Documentaries for Viewing During Black History Month 2014 - Part Two
Part Two of this list has documentaries that cover the origins of African-American cultural traditions, self-starters who transform their communities, civil rights and tensions, and international interaction. It is intended for Week Two watching, but you can view these documentaries in any order that will best lead you to reflect on the various aspects of black culture and lifestyle, past and present, in the United States and elsewhere around the globe.
These brilliant documentaries cover the wide range of important achievements realized by black men and women throughout history and elucidate the important issues that have influenced the circumstances of people of color and impacted their lives. What better way is there to gain knowledge and understanding of black people's experiences and perspectives than to watch these illuminating films?
My one-a-day list of documentaries for Black History Month is divided into four sections, one part per week.
This is part two of the list. Watch. Learn. Enjoy! And feel free to add to the viewing list titles of other documentaries that will provide similar enlightenment.
A rousing, roof-raising documentary about the celebratory nature of funerals in Harlem, New York's African American community, and about how and why African-American burial traditions developed. Read my review.More »
Crips and Bloods: Made In America is director Stacy Peralta's insider investigation of two infamous African-American gangs that rule South Central Los Angeles, the area where America's two bloodiest and most costly incidents of civil unrest occurred--27 years and three miles apart. Read my review.More »
A Man Named Pearl is a documentary about self-taught topiary gardener Pearl Fryar who transformed his three and a half acre yard in Bishopville, South Carolina, into a wonderland worthy of Alice, and became a local hero by attracting tourism to his impoverished community and county. Read my review.More »
Jennifer Arnold's inspiring documentary follows Chris Mburu, a United Nations human rights advocate who grew up in an impoverished household in rural Kenya, and who, after graduating from Harvard, established the Hilde Back Education Fund to pay for high school for deserving Kenyan children, as a way of paying forward the kindness of a Swedish woman who'd funded his education. Read my review.More »
Desert Bayou follows the lives of African Americans who were evacuated from post-Katrina New Orleans and settled in Utah. They now live as displaced persons within their own country, causing them political and cultural stress that seeks relief and resolution. Will they ever be able to return home? Read my review.More »
Connie Field's comprehensive and galvanizing seven-film, eight and a half hour documentary series about the defeat of Apartheid in South Africa focuses attention on different aspects of how South Africa's violent and heinous system of racial intolerance and abuse was brought to an end by the collective efforts of thousands of men and women around the globe. Read my review.More »
Filmmaker Jeff Stilson follows comedian Chris Rock on his hilarious, yet disturbing and sometimes alarming investigation of the social implications and economic impact of African-American women's preoccupation with having good -- that is to say 'straight' -- hair. Rock's humor points to serious concerns about African-American women's issues of self image and the pressures to conform to externally imposed standards in order to succeed in their careers. Read my review.More »
These brilliant documentaries cover the wide range of important achievements realized by black men and women throughout history and elucidate the important issues that have influenced the circumstances of people of color and impacted their lives. What better way is there to gain knowledge and understanding of black people's experiences and perspectives than to watch these illuminating films?
My one-a-day list of documentaries for Black History Month is divided into four sections, one part per week.
This is part two of the list. Watch. Learn. Enjoy! And feel free to add to the viewing list titles of other documentaries that will provide similar enlightenment.
1. Homegoings - Movie Review - 2013
A rousing, roof-raising documentary about the celebratory nature of funerals in Harlem, New York's African American community, and about how and why African-American burial traditions developed. Read my review.More »
2. Crips and Bloods: Made In America
Crips and Bloods: Made In America is director Stacy Peralta's insider investigation of two infamous African-American gangs that rule South Central Los Angeles, the area where America's two bloodiest and most costly incidents of civil unrest occurred--27 years and three miles apart. Read my review.More »
3. A Man Named Pearl
A Man Named Pearl is a documentary about self-taught topiary gardener Pearl Fryar who transformed his three and a half acre yard in Bishopville, South Carolina, into a wonderland worthy of Alice, and became a local hero by attracting tourism to his impoverished community and county. Read my review.More »
4. A Small Act
Jennifer Arnold's inspiring documentary follows Chris Mburu, a United Nations human rights advocate who grew up in an impoverished household in rural Kenya, and who, after graduating from Harvard, established the Hilde Back Education Fund to pay for high school for deserving Kenyan children, as a way of paying forward the kindness of a Swedish woman who'd funded his education. Read my review.More »
5. Desert Bayou
Desert Bayou follows the lives of African Americans who were evacuated from post-Katrina New Orleans and settled in Utah. They now live as displaced persons within their own country, causing them political and cultural stress that seeks relief and resolution. Will they ever be able to return home? Read my review.More »
6. Have You Heard From Johannesburg? - Movie Review - 2010
Connie Field's comprehensive and galvanizing seven-film, eight and a half hour documentary series about the defeat of Apartheid in South Africa focuses attention on different aspects of how South Africa's violent and heinous system of racial intolerance and abuse was brought to an end by the collective efforts of thousands of men and women around the globe. Read my review.More »
7. Good Hair
Filmmaker Jeff Stilson follows comedian Chris Rock on his hilarious, yet disturbing and sometimes alarming investigation of the social implications and economic impact of African-American women's preoccupation with having good -- that is to say 'straight' -- hair. Rock's humor points to serious concerns about African-American women's issues of self image and the pressures to conform to externally imposed standards in order to succeed in their careers. Read my review.More »