The Best Black TV & Films You Must Watch Before You Die!
List of all-time favorite Black TV Shows and Movies you Must watch before you DIE!!
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- StarsLeVar BurtonRobert ReedJohn AmosA dramatization of author Alex Haley's family line from ancestor Kunta Kinte's enslavement to his descendants' liberation.
- DirectorLeo PennStarsSammy Davis Jr.Louis ArmstrongOssie DavisA famous jazz trumpeter finds himself unable to cope with the problems of everyday life.
- DirectorOscar MicheauxJerry MillsStarsCharles D. LucasEvelyn PreerIris HallThe Homesteader involves six principal characters, the leading one being Jean Baptiste (Charles Lucas), a homesteader far off in the Dakotas, the lone African American living in the area. To this wilderness arrives Jack Stewart, a Scotsman, with his motherless daughter, Agnes (Iris Hall), who doesn't know that she is biracial. In Agnes, Baptiste meets the girl of his dreams. Peculiar fate threw her in the company of the Homesteader, but, because Baptiste is black and Agnes is presumably white, their love is forbidden by law. Baptiste eventually sacrifices the love of this girl of his dreams, goes back to his own people and marries Orlean, the daughter of a black preacher named McCarthy. McCarthy, the embodiment of vanity, deceit and hypocrisy, really admires the marriage his daughter has made. He speaks of the "rich" young man she has married, praises him to the highest. Baptiste does not know, however, that McCarthy requires and is in the habit of having people praise him. Baptiste does not do it because he is not of the temperament to do so. Because of this failure grows the tragedy of mismarriage to Orlean (Evelyn Preer), a sweet girl, kind and good, but like her mother, without the strength of her convictions. Baptiste, Orlean having failed him, is persecuted by McCarthy and by Ethel (McCarthy's other daughter), who, like her father, possesses all the evil a woman is capable of; she is married to weak-kneed Glavis. In the end, Orlean, driven insane by the evil she had been the innocent cause of, rights a wrong which causes Baptiste to go back to his land in the Dakotas, where he finds the girl he first discovered. Later, he learns[by whom?] the truth about her race and the story has a beautiful ending.
- DirectorOscar MicheauxStarsIris HallWalker ThompsonLawrence ChenaultRacists learn that the land a negro owns lies over a vast oil field, and threaten his life when he refuses to sell.
- DirectorOscar MicheauxStarsEvelyn PreerFlo ClementsJames D. RuffinAbandoned by her fiancé, an educated black woman with a shocking past dedicates herself to helping a near bankrupt school for impoverished black youths.
- DirectorVincente MinnelliBusby BerkeleyStarsEthel WatersEddie 'Rochester' AndersonLena HorneA compulsive gambler dies during a shooting, but he'll receive a second chance to reform himself and to make up with his worried wife.
- DirectorAndrew L. StoneStarsLena HorneBill RobinsonCab Calloway and His Cotton Club OrchestraThe relationship between an aspiring dancer and a popular songstress provides a retrospective of the great African-American entertainers of the early 1900s.
- DirectorOtto PremingerRouben MamoulianStarsSidney PoitierDorothy DandridgeSammy Davis Jr.A woman whose past is scorned by nearly everyone around her meets a man who'd love her regardlessly- if only everyone else would allow them to.
- DirectorMartin RittStarsJohn CassavetesSidney PoitierJack WardenThe growing friendship of two NYC longshoremen is threatened by a notably repellent punk.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsHarry BelafonteDorothy DandridgePearl BaileyContemporary version of the Bizet opera, with new lyrics and an African-American cast.
- DirectorGordon ParksStarsKyle JohnsonAlex ClarkeEstelle EvansA bittersweet, idyllic story about a year in the life of 14-year-old Newt Winger, born into a poor Black family in Kansas, who learns about love, fear, racial injustice, and immorality.
- DirectorDaniel PetrieStarsSidney PoitierClaudia McNeilRuby DeeA substantial insurance payment could mean either financial salvation or personal ruin for a poor black family.
- DirectorJules DassinStarsRaymond St. JacquesRuby DeeFrank SilveraIn this landmark collaboration between activist and actress Ruby Dee and director Jules Dassin, Black revolutionaries are betrayed by one of their own. Based on the 1935 classic "The Informer."
- DirectorGordon DouglasStarsSidney PoitierMartin LandauBarbara McNairIn San Francisco, a high-priced call girl is murdered and the case is assigned to Police Lieutenant Virgil Tibbs.
