Comments on: 12 Films About Black History

By: Angela

Angela — Fri, 13 May 2016 09:16:48 +0000

Claudine (1974) starring Diahann Carroll, James Earl Jones, Lawrence Hilton Jacobs. Claudine tries to provide for her six children in Harlem while on welfare. She has a romance with Roop, a cheerful garbageman she meets while working on the side as a maid.

A Soldier's Story (1984) Starring Howard E. Rollins Jr., Adolph Caesar, Art Evans. An African American officer investigates a murder in a racially charged situation in World War II.

The Long Walk Home (1990) Starring Whoopi Goldberg, Sissy Spacek, Two women in 1955 Montgomery Alabama, must decide what they are going to do in response to the famous bus boycott lead by Martin Luther King.

The Imitation of Life (1959) & Pinky (1949)

By: Donella

Donella — Fri, 13 May 2016 09:16:48 +0000

Great list! I'll add The Great Debaters, an under-the-radar Forest Whitaker/Denzel Washington Jim Crow drama based upon true events (and white savior free).

By: Richard Roundtree

Richard Roundtree — Fri, 13 May 2016 09:16:48 +0000

What about Shaft?

By: Anupam

Anupam — Fri, 13 May 2016 09:16:48 +0000

I am wondering why "Do the Right Thing" was not included. Isn't contemporary/post-Civil Rights era Black stories count when we talk of "African American History"? Just a curious comment rather than a complain.

By: The Cineass

The Cineass — Fri, 13 May 2016 09:16:48 +0000

"He was also coming off the massive success of 'Saving Private Ryan,'…"

But "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) was released after "Amistad" (1997)……

By: Zack

Zack — Fri, 13 May 2016 09:16:48 +0000

Thank you so much for including "Night Catches Us" (and for acknowledging all the problematic white-savior bullshit in "Glory.")

By: No

No — Fri, 13 May 2016 09:16:48 +0000

Is there some reason why Nothing But A Man, an independently produced film, made at the height if the civil rights era, never makes it to any such list black films? The film also has a boss Motown sound track., along with Ivan Dixon, Abby Lincoln, Moses Gunn, Gloria Foster, and Yaphet Kotto!

By: cineman

cineman — Fri, 13 May 2016 09:16:47 +0000

Saddest thing about that list is how second-rate/mediocre many of those movies are.

By: AccidentalVisitor

AccidentalVisitor — Fri, 13 May 2016 09:16:47 +0000

"big screen titles that deal with similarly real people and events from black U.S. history"

Okay, I'm still trying to figure out your criteria because many films on the list may dealt more with true movements rather than real events and some of them don't even tell the story of real people at all.

The most depressing thing of all is that most of these movies are actually not that good either.

By: Jesse Levi

Jesse Levi — Fri, 13 May 2016 09:16:46 +0000

So, is there anything about ancient kingdoms like Kemet, Songhai, or Mali. Now that I\’d watch.

By: Gregory D. Goyins

Gregory D. Goyins — Fri, 13 May 2016 09:16:46 +0000

Try "Goodbye Uncle Tom" and then start a list from there.

By: rizzoriss

rizzoriss — Fri, 13 May 2016 09:16:46 +0000

Should have included "The Hurricane."

By: Karen E. Slade

Karen E. Slade — Fri, 13 May 2016 09:16:45 +0000

I must comment on your phrasing of the non academy nomination for Denzel Washington\’s portral of Malcom X. It was truely his finest work in a career of outstanding performances and should have been nominated atleast and he should have won atbest! Not taking anything away from Pacino in Scent of a Woman. But Denzel\’s performance was exemplary.

By: Jesse Levi

Jesse Levi — Fri, 13 May 2016 09:16:45 +0000

So, are there any movies set in ancient Kemet, Songhai, or Mali? Now that, I\’d watch.