African American documentaries

Examines how Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and leaders of the civil rights movement used the power of print and visual media, especially television, to awaken America to the shame and injustice of racial inequality.

Before Oprah, before Arsenio, there was Mr. SOUL. Ellis Haizlip ensures that the Revolution would be televised with "SOUL!," America's first "Black Tonight Show." From 1968 to 1973, the public-television variety show SOUL!, guided by enigmatic producer and host Ellis Haizlip, offered an unfiltered, uncompromising celebration of Black literature, poetry, music, and politics--voices that had few other options for national exposure, and, as a result, found the program an improbable place to call home. The series was among the first to provide expanded images of African Americans on television, shifting the gaze from inner-city poverty and violence to the vibrancy of the Black Arts Movement. With participants' recollections and illuminating archival clips, Mr. SOUL captures a critical moment in culture whose impact continues to resonate, and an unsung hero whose voice we need now more than ever, to restore the SOUL of a nation.

Governor George Wallace will not let two black students into an Alabama school, against the wishes of President Kennedy. Loud shouts come from both sides of the issue as JFK stands by his decisions.

Follows Martin Luther King's life and decades-long civil rights activism.

A documentary on the first African-American boxer to ever become world heavyweight champion. Released on the same year as "The Great White Hope" and also Oscar nominated like that film, this project uses of stills, archive footage and his own words narrated by actor Brock Peters to present Johnson's life, trajectory and of course, 'the fight of the century' against James Jeffries.

A chronicle of Fred Hampton's revolutionary leadership of the Illinois Black Panther Party, followed by an investigation into his assassination at the hands of the Chicago Police Department.

James Earl Jones narrates this fascinating and moving documentary about the life of the assassinated black leader through various sources.

Major events in the life of Robeson are recounted in this one-man performance.

A retrospective look at the career of Paul Robeson and his legacy as both an American and a citizen of the world.

POV OF AMERICA THROUGH THE EYES OF PAUL ROBESON WHO FOUGHT AGAINST JIM CROW.

The film chronicles the organizing of the first Black trade union the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.

A documentary about the American Civil Rights Movement from 1952 to 1965.

The Academy Award¨-nominated Adam Clayton Powell delves into the gripping life and career of the most influential and flamboyant civil rights leader in America in the Õ30s, Õ40s and Õ50s.

Brother Minister reveals the mystery surrounding the assassination of Malcolm X at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City on February 21, 1965. It probes the innocence of two of the convicted assassins, reveals the true identity of the killers, examines the FBI and NYPD clandestine roles in the assassination, and discovers the secret origin of the Nation of Islam and its political and religious legacy in America.

Documentary feature exploring the rise of African-Americans to positions of greatness in American sports. Stories are told of boxers, tennis players, runners, and basketball players, athletes who either suffered the indignities of racism, helped break down its walls, or enjoyed the opportunities afforded by past struggles.

A recap of the Black Panther Party's often distorted history and an expose of apparent governmental plots that hastened its demise.

A documentary of the notorious racial terrorist 1963 bombing by the Ku Klux Klan of the African American 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham during the Civil Rights Movement, which killed four young girls.

The history of black newspapers in America.

Film scholars discuss movies made by and for Blacks in the segregated America of the first half of the 20th century.

The history of the "Scottsboro Boys," a group of African American men who were victims of a racist miscarriage of justice that became a national controversy.

Marcus Garvey emmigrated from Jamaica to New York City in 1914, bringing with him a message of black empowerment. After touring the United States with his message, his organization started publishing The Negro World, a newspaper. With millions of followers worldwide, Garvey decried racial prejudice in the U.S.A., and urged African-Americans to invest in shares of his organization's shipping company, The Black Star Line. Garvey also promoted the idea of millions of African-Americans moving to Africa to found their own nation.

This documentary follows a Mississippi Delta school district and a single Delta family as they struggle against the crippling effects of poverty in the wake of more than one hundred years of slavery.

Survey of musical performers on film from the 20th century, organized into segments: Dancers, Divas, Rock and Soul, Jazz and Swing, Male Singers, and Hip Hop.