Arts and Crafts
Wonderful Towers of Watts, The
P Zelver
GPN/WNED-TV
Available from GPN
This video version of the book about the towers of Watts includes a segment
with children from Watts who share their hopes, concerns and future aspirations.
From the Reading Rainbow series.
Biography
Ebony/Jet Guide to Black Excellence: The Entertainers
1992 Johnson Publishing Company
Available from Social Studies School Service
ISBN# 0-945800-09-6
Highlights three successful celebrities in entertainment and the arts
who, through unrelenting determination, catapulted their talent into national
renown: Bill Cosby, who journeyed from the streets of Philadelphia to become
one of America's most powerful entertainers and TV's No. 1 dad; Maya Angelou,
who triumphed over a troubled youth that included rape and teen pregnancy
to become an award-winning author and professor; and Charles Dutton, who
overcame a prison sentence to become a Broadway, film, and television star.
Student workbook suggests activities to accompany viewing.
Ebony/Jet Guide to Black Excellence: The Leaders
1992 Johnson Publishing Company
Available from Social Studies School Service
ISBN# 0-945800-07-X
Highlights three African-American trailblazers who assumed positions
of leadership that opened doors for others: L. Douglas Wilder, governor
of Virginia; Marian Wright Edelman, a human rights activist; and Dr. James
P. Comer, a pioneer in education and child development.
Ebony/Jet Guide to Black Excellence: The Entrepreneurs
1991 Johnson Publishing Company
Available from Social Studies School Service
ISBN# 0-945800-05-3
Highlights three African-American achievers who built their own successful
businesses: John H. Johnson, owner and CEO of Johnson Publishing Co.; Joshua
Smith, Chairman and CEO of Maxima Corporation; and Oprah Winfrey, owner
of her own production studio and one of America's most recognized and beloved
television personalities.
Freedom Man
Bob Walsh and Leroy Morais
1989 Network Home Entertainment
Available from Social Studies School Service
Ossie Davis stars in this docudrama about Benjamin Banneker, the early
African-African scientist and patriot who worked with the Underground Railroad
and fought prejudice through his writings.
George Washington Carver
(Black Americans of Achievement Video Collection)
1992 Library Video Company
Available from Art Rowles Assoc.
ISBN# 1-879151-12-X
This biography based on the Chelsea House book covers the life of George
Washington Carver, a botanist who developed new uses for several plants.
Contains lively interviews with leading authorities on Carver's life, as
well as archival footage, photographs and period music.
Half Slave, Half Free: Solomon Northrup's Odyssey
Gordon Parks
1984 Past American, Inc.
Available from Social Studies School Service
True life story of Solomon Northrup, a free black man who lost a dozen
years of his life to Jim Birch & his gang of slave-trading kidnappers.
Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr., A
David Adler
1989 Live Oak Media
Available from Art Rowles Assoc.
ISBN# 0-87499-164-1
This video, based on the book by the same name, portrays the life of
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Woman Called Moses: Harriet Tubman, A
Paul Wendkos
1992 Xenon Video, Inc.
Available from Social Studies School Service
The story of Harriet Tubman, founder of the Underground Railroad, who
led hundred of slaves to freedom in the North before the Civil War. Starring
Cicely Tyson and narrated by Orson Welles.
Civil War
Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry, The
Jacqueline Shearer
1991 PBS
Available from PBS
ISBN# 0-7936-0627-6
Historical narratives and archival photos and drawings document the story
of the first officially sanctioned regiment of African American Union soldiers
to fight in the Civil War.
Civil Rights
Movement
Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr., A
David Adler
1989 Live Oak Media
Available from Art Rowles Assoc.
ISBN# 0-87499-164-1
This video, based on the book by the same name, portrays the life of
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Depression
- 1930s
Sounder
William Armstrong
1982 Paramount
Available from Art Rowles Assoc.
This video version of "Sounder" starring Cicely Tyson and Paul
Winfield was nominated for four Academy Awards. The story of a black sharecropper
family in Louisiana during the depression has become an American classic.
A man's life is changed forever when he is caught stealing to feed his family.
