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Author
Series
Summary
Widely known as the play that gave the American dramatist Eugene O'Neill international acclaim, "The Emperor Jones" is a one-act play that follows the complete disintegration of Brutus Jones. This protagonist, formerly a Pullman porter in the United States, has escaped his criminal activity there by establishing himself as a ruler in the West Indies. O'Neill, in an experiment with Expressionism, then leads Jones through a series of hallucinations...
2) Men of honor
Summary
The courageous story of an African-American sailor who dared to dream of becoming a U.S. Navy Master Diver. Despite a ruthless training officer and a tragic shipboard accident, Carl's iron will is never broken. Against all odds, he pushes on to achieve the impossible.
Author
Summary
This collection includes Lynn Nottage's best known work, Crumbs from the Table of Joy, which has been produced widely since its premiere in May 1995 and which the Chicago Tribune hailed as "a complex and thought provoking new play." Also included are Mud, River, Stone, Poof, Por'Knockers and her latest work, Las Meninas, inspired by the playwright's research into the African presence in 17th century Europe. Lynn Nottage lives in Brooklyn, New York....
Author
Summary
Also includes: Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom, The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World, Betting on the Dust Commander, Pickling and Devotees in the Garden of Love, as well as several essays by Suzan-Lori Parks which provide insight into her provocative theatrical style and innovative vision. -- Publisher.
Summary
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 mission of their lives and to prove to America that courage...
Series
Criterion collection volume 1106
Summary
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.
10) Till
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.
11) The blackening
Summary
The film centers around a group of Black friends who reunite for a Juneteenth weekend getaway only to find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a twisted killer. Forced to play by his rules, the friends soon realize this ain't no motherf****** game. Directed by Tim Story (Ride Along, Think Like a Man, Barbershop), this film skewers genre tropes and poses the sardonic question: if the entire cast of a horror movie is Black, who dies first?
12) 12 years a slave
Summary
The harrowing account of a black man, born free in New York State, who was drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery in 1841. Having no way to contact his family, and fearing for his life if he told the truth, Solomon Northup was sold from plantation to plantation in Louisiana, toiling under cruel masters for twelve years before meeting Samuel Bass, a Canadian who finally put him in touch with his family, and helped start the process to regain his...
14) Ganja & Hess
Summary
Flirting with the conventions of blaxploitation and the horror cinema, Bill Gunn's revolutionary independent film Ganja and Hess is a highly stylized and utterly original treatise on sex, religion, and African American identity. Duane Jones (Night of the living dead) stars as anthropologist Hess Green, who is stabbed with an ancient ceremonial dagger by his unstable assistant (director Bill Gunn), endowing him with the blessing of immortality, and...
15) Malcolm X
Summary
Screen version of the life of Malcolm X, who through his religious conversion to Islam, found the strength to rise up from a criminal past to become an influential civil rights leader.
16) Waves
Formats
Summary
Set against the vibrant landscape of South Florida, and featuring an astonishing ensemble of award-winning actors and breakouts alike, this film traces the epic emotional journey of a suburban African-American family, led by a well-intentioned but domineering father, as they navigate love, forgiveness and coming together in the aftermath of a loss. A heartrending story about the universal capacity for compassion and growth even in the darkest of times....
17) Within our gates
Formats
Summary
Created as a response to The Birth of a Nation which depicted southern whites in need of the Ku Klux Klan to protect them from blood thirsty blacks, Micheaux shows the reality of Dixie racism in 1920, where a black man could be lynched for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Series
Summary
Spike Lee is one of the most acclaimed and controversial directors of all time. Now five of his most provocative, thought-provoking films are available in one collection. From the breakout hit dramedy "Do the right thing" to the gritty, urban "Clockers, " Lee peels away life's layers, exposing the ironies, brutalities, rhythms and prejudices of the naked city in this powerful collector's set.
Clockers: a film about the violent world of drug dealing...