Focus on Black History Month Videography

Below is a videography of selected films to spotlight Black History Month. All films are a part of the VCU Libraries Video and Film Collection, located in Media and Reserve Services (MRS) at the Cabell Library.

King, Martin Luther, "I have a dream." from Great Speeches.
PN 6121 .G73 1985 v.1
Sixty years of our history are mirrored in the most memorable lines of over thirty speeches by two dozen speakers. 1 video (120 min.): sd., b&w, col. (Greenwood, IN: Educational Video Group / New York: McGraw-Hill), 1994.

By River, By Rail.
E 185.6 .B9 1998
African-Americans recount the story of the early 20th century migration of blacks to the Northern states with a backdrop of songs, art and music of the era. They tell of separated families, of the hardships, prejudice, and struggle for acceptance in the North that resulted in disillusionment. Black luminaries include authors James Cameron and Lucille Clifton, Jacob Lawrence, artist and creator of the Black Migration series, Dr. Julius Garvey, son of Marcus Garvey, poet Maya Angelou and NAACP president Kweisi Mfume. 1 video (22 min.): sd., col. and b&w (Princeton, NJ: Films for the Humanities & Sciences), 1998.

First Person Singular: John Hope Franklin
E 175.5 .F73 F47 1997
Examines the life and work of one of the most the highly-respected historians of the African-American experience in the U.S. Perhaps most famous as the author of his book, From Slavery to Freedom, Franklin holds the Medal of Freedom and 105 honorary degrees. 1 video (60 min.): sd., col. (Alexandria, VA: PBS Home Video), c 1997.

Marsalis On Music
MT 7 .M34 1995 v.3
Wynton Marsalis puts a fresh spin on music appreciation. His inspired instruction, backed by superb performances and exciting graphics, not only teaches the fundamentals of music but also makes learning fun. 4 videos (216 min.): sd., col. (New York, NY: Sony Classical Film & Video), 1995.

Go Tell It On The Mountain
PS 3552 .A45 G6 2000
"To be Black in America. To seek both salvation and understanding in the journey of a family from the rural South to 'big city' Harlem. To be a young boy struggling to earn the approval of a self-righteous and often unloving stepfather." An all-star American Playhouse presentation adapted from the James Baldwin novel. 1 video (97 min.): sd., col. (Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Monterey Video), 2000.

Marva
LD 7501 .C435 M37 1979
Shows the owner and teacher Marva Collins at her one-and-a-half-room West Side Preparatory School in Chicago's West Side. She succeeds in challenging her students beyond the expectations of the statistically unsuccessful public schools. 1 video (17 min.): sd., col. (New York: Carousel Films), 1979.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
GV 1786 .A42 A55 1986
Four short compositions performed by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, with an introduction by Alvin Ailey. 1 video (140 min.): sd., col. (West Long Branch: Kultur), 1986.

The Black Press
PN 4882.5 .B55 1998
"Too long have others spoken for us". A History of African-American newspapers and journalism from the mid-19th century through the 20th century. With commentary by historians, journalists, and photojournalists, tells of the struggles against censorship, discrimination and for freedom of the press. 1 video (86 min.): sd., col. with b&w sequences (Half Nelson Productions, Inc., San Francisco, CA: California Newsreel distributor), 1998.

The Coltrane Legacy
M 1366 .C64 C76 1985
Rare footage from 1959-1964 of John Coltrane and his quartet and interviews with musicians who played with him: Reggie Workman, Elvin Jones and Jimmy Cobb. 1 video (61 min.): sd., b&w with col. (New York, N.Y.: Video Artists International), 1985.

The Wilder Inauguration
JK 3952 1990 W45
This commemorative video documents events surrounding the inauguration of L. Douglas Wilder as Governor of Virginia on January 13, 1990. Includes a biographical video sketch of Gov. Wilder. 1 video (ca. 50 min.): sd., col. (Richmond, VA: WXEX TV), 1990.

Guts, Gumption and Go-Ahead: Annie Mae Hunt Remembers
E 185.93 .T4 G87 1992
Documentary dramatization of the life of Annie Mae Hunt in her own words accompanied by archival footage. Her grandmother was a slave and Hunt's role model. Now a writer and former community activist, Hunt set aside adversity to live a constructive, positive life without bitterness or regret. She spent much of her life in domestic service until she became a business woman and author. 1 video (VHS) (24 min.): sd., col. and b&w
( Dallas, Tex.: Media Projects, Inc.), c1992.

The Jeffersons
PN 1992.8 .C66 J34 1976
The Jeffersons TV series chronicled the rise of jive-talking African-American dry cleaner king George Jefferson and his sassy, no-nonsense wife Louise "Weezy," as they left their blue-collar neighborhood and All in the Family, "movin' on up" to a luxury high-rise apartment in New York City. 2 DVDs (ca. 338 min.): sd., col.
(Culver City, Calif.: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment), 1975-.

