LibGuides: African American Women's History: Media

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Black Feminist (53:00) Black Feminist is a feature length documentary film surrounding the double edged sword of racial and gender oppression that black women face in America. This documentary is told through interviews from scholars, lecturers, writers, business owners, veterans, comedians and authors. In addition to information interviews, this documentary is narrated by our storybook character LaToya Johnson, played by Nadirah Lugg.
Black Women in America & Their Fight for Voting Rights (30:00) The battles for African American women fought 100 years ago--for a constitutional right and against segregationist and discriminatory Jim Crow laws in the South echo today as American women continue to work against voter suppression and for full access to the polls. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Black women played an active role in the struggle for universal suffrage. They participated in political meetings and organized political societies, as well as attend political conventions at their local churches where they planned strategies to gain the right to vote. In the late 1800s, more Black women worked for churches, newspapers, secondary schools, and colleges, which gave them a larger platform to promote their ideas. But in spite of their hard work, many people didn't listen to them. Black men and white women usually led civil rights organizations and set the agenda and often excluded Black women from their organizations and activities. Though Black women are less well remembered, they played an important role in getting the Fifteenth and Nineteenth Amendments passed.
Ida B. Wells: A Passion for Justice (54:16) Though virtually forgotten today, Ida B. Wells-Barnett was a household name in black America during much of her lifetime (1863-1931). This film is a stirring biography of a crusading journalist, anti-lynching campaigner, and black suffragette during the most repressive years of the Jim Crow period. It documents the dramatic life and turbulent times of the pioneering African-American woman during the post-Reconstruction period. Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison reads selections from Wells’ memoirs and other writings in this winner of more than 20 film festival awards.
PBS: Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands (01:52:40) Explore the life, career, art and legacy of the African American contralto and civil rights pioneer Marian Anderson. Anchored by key performances in her career, Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands shows how her quiet genius and breathtaking voice set the stage for Black performers in classical music, and a louder voice for civil rights.
The Rosa Parks Story This scripted narrative follows Rosa Parks' life from the time she was a private-school student, to her rise to infamy. Part of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Parks fought against discrimination and segregation. But, it was her refusal to relinquish her seat on a bus and subsequent arrest, sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which thrust her into the spotlight. This American-made film directed by Julie Dash features Angela Basset as Rosa Parks and Cicely Tyson as her mother.
Sheer Good Fortune: Celebrating Toni Morrison (1:12:25) The luminaries of contemporary African American letters - poets, novelists, critics and actors - gathered in October, 2012 to pay tribute to Toni Morrison, read from her writings and share what it has meant to their lives and work.
Toni Morrison: A Writer's Work (51:45) Toni Morrison exists in two worlds: the visible world, bustling around her, and the world of her novels, whose characters tell about an interior reality hidden from the eyes of strangers. In her work, Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison has transported millions of readers into the experience of being black in America and confronting the realities of race. In this program with Bill Moyers, Morrison discusses the characters in her work, the people in her life, the power of love, and how the invented world of fiction connects to life.
Voices of Power: African-American Women (29:13) African-American women have captured the moral imagination of mainstream America through their essays, novels, poetry, and other artistic endeavors, breaching the static lines of race, gender, and class. How have their reflections so clearly articulated the hopes and philosophies of so many? In this program, writers Alice Walker and bell hooks and Ohio State University faculty Dr. Martha Wharton, of the departments of African-American studies and women’s studies, and Dr. Valerie Lee, of the departments of English and women’s studies, examine the emergence of African-American women as popular and powerful voices of social conscience.
Willa Beatrice Brown: An American Aviator (28:00) Willa Beatrice Brown, the first African- American woman in the U.S. to be a licensed pilot, earned her license in 1937. She and her husband, Cornelius Coffey, founded a fully accredited flying school at Harlem Airfield, near Chicago. The school provided basic through advanced mechanic training and flight instruction for thousands of men and women, both black and white.Willa became a founding member of the National Airmen's Association of America, whose purpose was to lobby Congress for the racial integration of the US Army Air Corps. Her efforts were responsible for Congress' creation of the renowned Tuskegee Airmen, leading to the integration of the U.S. military service in 1948. Despite her many accomplishments, few people have heard of Willa Brown. This documentary tells her story and that of African- American aviation before World War II, highlighting the contributions of the many extraordinary individuals who shaped civil rights history. The program also includes rare interviews with some of the actual participants.
A Woman Called Moses: The Life of Harriet Tubman (03:11:47) This program is a freely based scripted account of the life of Harriet Tubman, an escaped slave and participant of the Underground Railroad. Emmy Award winner and Academy Award nominee Cicely Tyson portrays the African American abolitionist who returned to the South several times and led hundreds of slaves to freedom before the Civil War. Tubman has become an iconic symbol for the fight against oppression.

More Media

In addition to streaming media, we have DVDs, images, audio and more media.

Hidden Figures The story of a team of female African-American mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program.