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Series
Summary
In this new 2023 high-definition program, learn all about Jim Crow laws and the birth of civil rights in the United States. What were Jim Crow laws? What does "separate but equal" mean? What was the Reconstruction Era and what did the Civil Rights Act of 1875 accomplish? What was the significance of Plessy v. Ferguson? What were the contributions of Booker T. Washington, WEB Du Bois, Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren, and Martin Luther King, Jr.?...
Series
Summary
In this new 2023 high-definition program, learn all about notable firsts in Black American history. Who was the "Mother of Black Literature?" Who was the first Black senator? What were the first Black universities and colleges established in the United States? Who was the first Black person to win an Academy Award? Who was the first Black Major League baseball player? The answers to all of these questions and more are covered in depth with an exciting...
Summary
This film traces the remarkable journey of New Communities, Inc. and the struggle for racial justice and economic empowerment among African Americans in southwest Georgia. NCI was created in 1969 in Albany, Georgia by leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, including Congressman John Lewis, and Charles and Shirley Sherrod, to help secure economic independence for African American families. For 15 years, NCI cooperatively farmed nearly 6,000 acres, the...
Summary
Examine how the legal nightmare of the "Scottsboro Boys" trials extended for decades. It launched and ended careers. It educated the public about the plight of African-Americans. It divided - then united - America's political left. And it illustrates what was wrong with America's justice system in the 1930s.
Summary
The inspiring true story of African American inventor Garrett Morgan. As a young boy, Garrett didn't know what he was good at. He always seems to be getting into trouble. Upon moving to the big city, Garrett witnesses a series of collisions. His creative thinking and imagination lead him to invent the traffic signal. Narrated by Queen Latifah, GARRETT'S GIFT teaches us that we are all given a gift, but what’s most important is that we give that...
Summary
"Traces the journey to freedom taken by countless slaves, showing how they were guided, protected and pursued along the way. The extraordinary story is told through historical documents, visits to important sites, interviews with the descendants of noted abolitionists and commentary from experts"--Container.
Summary
In 1866, the year immediately following the end of the war, America was supposed to be reuniting, healing its wounds, and moving past years of civil unrest. However, a closer look into this historic time reveals a sinister snapshot of a discordant nation caught in the midst of deadly race riots and angry insurgencies. Examines the disturbing reality behind the murder, terrorism, and chaos that marked the uncertain period of Reconstruction in America....
Summary
Janet loved to dance, and she especially loved BALLET! When the world renowned Ballet Russe came to town holding auditions in 1934, Janet could hardly wait for her moment to shine. But, things weren't always fair for black girls in America... DANCING IN THE LIGHT tells the inspiring story of the first African American prima ballerina, Janet Collins. Narrated by actor and comedian Chris Rock, this story teaches us that we can be anything we set our...
Summary
A magical look at the historic true tale of slave Henry Box Brown, a man who mailed himself to freedom in a wooden box from a plantation in Richmond, Virginia to freedom in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1848. Narrated by **Emmy**-winning and **Academy Award**-nominated actress Alfre Woodard this lightly animated story uses entertaining verse to share Henry’s story. With the help of characters including Bird, Horse, Cricket and Cat, Henry avoids...
Summary
A celebration of America's greatest original art form. Ken Burns' 10-part documentary series opens at the dawn of the 20th century, incorporating American culture and historical events that interact directly with the music. From the 1890s through the ferment of the Harlem Renaissance and the Jazz Age, to the Great Depression, New Deal, Second World War, and beyond, JAZZ paints an astounding portrait of a nation and its improvisational core of music....
Summary
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. embarks on a deeply personal journey through the last fifty years of African American history. Joined by leading scholars, celebrities, and a dynamic cast of people who shaped these years, Gates travels from the victories of the civil rights movement up to today, asking profound questions about the state of black America, and our nation as a whole.
Summary
Booker T. Washington (1856 - 1915) was born into slavery in Virginia. After emancipation he worked his way through college, attending the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute (today, Hampton University) and Wayland Seminary, became a teacher; then was chosen to be the first leader of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, a position he held the rest of his life. As educator, orator and author, he was a dominant leader of the African American community...
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In 2011, construction workers were shocked to uncover the remains of a woman in an abandoned lot in Queens, New York. Follow forensic archaeologist Scott Warnasch and a team of historians and scientists as they investigate this woman' story, revealing a vivid picture of what life was like for free African American people in the North.
Summary
Gates returns as host to guide more notable African Americans on a search for their ancestry. Genealogical investigations and DNA analysis help Maya Angelou, Bliss Broyard, Don Cheadle, Morgan Freeman, Peter Gomes, Kathleen Henderson, Linda Johnson Rice, Tom Joyner, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Chris Rock and Tina Turner discover where they come from and who they are.
Summary
"They were often treated as second class citizens, yet many (if not most), of the African American men who eventually joined the Tuskegee Institute volunteered to serve during World War II. Why? Find out in Red Rails: The Real Story of the Tuskegee Airmen, as the film takes you directly to the Tuskegee training base as it exists today. And through the use of archival footage transports you to the battles where some of Americas bravest men fought in...
Summary
Explore with Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the evolution of the African-American people, as well as the multiplicity of cultural institutions, political strategies, and religious and social perspectives they developed-forging their own history, culture and society against unimaginable odds.