Summary: In a searing parody of American television and racial attitudes a young African American network executive, under pressure from his white boss, creates a minstrel show, hoping that it will fail and that he will be released from his network contract -- but the TV show becomes both a hit and the subject of much controversy.
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: New Line Home Entertainment 2001
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Comedy DVDs, Call number: DVD COMEDY BAMSummary: Filmmaker Byron Hurt looks at the past and future of soul food, covering its roots in Western Africa, its incarnation in the American South, and the role it plays in the health crisis in the African American community. Examines the socioeconomics of the modern American diet, and how the food industry profits from producing cheap calories while healthy options remain expensive and hard to find.
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: PBS 2013
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in E-TV DVDs, Call number: DVD E-TV SOUSummary: The life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., from the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement in Montgomery, Alabama, and culminating with his assassination in Memphis in 1968. Including archival footage, this film is an indispensable primary resource of a pivotal moment in American and world history. Originally screened in theaters for only a single night in 1970.
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: 2013
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Documentary DVDs, Call number: DVD DOC KINSummary: "From acclaimed scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Gospel explores Black spirituality through sermon and song. From the blues to hip-hop, African Americans have been the driving force of sonic innovation for over a century. But, while musical styles come and go, there is one sound that has been a constant source of strength, courage, and wisdom. It is a message that resounds from the pulpit to the...
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: 2024
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in E-TV DVDs, Call number: DVD E-TV GOSSummary: Explores the motivation behind European global subjugation, the history of rarely discussed vast West African empires, how germ warfare is used on melanted people, and the history of slave breeding farms in America.
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: 2016
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Documentary DVDs, Call number: DVD DOC HIDSummary: Continues the history of people of African descent, including topics such as the global African presence, the science of melanin, the truth about the prison industrial complex, how thriving black economic communities were undermined in America, hidden truths about Native Americans, and more.
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: 2013
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Documentary DVDs, Call number: DVD DOC HIDSummary: In his acclaimed debut as a filmmaker, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson presents a powerful and transporting documentary, part music film, part historical record, created around an epic event that celebrated Black history, culture, and fashion. Over the course of six weeks in the summer of 1969, just one hundred miles south of Woodstock, The Harlem Cultural Festival was filmed in Mount Morris Park...
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: 2022
Copies Available at Woodmere
3 available in Music DVDs, Call number: DVD MUSIC SUMSummary: The story of the 'Fighting 99th' - the first squadron of black American pilots to be allowed to fight for their country. It is 1943 and the U.S. is suffering 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 were not welcomed in the Air Force. Now, the "Tuskegee Airmen" must undertake the riskiest...
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: 2010
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Drama DVDs, Call number: DVD DRAMA TUSCopies Available at Interlochen
1 available in Digital Video Disc, Call number: DVD Movie TuskegeeSummary: Best friends and criminals Durell Washington and LeeJohn are two thieves who haven't got a prayer. Sentenced to 5,000 hours of community service, Durell's life quickly goes from bad to worse. Realizing that the Lord helps those who help themselves, he eventually decides to help himself to the neighborhood church's building fund. Accompanied by LeeJohn, the two down-on-their-luck men are...
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment 2008
Copies Available at Fife Lake
1 available in Digital Video Disc, Call number: DVD FIRSummary: Among the most fascinating chapters of film history is that of the so-called "race films" that flourished in the 1920s -'40s. Unlike the "black cast" films produced within the Hollywood studio system, these films not only starred African Americans but were funded, written, produced, edited, distributed, and often exhibited by people of color. Entrepreneurial filmmakers built an industry apart...
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: 2016
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Documentary DVDs, Call number: DVD DOC PIO1 available in Sight & Sound Print Material, Call number: SSC DVD DOC PIO
Summary: Till is a profoundly emotional and cinematic film about the true story of Mamie Till Mobley's relentless pursuit of justice for her 14-year-old son, Emmett Till, who, in 1955, was lynched while visiting his cousins in Mississippi. In Mamie's poignant journey of grief turned to action, we see the universal power of a mother's ability to change the world.