- DirectorMelvin Van PeeblesStarsMelvin Van PeeblesHubert ScalesJohn DullaghanAfter saving a Black Panther from some racist cops, a black male prostitute goes on the run from "the man" with the help of the ghetto community and some disillusioned Hells Angels.
- DirectorGordon Parks Jr.StarsRon O'NealCarl LeeSheila FrazierThe daily routine of cocaine dealer Priest who wants to score one more super deal and retire.
- DirectorGordon ParksStarsRichard RoundtreeMoses GunnCharles CioffiA crime lord hires black private eye, John Shaft, to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.
- DirectorJack HillStarsPam GrierAntonio FargasPeter BrownA voluptuous vigilante takes a job as a high-class prostitute to get revenge on the mobsters who murdered her boyfriend.
- DirectorJack HillStarsPam GrierBooker BradshawRobert DoQuiA sexy Black nurse takes vigilante justice against inner-city drug dealers after her sister becomes their latest victim.
- DirectorJohn BerryStarsDiahann CarrollJames Earl JonesLawrence Hilton-JacobsIn the 1970s Harlem, garbage collector Roop feels intimidated by the idea of dating Claudine who is a single mother of six on welfare.
- DirectorSidney PoitierStarsSidney PoitierBill CosbyHarry BelafonteAt Madame Zenobia's illegal nightclub, when Steve Jackson and Wardell Franklin get robbed of their wallets containing a winning lottery ticket, they set out to recover it.
- DirectorSidney PoitierStarsSidney PoitierBill CosbyCalvin LockhartTwo Atlanta men raise funds for their charity by rigging boxing matches in New Orleans, but their tricks attract the mob's attention.
- DirectorSidney PoitierStarsSidney PoitierBill CosbyJames Earl JonesA retired Chicago cop blackmails two rich thieves into "volunteering" to help juvenile delinquents change paths.
- DirectorSidney PoitierJoseph SargentStarsSidney PoitierHarry BelafonteRuby DeeA wagon master and a con-man preacher help freed slaves dogged by cheap-labor agents out West.
- DirectorSidney PoitierStarsSidney PoitierEster AndersonYvette CurtisAn African-American doctor falls in love with the niece of an African ambassador during his vacation in London, but it turns out that she is suffering from a rare terminal illness.
- DirectorBarry ShearStarsAnthony QuinnYaphet KottoAnthony FranciosaTwo New York City cops go after amateur crooks who are trying to rip off the Mafia and start a gang war.
- DirectorMichael SchultzStarsRichard PryorLonette McKeeMargaret AveryOrange picker Leroy Jones inadvertently becomes a union leader and is forced out of town, leaving behind his wife Annie Mae and his sexually-obsessed father Rufus.
- DirectorMichael SchultzStarsGlynn TurmanLawrence Hilton-JacobsGarrett MorrisIn 1964 on Chicago's Near-North Side, the lives of four carefree high school seniors and best friends, including an aspiring playwright and an all-city basketball champion, takes a tragic turn.
- DirectorJack StarrettStarsTamara DobsonBernie CaseyBrenda SykesDuring the 1970s, U.S. Special Agent Cleopatra Jones proves to be an invaluable asset to the local police forces in the war on drugs.
- DirectorOssie DavisStarsGodfrey CambridgeRaymond St. JacquesCalvin LockhartTwo Harlem cops investigate a robbery, believing that a reverend has staged it in order to steal the money he's collected for a local fundraiser.
- DirectorJoseph MandukeStarsMoses GunnRosalind CashBernie CaseyA 12-year-old is traumatised by the murder of his friend, a star basketball player.
- DirectorD'Urville MartinStarsRudy Ray MooreD'Urville MartinJerry JonesAfter he is released from jail, a pimp takes on the criminals and corrupt police officers who framed him in the first place.
- DirectorGordon Parks Jr.StarsJim BrownFred WilliamsonJim KellyBlaxploitation film about three martial-arts specialists who prevent white supremacists from tainting the U.S. water supply with a toxin that's only harmful to black people.
- DirectorLarry CohenStarsFred WilliamsonGloria HendryArt LundRaised in Harlem, Tommy Gibbs becomes a successful mob boss but he clashes with the rival Mafia and his old enemy, dirty cop McKinney.