Unchained Memories
E 444 .U53 2003
After the Civil War, more than 4 million slaves were set free. By the late 1930's, 100,000 former slaves were still alive. During the Great Depression, journalists and writers traveled the country to record the memories of the last generation of African-Americans born into bondage. Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, the film features readings by Angela Bassett, Michael Boatman, Roscoe Lee Browne, Don Cheadle, Sandra Daley, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Robert Guillaume, Jasmine Guy, Samuel L. Jackson, CCH Pounder, LaTanya Richardson, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Roger Guenveur Smith, Courtney B. Vance, Vanessa L. Williams, Oprah Winfrey and Alfre Woodard. (New York, N.Y.: HBO Video), 2003.

See also the Library of Congress full project report: Slave narratives; a folk history of slavery in the United States from interviews with former slaves. Microfilm 998 or the ebook. Also, visit the HBP site with links to biographies, documents, transcriptions, and full narratives: http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/unchained_memories/

The Color Purple
PS 3573 .A425 C6 1987
An uneducated woman living in the rural American south who was raped by her father, deprived of the children she bore him and forced to marry a brutal man she calls "Mister" is transformed by the friendship of two remarkable women, acquiring self-worth and the strength to forgive. Based on the novel Alice Walker. 1 video (154 min.): sd., col. (Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video), 1987.

Roots of Resistance: Story of Underground Railroad
E 450 .R66 1990
Recounts the story of black America's secret railroad to freedom with narratives of escaped slaves. Interviews with descendants of slaves and slaveholders describe personal danger and risks involved. 1 video (60 min.): sd., col. (PBS Video), 1990.

The Journey of the African-American Athlete
GV 697 .A1 J68 1996
African-American athletes today are much-loved heroes in American sports, but this has not always been true. In the past, many black athletes were rejected and struggled to meet their fellow competitors on a level playing field. Captured here are some of the finest achievements in sports history: Joe Louis, Muhammed Ali, Michael Jordan, Jackie Robinson and Jesse Owens. 1 video (119 min.): sd., col. & b&w (New York: HBO Home Video), 1996.

African-American Heroes of World War II
D 810 .A47 1995
African-American airmen in World War II are credited with the destruction (or damage) of 409 enemy aircraft. The valiant 332nd Fighter Group, comprised of the 99th, 100th, and 302nd Fighter Squadrons, distinguished themselves, culminating in a Presidential Unit Citation issued on March 24, 1945. 1 video (46 min.): sd., b/w and color. (Los Angeles, CA: OnDeck Home Entertainment), 1995.

A. Philip Randolph: For Jobs and Freedom
HD 6509 .R2 A6 1996
Biography of the labor leader, journalist, and civil rights activist, A. Philip Randolph. Randolph won the first national labor agreement for a black union, The Sleeping Car porters. His threat of a protest march forced President Roosevelt to ban segregation in the federal government and defense industries at the onset of WWII and he again forced Truman to integrate the military. Finally with the 1963 March on Washington, Randolph succeeded in placing civil rights at the forefront of the nation's legislative agenda as he passed the torch to Martin Luther King, Jr. Includes music of the labor and civil rights movements. 1 video (87:10 min.): sd., col. and b&w (San Francisco, CA: California Newsreel), 1995.

Langston Hughes
E 185.97 .H84 L36 1994
Provides biographical information about poet Langston Hughes, with comments by historians and other experts about his life, thoughts, and contributions. 1 video (ca. 30 min.): sd., col. (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.: Schlessinger Video Productions), 1994.

Women's Work
GV 1786 .U7 W65 1995
This video describes a Museum sponsored project involving the Urban Bush Women, an extraordinary dance theatre company led by artistic director Jawola Willa Jo Zollar. This dance group creates works which celebrate the heritage of African Americans, especially women. Their dances depict the emotions and situations of everyday life. 1 video (27 min.): sd., col. (Richmond, Va.: the Museum / St. Louis, MO: Phoenix Films & Video), c1995.

Freedom Never Dies
E 185.97 .M79 F74 2000
A documentary film exploring the life and times of a distinguished school teacher whose passionate crusade for equal rights could not be discouraged by either the white power structure or the more cautious factions of his own movement. 1 video (90 min.): sd., col. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Extension Center for Media and Independent Learning), 2000.

Jazz On A Summer's Day
ML 3506 .J44 1987
Takes a look at the music, musicians, and spectators at the Newport Jazz Festival, 1958, plus a behind the scenes featurette starring director Bert Stern. 1 video (84 min.): sd., col. (New York: New Yorker Video), c2000.

Classified X
PN 1995.9 .N4 C65 1998
Filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles 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. 1 video (50 min.): sd., col. and b&w. (WinStar Home Entertainment / Distributed by Fox Lorber Associates), 1998.