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: 2023
Copies Available at Woodmere
2 available in Crime / Mystery DVDs, Call number: DVD + BLU-RAY TILSummary: Mazie is ready to celebrate liberty and freedom on Juneteenth, a great day in American history, the day her ancestors were no longer slaves.
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: 2021
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Juvenile Digital Video Disc, Call number: DVD JUV JUNSummary: A fictional account of one amazing night where icons Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown gathered discussing their roles in the Civil Rights Movement and cultural turmoil of the '60s.
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: 2021
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Drama DVDs, Call number: DVD DRAMA ONECopies Available at Fife Lake
1 available in Digital Video Disc, Call number: DVD ONESummary: A fictional account of one amazing night where icons Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown gathered discussing their roles in the Civil Rights Movement and cultural turmoil of the '60s.
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: 2021
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Drama DVDs, Call number: BLU-RAY DRAMA ONESummary: Trail of tears : Cherokee legacy: Documents the forced removal in 1838 of the Cherokee Nation from the southeastern United States to Oklahoma. Shows the suffering endured by the Cherokees as they lost their land and the difficult conditions they endured on the trail. Describes how thousands of Cherokees died during the Trail of Tears, nearly a quarter of the nation, including most of their...
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: Mill Creek Entertainment 2009
Copies Available at Woodmere
2 available in Documentary DVDs, Call number: DVD DOC TRASummary: "All-American athlete, scholar, renowned baritone, stage actor, and social activist, Paul Robeson ... the son of an escaped slave, managed to become a top-billed movie star during the time of Jim Crow America ... his film legacy lives on and continues to speak eloquently of the long and difficult journey of a courageous and outspoken African-American."--Container.
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: 2007
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Drama DVDs, Call number: DVD DRAMA PAUSummary: Comedian Chris Rock tackles the very personal issue of hair, and how attaining good hair can impact African American's activities, relationships, wallets, and a self-esteem. Engages in frank, funny conversations with haircare professionals, beautyshop and barbershop patrons, as well as featuring interviews with Dr. Maya Angelou, Nia Long, Ice-T, Raven Symone, and more.
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: Lionsgate 2010
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Documentary DVDs, Call number: DVD DOC GOOSummary: Based on Parks' semi-autobiographical novel, the film follows the journey of Newt Winger, a teenage descendant of Exodusters growing up in rural Kansas in the 1920s, as he experiences the bittersweet flowering of first love, finds his relationship with a close friend tested, and navigates the injustices embedded within a racist legal and educational system. Exquisitely capturing the bucolic...
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: 2021
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Drama DVDs, Call number: BLU-RAY DRAMA LEASummary: Dancing great Bill Williamson takes a look back on the beginnings of his career and his romance with fellow rising star Selina. Their romance is brief because Selina does not want to settle down.
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment 2005
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Musicals DVDs, Call number: DVD MUSICALS STOSummary: "Backs Against The Wall: The Howard Thurman Story explores the extraordinary life and legacy of one of the most important religious figures of the 20th century. Born the grandson of slaves, Thurman became a "spiritual foundation" for the Civil Rights Movement, inspiring many of its leaders including Martin Luther King, Jr, Jesse Jackson and Congressman John Lewis. In the mid-1930s, Thurman was...
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: 2019
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Documentary DVDs, Call number: DVD DOC BACSummary: Till is a profoundly emotional and cinematic film about the true story of Mamie Till Mobley's relentless pursuit of justice for her 14-year-old son, Emmett Till, who, in 1955, was lynched while visiting his cousins in Mississippi. In Mamie's poignant journey of grief turned to action, we see the universal power of a mother's ability to change the world.
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: Universal 2023
Copies Available at East Bay
1 available in Digital Video Disc, Call number: DVD MOVIE TILCopies Available at Interlochen
1 available in Digital Video Disc, Call number: DVD Movie TillCopies Available at Fife Lake
1 available in Browsing Hot DVDs, Call number: DVD TILCopies Available at Peninsula
1 available in Digital Video Disc, Call number: DVD TILSummary: From award-winning director/producer Peter Kunhardt, King in the Wilderness follows Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the volatile last three years of his life, from the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 to his assassination in April 1968. Drawing on revelatory stories from his inner circle of friends, the film provides a clear window into the civil rights leader's character, showing...
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: 2020