- DirectorJamaa FanakaStarsLeon Isaac KennedyWilbur 'Hi-Fi' WhiteThomas M. PollardA hitchhiker named Martel Gordone gets in a fight with two bikers over a prostitute, and one of the bikers is killed. Gordone is arrested and sent to prison, where he joins the prison's boxing team in an effort to secure an early parole and to establish his dominance over the prison's toughest gang.
- DirectorArthur MarksStarsGlynn TurmanLouis Gossett Jr.Joan PringleMurdered on Bourbon Street in 1942 New Orleans, a gangster returns from the dead 34 years later possessing the body of a young, black law student in his quest for revenge.
- DirectorJohn BadhamStarsBilly Dee WilliamsJames Earl JonesRichard PryorIn the late 1930s during racial segregation, a star of the Negro League Baseball, Bingo Long, leaves his team and convinces other stars of the league to join him as free agent players touring the towns of the Midwest.
- DirectorSidney J. FurieStarsDiana RossBilly Dee WilliamsRichard PryorThe story of the troubled life and career of the legendary Jazz singer, Billie Holiday.
- CreatorHal KanterStarsDiahann CarrollLloyd NolanMarc CopageJulia Baker is a young African-American woman working as a nurse. She is also a widow (her husband died in Vietnam) trying to raise a young son alone.
- CreatorMike EvansNorman LearEric MonteStarsJa'net DuBoisRalph CarterBernNadette StanisA poor family make the best of things in the Chicago housing projects.
- StarsErnest ThomasHaywood NelsonDanielle SpencerA trio of black youths learn about life, love, friendship, credit cards, gambling, and a variety of other things while growing up in an inner city.
- CreatorNorman LearStarsRedd FoxxDemond WilsonLaWanda PageThe misadventures of a cantankerous junk dealer and his frustrated son.
- CreatorNorman LearDon NichollMichael RossStarsIsabel SanfordSherman HemsleyRoxie RokerA nouveau riche, African-American family who move into a luxury apartment building develop close, if occasionally fractious, relationships with other tenants.
- CreatorEd. WeinbergerStarsSherman HemsleyClifton DavisAnna Maria HorsfordRev. Rueben Gregory, finds dealing with the headstrong, opinionated, and unethical Deacon Ernest Frye--who works as a lawyer when not tending to church business--won't make his job easy.
- CreatorJohn BowmanTopper CarewMartin LawrenceStarsMartin LawrenceTisha CampbellThomas Mikal FordSassy sitcom centering on radio and television personality Martin Payne. Series focuses on his romantic relationship with girlfriend Gina, her best friend Pam and escapades with best friends Tommy and Cole.
- CreatorYvette Lee BowserStarsQueen LatifahKim ColesErika AlexanderFollows the lives of several single male and female roommates and friends in 1990s Brooklyn, New York.
- CreatorBill CosbyStarsLisa BonetKadeem HardisonJasmine GuyA group of students at a historically Black university struggle to make it through college.
- CreatorStan DanielsStarsCharles S. DuttonElla JoyceRocky CarrollCharles Dutton plays a married garbage man who proves by his actions and his altruistic ways that though he collects refuse for a job, his life and relationships total more than mere garbage.
- CreatorBill BoulwareJack ElinsonMichael G. MoyeStarsHelen MartinMarla GibbsHal WilliamsThis series took place in an apartment building numbered 227. The cast would frequently be sitting outside on a large set of stone stairs, involved in some discussion that would unfold into the weekly plotline.
- CreatorKeenen Ivory WayansStarsKeenen Ivory WayansJim CarreyKelly Coffield ParkThe Wayans siblings present an African-American focused sketch comedy show.
- CreatorDennis KleinStarsBill CosbyPhylicia RashadDoug E. DougHilton Lucas was forced by his employer to retire. His wife has trouble with him always being at home and so does he.
- DirectorTamra DavisStarsJean Michel BasquiatJulian SchnabelLarry GagosianDirector Tamra Davis pays homage to her friend in this definitive documentary but also delves into Basquiat as an iconoclast. His dense, bebop-influenced neoexpressionist work emerged while minimalist, conceptual art was the fad; as a successful black artist, he was constantly confronted by racism and misconceptions. Much can be gleaned from insider interviews and archival footage, but it is Basquiat's own words and work that powerfully convey the mystique and allure of both the artist and the man.
- DirectorIvan DixonStarsLawrence CookJanet LeaguePaula KellyA black man plays 'uncle Tom' in order to gain access to CIA training, then uses that knowledge to plot a new American revolt.