The American Negro
THE AMERICAN NEGRO is an unfinished documentary film about African-American families during the Civil Rights Movement. It was produced or created in 1962.
This unfinished civil rights-era film details how segregation affects the daily lives of African Americans. It also includes portions of interviews with James Farmer, Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young, and Ralph Metcalfe who were well known leaders in the U.S. civil rights movement, along with Martin Luther King, Jr. who's also in the film. It also describes the strides and challenges faced by African Americans in the areas of voting, housing, and education including the Little Rock 9.
Directed by Graeme Ferguson
Written by Louis Lomax
Produced by Willard Van Dyke
Narrated by Charles Gordone
This film is in the public domain meaning it has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Corporations lobbied Congress to get U.S. copyright laws extended by 20 years, twice! Because of that, it allows published works to be under copyright for almost a century and corporations to squeeze every last ounce of profit from them even long after the profitability has past. It keeps people from enjoying art, which is the purpose of art.
#CivilRightsMovement #blackfilms #documentaryhistory #publicdomainfilms #publicdomainmovies
The March
The documentary "The March", released in 1964, captures the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom that took place on August 28, 1963. Filmed by James Blue, it documents the preparations, the march itself, and the reactions to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. The film, part of a series by the USIA, aimed to promote American policies abroad, but also serves as a powerful historical record of the Civil Rights Movement.
Miracle in Harlem
Miracle in Harlem (1948)
Miracle in Harlem. 1948. USA. Directed by Jack Kemp. With Sheila Guyse, Hilda Offley, Sybil Lewis, William Greaves. 35mm. 71 min.
Julie (Sheila Guyse) is an ambitious young woman with big ideas for her elderly Aunt Hattie’s Harlem candy shop. Aunt Hattie (Hilda Offley) not only trusts Julie to take over, but she is so preoccupied by a premonition of her impending death that she rehearses her own funeral. When a corrupt competitor offers to help expand the store but instead swindles the women into signing it over to him, he unknowingly drags them into an entanglement of crimes and persecutions that they both courageously defend themselves against. Released during the twilight of race films—all-black productions geared to black audiences—Miracle in Harlem is an engrossing whodunit sprinkled with jazz performances, comedy, and romance. But what it most admirably expresses is the love and loyalty between two virtuous women who mean business.