Forever Ella
ML 420 .F52 F67 2000
Chronicles the personal life and singing career of the well-known jazz artist and discusses her impact on contemporary music. 1 video (ca. 100 min.): sd., col., b&w. (New York: A&E Home Video / Distributed by New Video), 2000.

Kindred Spirits: Contemporary African-American Artists
N 6538 .N5 K56 1992
Based on the highly acclaimed exhibition, Black Art: Ancestral Legacy, organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. The exhibition toured the United States from 1989 until 1991 and 1991 and lives on in this program which includes interviews with artists from the exhibition, John Biggers, Bessie Harvey, Lois Mailou Jones, Jean Lacy, Ed Love, Charles Searles, and Renee Stout; curator Alvia Wardlaw; and poet/author Maya Angelou. 1 video (30 min.): sd., col. ( Dallas/Fort Worth, TX: North Texas Public Broadcasting, Inc.), 1992.

Africans In American (Brotherly Love)
E441 .A37 1998
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. Includes the first slaves arrival at Jamestown and central Virginia's Gabriel's Rebellion. 4 videos (360 min.): sd., col. (Arlington, VA: PBS Video), c1998.

The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
M 1500 .G33 P672 1993
This video is the adaptation of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera stage production of the Gershwins' classic musical drama Porgy and Bess, which portrays the lives of the occupants of Catfish Row. 2 videos (ca. 184 min.): sd., col. (EMI Records Ltd.), 1993.

Furious Flowers
PS 591 .N4 F87 1998 Tape 3
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. 4 videos (369 min.): sd., col. (San Francisco: California Newsreel), 1998.

Dance Theater of Harlem
GV 1786 .H37 D36 1989
Dazzling performances by the influential and creative all-black ballet company. 1 video (120 min.): sd., col (Home Vision), 1989.

That's My Face
E185.625 .E16 2003
Shows some of what the filmmaker saw when he visited Salvador Da Bahia, Brazil, to learn about the spirits who haunt his dreams. Connects this time in Brazil with his childhood experience living in Tanzania with his mother, who went to Africa in search of a mythic motherland. 1 DVD (60 min.): sd., col. (Wellspring Media), 2003.

Black Mother Black Daughter
F 103.5 .N3 B43 1989
This film is the first formal record of the history and life experiences of black women in Nova Scotia. Women from several black communities speak candidly about their lives and the discrimination they endured. 1 video (29 min.): sd., col. (National Film Board of Canada), 1989.

4 Little Girls
F 334 .B69 N46 1998
Spike Lee’s documentary recounts the people and events leading up to the one of the most despicable hate-crimes during the height of the civil-rights movement, the Sept. 15, 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Church in Birmingham, Alabama. In that attack, four little African-American girls lost their lives and a nation was simultaneously revolted, angered and galvanized to push the fight for equality and justice on. 1 video (103 min.): sd., col. and b&w. (Direct Cinema Limited), 1998.

Then I'll Be Free To Travel Home
F 128.61 .A37 T44 1999
The story of the discovery of the African Burial Ground in lower Manhattan and the fight throughout the 1990's to preserve it is told in the context of the history of African-Americans in New York during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. 2 videos (142 min.): sd., col. (Cinema Guild), 1999.

African Culture: Drumming and Dance
M 1831 .A85 A374 2000
Entertained and educated by a group called Ashante-Sebei. Ashante is the name of a group found in West Africa and Sebei is the name of a group found in East Africa. Members are Margo Black, singer, choreographer and story teller, etc., Tony Rios and David Closson, percussionists. Ashante-Sebei demonstrates the culture found in Africa. Together they will teach the viewer polyrhythms. 1 video (22 min.): sd., col. (AIMS Multimedia, 2000).

Freedom On My Mind
E 185.615 .F754 1994
Documentary of the civil rights movement and the events surrounding the Mississippi Voter Registration Project of the early 1960's. Combines archival footage with contemporary interviews. 1 video (110 min.): sd., col. (Clarity Educational Productions), c1994.

Jubilee Singers: Sacrifice and Glory
ML 421 .J77 J83 2000
Portrays the history of the Jubilee Singers, who started as an ex-slave choir singing spirituals on fundraising tours to keep Fisk University from folding. Their efforts also popularized and documented spirituals. Includes recreations of their historic performances and draws on letters, photographs, and diaries to portray their early years. 1 video (56 min.): sd., col. with b&w sequences (PBS Home Video), c2000.

African American Experience 1864 -1994
E 185 .A2532 1995 pt. 2
The story of African Americans is shown from the inhumane kidnapping and transportation of native African peoples to the new world to the social and civil strife of the 1990s. The goal of this video is to increase student awareness and appreciation of the African American heritage. 2 videos (30 min.): sd., col. with b&w sequences (Distributed by New Dimension Media), c1995.

Captured and edited by MRS Staff (Anita Williams & John Birch)