Three Short Films about African American History

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Integration Report 1

** Released = 1960

** Run time = 24 minutes

** Director = Madeline Anderson

** Rating on IMDb = 73 percent

 

DESCRIPTION

This film examines the struggle for black equality in Alabama, Brooklyn and Washington, D.C.

 

This film incorporates footage by documentary legends Albert Maysles and Ricky Leacock, protest songs by Maya Angelou, and a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Am Somebody

** Released = 1970

** Run time = 28 minutes

** Director = Madeline Anderson

** Rating on IMDb = 72 percent

 

DESCRIPTION

In 1969, black female hospital workers in Charleston, South Carolina went on strike for union recognition and a wage increase, only to find themselves in a confrontation with the state government and the National Guard. 

 

Featuring Andrew Young, Charles Abernathy, and Coretta Scott King and produced by Local 1199, New York’s Drug and Hospital Union, this film is a crucial document in the struggle for labor rights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lynching Postcards: Token of a Great Day

** Released = 2021

** Run time = 15 minutes

** Director = Christine Turner

** Rating on IMDb = 62 percent

 

DESCRIPTION

 

From 1880 to 1968, more than four thousand African Americans were lynched in the United States. Like picnics or parties, lynchings were often carnival-like events commemorated through photos and postcards. 

 

This film tells the story of how Black activists subverted these souvenirs, which were celebrations of white supremacy, in the fight against lynching.

 

RELEVANT REFERENCES

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

 

** Up From Slavery 

(Released in 2011) 

(Seven episodes)

 

** Liberty and Slavery: The Paradox of America's Founding Fathers

(Released in 2016) 

(85 minutes)

 

** Emancipation Road

(Released in 2017)

(Seven episodes)

 

** Fannie Lou Hamer's America

(Premiered on PBS in 2022)

(58 minutes)

(America Reframed - season 10, episode 01)

 

** Eyes on the Prize

Season one (1987) = 6 episodes (1954-1965)

Season two (1990) = 8 episodes (1965-1985)

 

** The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow 

(Premiered on PBS in 2002)

Episode 1 = Promises Betrayed (1865-1896)

Episode 2 = Fighting Back (1896-1917)

Episode 3 = Don't Shout Too Soon (1918-1940)

Episode 4 = Terror and Triumph (1940-1954)

 

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