90m; U.S.
Director: William Cayton
Synopsis: Story of black boxer who was forced into exile in 1910.
Category Archives: Blacks
I Am A Man: Dr. King and the 1968 AFSCME Memphis Sanitation Strike
Synopsis: On April 3, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. traveled to Memphis to support AFSCME sanitation workers. That evening, he delivered his famous “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech to a packed room of supporters. The next day, he was assassinated. (NOTE: see At The River I Stand for a 56m version of this issue).
I Am Somebody (1970)
28m; U.S.
Director: Madeline Anderson
Synopsis: Striking black hospital workers, mostly women in Atlanta.
In the Company’s Hands (1987)
58m; U.S.
Director: Jack Kelly
Cast: Michael Martin
Synopsis: Jack Kelly directed, wrote and produced this comprehensive documentary about the Southern WV coal mine wars. It is narrated by Kelly and local actor Michael Martin who also acts in some of the recreations. Using archival footage, photographs, and historic songs, Kelly recreates the world of coal mining in the area. He interviews the descendants of people on both sides – the children of coal mine owners and the children of coal miners. Some of the people interviewed include black coal miner Sug Hawkins, Cecil Roberts (not UMWA president), and William Becker. The nephew of Tom Felts of the Baldwin-Felts Agency and a son of an owner are also interviewed. The film goes back to the first days of coal mining in WV, which started in 1871 in the New River area near Beckley. By 1896, 26 million tons of coal from the Pocahontas Field was being shipped all over the country to power the developing industrial age. 14 millionaires lived in Brawell. Around 1900 many miners from Europe were brought to the coal fields, segregated in their own sections of the company towns. 80 % of all coal in WV was mined in company towns. The coal mine owners felt they had a divine right to do whatever was necessary to build their companies in “the wilderness.” Most of the film focuses on the struggle between miners and the oppressive reality of life in company towns where all behavior was closely controlled by the miner owners. Key events such as The Matewan Massacre and The Battle of Blair Mountain are analyzed. Dr. Fred Barkey, a well-known WV labor historian, and industry historian Dr. C. Stuart McGehee provided the historical information. Executive producer Donn Rogosin, station manager of WSWP-TV.
The Inheritance (1964)
58m; U.S.
Director: Harold Mayer and Lynne Rhodes Mayer
Synopsis: The Inheritance shows what life was really like for immigrants and working Americans from the turn of the century through the fight for civil rights in the 1960s. This stirring history of our country shows their struggle to put down roots, form labor unions, survive wars, and finally, create a new and better life for themselves and our nation.
Our film explores a landscape largely unknown to the present generation—the dim sweatshops, coal mines and textile mills filled with children; the anxious years of the depression and labor’s bloody struggle for the right to organize; the battlefields of WW I and II; the seldom seen newsreel footage of the Memorial Day massacre at The Republic Steel strike in Chicago; the civil rights struggle— as every generation fights again to preserve and extend its freedoms. This is the film’s theme.
Contact: The film is available in 4 parts on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWDPHQX0S0w
Harold Mayer and Lynne Rhodes Mayer
Harold Mayer Productions
New Milford, CT
Inner City Dweller: Work (1972)
19m; U.S.
Synopsis: Dramatizes, through a single case study, a structure and function of job training programs in urban minority areas. Follows the partial success of George, an unemployed black man, who turns to job training to support his family. Focuses on George’s success at finding a good job because of his training and the dilemma he faces when he is laid off.
Contact: Film is available to be streamed here: http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/vss/view.do?videoId=VAC2537
From Sunrise to Sunset (1984)
42m
Director: Robin King
Synopsis (WorldCat): “Reminiscences of John Handcox, 79 year old black poet, songwriter, and former member of the 1930’s Southern Tenant Farmers Union in Arkansas.”
The Great White Hope (1970)
103m; U.S.
Director: Martin Ritt
Cast: James Earl Jones, Jane Alexander and Lou Gilbert
Synopsis: Jack Jefferson (James Earl Jones) as a boxer, dealing with the racism and hatred of early-20th century white America.
Half Slave, Half Free (1984)
113m; U.S.
Director: Gordon Parks, Sr.
Synopsis (WorldCat): Based on the true story of Solomon Northup, a free black man living in New York, who was kidnapped and sold into slavery.
Hallelujah! (1928)
109m; U.S.
Director: King Vidor
Synopsis: Portrayal of rural black milieu. The film seems stereotypical now, but was originally banned in many areas for “frank” portrayal of black life.
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