The mission of The Department of Afro-American Research Arts and Culture to identify the global significance of the creative contributions pioneered by an international diaspora of Blackness
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Sunday, July 30, 2017

Umgulukudu (1980's)















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Storyline
When Sipho and John go visit Uncle Joshua for the holidays, they accidentally get involved in rescuing Thandi, the local mayor’s daughter, who has been taken hostage by an escaped criminal known as Benson. With John’s bravery and Sipho’s genius, the boys work together to defeat the convict at his own game, ultimately saving the day and making a new friend in Thandi in the process.
This fast-paced tale of youth, crime and adventure would quickly spawn the 1985 sequel Thunder Valley.

Monday, July 24, 2017

Murder in Mississippi (1965)














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Storyline
Voter registration leads to Murder in Mississippi when a "cracker" Sheriff arrests white dilettante Carol Byrd and two other "Communist Yankees" for "agitating colored folks." Though her friends are killed, Carol is kept alive as the personal sex slave of two white-trash cretins in this nasty lesson in racial intolerance from the director of Olga's House of Shame. The 1964 murders of three civil-rights workers so appalled the nation that Hollywood waited 24 years before tackling the subject with 1988's Mississippi Burning. Not so with this eager-to-offend exploitation gem, loosely based on the killings and geared for the grindhouse crowd, which remains profoundly disturbing today.

Monday, July 17, 2017

Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored (1995, TV Movie)



















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Storyline
This film relates the story of a tightly connected Afro-American community informally called Colored Town where the inhabitants live and depend on each other in a world where racist oppression is everywhere, as told by a boy called Cliff who spent his childhood there. Despite this, we see the life of the community in all its joys and sorrows, of those that live there while others decide to leave for a better life north. For those remaining, things come to a serious situation when one prominent businessman is being muscled out by a white competitor using racist intimidation. In response, the community must make the decision of whether to submit meekly like they always have, or finally fight for their rights. 

Mandla (1985)















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Storyline
When two dim-witted petty thieves escape from prison and ransack Mandla’s house, the young boy’s parents believe he and his friend are to blame. Determined to prove their innocence, Mandla and his pal set off in search of the true culprits.