His dog, Sounder, is wounded in the incident and waits faithfully for his
master to come home.
Fiction -
African American
Follow the Drinking Gourd
Bernardine Connelly
1992 Rabbit Ears Production, Inc.
Available from Art Rowles Assoc.
ISBN# 1-57099-001-8
Morgan Freeman recounts the adventures of one family's escape from slavery
via the Underground Railroad. The story is accompanied by a blues score
by Taj Mahal.
Gift of Amazing Grace, The
1991 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Available from Art Rowles Assoc.
ISBN# 1-878820-63-X
Young girl from a gospel-singing family discovers that she has a hidden
talent.
Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich, A
Ralph Nelson
1977 Radnitz/Mattel
Available from Art Rowles Assoc.
ISBN# 0-7921-1968-1
Paul Winfield and Cicely Tyson in a family drama about a ghetto mother,
stepfather and a bright 13-year-old boy struggling with the pressures of
drugs and crime.
Sounder
William Armstrong
1982 Paramount
Available from Art Rowles Assoc.
This video version of Sounder starring Cicely Tyson and Paul Winfield
was nominated for four Academy Awards. The story of a black sharecropper
family in Louisiana during the depression has become an American classic.
A man's life is changed forever when he is caught stealing to feed his family.
His dog, Sounder, is wounded in the incident and waits faithfully for his
master to come home.
Folktales
- African
People Could Fly, The
Virginia Hamilton
1985 Aset Corporation
Available from Aset Corporation, 12603 Layhill Rd., Suite 101, Silver Springs,
MD 20906 (301) 933-1833
This video of an African folktale about the magical power of flying and
its use in escaping from slavery is presented as a dramatic piece with music
and dance.
Stories From the Black Tradition
1993 Wood Knapp Video
Available from Art Rowles Assoc.
A collection of African tales including A Story-A Story, Mufaro's Beautiful
Daughters, Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, The Village of Round and
Square Houses, and Goggles.
Frontier
Life
Untold West: The Black West
1993 Turner Home Entertainment
Available from Art Rowles Assoc.
ISBN# 0-7806-0499-7
The story of the black cowboys told through live-action reenactments,
archival photography and interviews with descendants of western pioneers.
Narrated by Danny Glover.
Sports
Only the Ball Was White
1992 MPI Home Video
Available from Social Studies School Service
ISBN# 1-56278-556-7
Paul Winfield narrates this documentary of the Negro Baseball Leagues
which pays tribute to the exceptional African American baseball players
who were denied entrance to the big leagues because of their skin color.
Interviews and archival film document the history of the Negro Leagues.
Slavery
Follow the Drinking Gourd
Bernardine Connelly
1992 Rabbit Ears Production, Inc.
Available from Art Rowles Assoc.
ISBN# 1-57099-001-8
Morgan Freeman recounts the adventures of one family's escape from slavery
via the Underground Railroad. The story is accompanied by a blues score
by Taj Mahal.
Freedom Man
Bob Walsh Leroy Morais
1989 Network Home Entertainment
Available from Social Studies School Service
Ossie Davis stars in this docudrama about Benjamin Banneker, the early
African-African scientist and patriot who worked with the Underground Railroad
and fought prejudice through his writings.
Half Slave, Half Free: Solomon Northrup's Odyssey
Gordon Parks
1984 Past American, Inc.
Available from Social Studies School Service
True life story of Solomon Northrup, a free black man who lost a dozen
years of his life to Jim Birch & his gang of slave-trading kidnappers.
People Could Fly, The
Virginia Hamilton
1985 Aset Corporation
Available from Aset Corporation, 12603 Layhill Rd., Suite 101, Silver Springs,
MD 20906 (301) 933-1833
This video of an African folktale about the magical power of flying and
its use in escaping from slavery is presented as a dramatic piece with music
and dance.
Woman Called Moses: Harriet Tubman, A
Paul Wendkos
1992 Xenon Video, Inc.
Available from Social Studies School Service
The story of Harriet Tubman, founder of the Underground Railroad, who
led hundred of slaves to freedom in the North before the Civil War. Starring
Cicely Tyson and narrated by Orson Welles. | 
