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Soundies and the Changing Image of Black Americans on Screen
In the 1940s, folks at bars and restaurants would gather
around a Panoram movie machine to watch three-minute films called
Soundies, precursors to today's music videos. This history was all
but forgotten until the digital era brought Soundies to phones and
computer screens-including a YouTube clip starring a 102-year-old
Harlem dancer watching her younger self perform in
Soundies.
In Soundies and the Changing Image of Black Americans on
Screen: One Dime at a Time , Susan Delson takes a deeper look
at these fascinating films by focusing on the role of Black
performers in this little-known genre. She highlights the women
performers, like Dorothy Dandridge, who helped shape Soundies,
while offering an intimate look at icons of the age, such as Duke
Ellington and Nat King Cole. Using previously unknown archival
materials-including letters, corporate memos, and courtroom
testimony-to trace the precarious path of Soundies, Delson presents
an incisive pop-culture snapshot of race relations during and just
after World War II.
Perfect for readers interested in film, American history, the
World War II era, and Black entertainment history, Soundies and
the Changing Image of Black Americans on Screen and its
companion video website (susandelson.com) bring the important
contributions of these Black artists into the spotlight once
again.
eBook
Oprah Winfrey
\"In Oprah Winfrey, early readers will learn about the life, accomplishments, and contributions of celebrity Oprah Winfrey. Vibrant, full-color photos, and carefully leveled text will engage emergent readers as they learn about her life\"-- Provided by publisher.
BOOK
Stories of Freedom in Black New York
Stories of Freedom in Black New York recreates the experience of black New Yorkers as they moved from slavery to freedom. In the early decades of the nineteenth century, New York City's black community strove to realize what freedom meant, to find a new sense of itself, and, in the process, created a vibrant urban culture. Through exhaustive research, Shane White imaginatively recovers the raucous world of the street, the elegance of the city's African American balls, and the grubbiness of the Police Office. It allows us to observe the style of black men and women, to watch their public behavior, and to hear the cries of black hawkers, the strident music of black parades, and the sly stories of black conmen. Taking center stage in this story is the African Company, a black theater troupe that exemplified the new spirit of experimentation that accompanied slavery's demise. For a few short years in the 1820s, a group of black New Yorkers, many of them ex-slaves, challenged pervasive prejudice and performed plays, including Shakespearean productions, before mixed race audiences. Their audacity provoked feelings of excitement and hope among blacks, but often of disgust by many whites for whom the theater's existence epitomized the horrors of emancipation.Stories of Freedom in Black New York brilliantly intertwines black theater and urban life into a powerful interpretation of what the end of slavery meant for blacks, whites, and New York City itself. White's story of the emergence of free black culture offers a unique understanding of emancipation's impact on everyday life, and on the many forms freedom can take.
eBook
Reflections on Blaxploitation
In the early 1970s, a new breed of film emerged that would completely change the way black people were presented in movies. With their afros picked to spherical perfection and their guns blazing, big bad soul brothers and super sexy sisters lit up movie theaters across the country. Never before had black men and women appeared on screen in quite this way. In time, these films would be called \"blaxploitation.\" And while it has long been debated exactly which film launched the blaxploitation era, the financial success of Melvin Van Peebles's Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song and Gordon Parks's Shaft helped open the flood gates for the more than 200 films that are now considered blaxploitation.
Reflections on Blaxploitation: Actors and Directors Speak is a collection of interviews with many of the men and women who defined the genre. In candid conversations, some of the most important figures of the era describe what it was like to work on these films and what impact they had on American culture. Among those interviewed are such icons as Jim Brown (Slaughter), Antonio Fargas (Foxy Brown), Gloria Hendry (Hell Up in Harlem), Jim Kelly (Black Belt Jones), Ron O'Neal (Superfly), William Marshall (Blacula), and Fred Williamson (Hammer). Also featured here are some of the most influential names behind the scenes, including Larry Cohen (Black Caesar), Oscar Williams (Five on the Black Hand Side), and Melvin Van Peebles. This volume also includes a filmography of every known (or rumored) blaxploitation film, including their availability on VHS and DVD.
eBook
Oprah Winfrey : an inspiration to millions
An introduction to the life and career of the media mogul and humanitarian Oprah Winfrey.
BOOK
Paul Robeson
A world-famous singer and actor, a trained lawyer, an early star of American professional football and a polyglot who spoke over a dozen languages. These could be the crowning achievements of a life well-lived, yet for Paul Robeson the higher calling of social justice led him to abandon both the NFL and Hollywood and become one of the most important political activists of his generation - battling both Jim Crow and Joseph McCarthy.
Gerald Horne's biography uses Robeson's remarkable and revolutionary life to tell the story of the 20th century's great political struggles: against racism, against colonialism, and for international socialism. This critical and searching account provides an opportunity for readers to comprehend the triumphs and tragedies of the revolutionary progressive movement of which Robeson was not just a part, but, perhaps, its most resonant symbol.
eBook
Who was Stepin Fetchit?
In this edition of Tony Brown's Journal, Tony Brown and his guest, Mel Watkins, discuss the career of Stepin Fetchit. Who was the real man behind one of Hollywood's most negative images, Stepin Fetchit? Author Mel Watkins explains that Lincoln Perry was very different from the lazy, bug-eyed buffoon on screen.
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