 1087
Includes poetry by Gwendolyn Brooks, Margaret Walker, Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, Sterling Allen Brown, Langston Hughes, Arna Wendell Bontemps, and Sterling Allen Brown.
* The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman; Recorded Books. Cassette 1165.
Unabridged production.
* A Lesson Before Dying; Time Warner Audiobooks / Juneteenth Audio Books. Cassette 1276.
Abridged production of Ernest J. Gaines' novel.
* Maya Angelou; Audio Scholar. Cassette 1185.
The life and work of the noted black writer.
* Their Eyes Were Watching God; Recorded Books. Cassette 1187.
Unabridged production of Zora Neale Hurston's novel.
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