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Description
Thematic elements and some language.
As the United States raced against Russia to put a man in space, NASA found untapped talent in a group of African-American female mathematicians that served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in U.S. history. Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Johnson crossed all gender, race, and professional lines while their brilliance and desire to dream big, beyond anything ever accomplished before...
Description
"In 1946, Branch Rickey, ... owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, took a stand against Major League Baseball's infamous color line when he signed Jackie Robinson ... to the team. The deal put both men in the crosshairs of the public, the press and even other players. Facing unabashed racism from every side, Robinson was forced to demonstrate tremendous courage and let his talent on the field win over fans and his teammates"--Container.
3) Dreamgirls
Formats:
Description
Three young women, Deena Jones, Effie White and Lorrell Robinson desire to become pop stars. They get their wish when they are picked to be backup singers for the legendary James "Thunder" Early. When they are set free for leads, Curtis Taylor and Effie's brother C.C. decide that Deena should be the lead singer, which upsets Effie. The girls discover exactly what it takes to be in the music business and what they must give up to realize their dreams....
4) Selma
On Shelf
Villa Park Public Library - Adult AV
DVD DRAMA SEL
1 available
DVD DRAMA SEL
1 available
Description
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s historical struggle to secure voting rights for all people. A dangerous and terrifying campaign that culminated with an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1964.
"The unforgettable true story chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery...
Series
Criterion collection volume 1106
Formats:
On Shelf
Villa Park Public Library - Adult AV
DVD DRAMA ONE
1 available
DVD DRAMA ONE
1 available
Description
A fictional account of one amazing night where icons Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown gathered discussing their roles in the Civil Rights Movement and cultural turmoil of the '60s.
Formats:
On Shelf
Villa Park Public Library - Adult AV
DVD DRAMA JUD
1 available
DVD DRAMA JUD
1 available
Description
Offered a plea deal by the FBI, William O'Neal infiltrates the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party to gather intelligence on Chairman Fred Hampton.
Formats:
On Shelf
Villa Park Public Library - Nonfiction
DVD 323.1196 I
1 available
DVD 323.1196 I
1 available
Description
Using James Baldwin's unfinished final manuscript, Remember This House, this documentary follows the lives and successive assassinations of three of the author's friends, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., delving into the legacy of these iconic figures and narrating historic events using Baldwin's original words and a flood of rich archival material. An up-to-the-minute examination of race in America, this film is a journey into...
8) Harriet
Formats:
On Shelf
Villa Park Public Library - Adult AV
DVD DRAMA HAR
1 available
DVD DRAMA HAR
1 available
Description
"Based on the thrilling and inspirational life of an iconic American freedom fighter, [the film] tells the story of Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery and transformation into one of America's greatest heroes. Haunted by memories of those she left behind, Harriet ventures back into dangerous territory on a mission to lead others to freedom. With allies like abolitionist William Still and the entrepreneurial Marie Buchanon, Harriet risks capture and...
9) Just mercy
Author
On Shelf
Villa Park Public Library - Adult AV
DVD DRAMA JUS
1 available
DVD DRAMA JUS
1 available
Description
A powerful and thought-provoking true story follows young lawyer Bryan Stevenson and his history-making battle for justice. After graduating from Harvard, Bryan had his pick of lucrative jobs. Instead, he heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or who were not afforded proper representation, with the support of local advocate Eva Ansley. One of his first and most incendiary cases is that of Walter McMillian, a death-row inmate.
10) Fences
Formats:
On Shelf
Villa Park Public Library - Adult AV
DVD DRAMA FEN
1 available
DVD DRAMA FEN
1 available
Description
In 1950s Pittsburgh, a Black garbage collector named Troy Maxson--bitter that baseball's color barrier was only broken after his own heyday in the Negro Leagues--is prone to taking out his frustrations on his loved ones.
Description
A timeless love story set in early 1970s Harlem involving newly engaged nineteen-year- old Tish and her fiance Fonny who have a beautiful future ahead. But their plans are derailed when Fonny is arrested for a crime he did not commit. Now the pair and their families must fight for justice in the name of love and the promise of the American dream.
Formats:
On Shelf
Villa Park Public Library - Adult AV
DVD DRAMA SOU
1 available
DVD DRAMA SOU
1 available
Description
Chronicles the summer afternoon in 1989 when the future President of the United States, Barack Obama, wooed the future First Lady, Michelle Robinson, on an epic first date across Chicago's South Side.
On Shelf
Villa Park Public Library - Adult AV
DVD DRAMA THE
1 available
DVD DRAMA THE
1 available
Description
A drama set in the 1920s, where free-spirited Janie Crawford's search for happiness leads her through several different marriages, challenging the mores of her small town.
14) The color purple
Formats:
Description
An uneducated woman living in the rural American south who was raped by her father, deprived of the children she bore him and forced to marry a brutal man she calls "Mister" is transformed by the friendship of two remarkable women, acquiring self-worth and the strength to forgive.
Description
Melvin B. Tolson is a professor at Wiley College in Texas. Wiley is a small African-American college. In 1935, Tolson inspired students to form the school's first debate team. Tolson turns a group of underdog students into a historically elite debate team which goes on to challenge Harvard in the national championship. Inspired by a true story.
16) Malcolm X
Formats:
Description
Born Malcolm Little, his minister father was killed by the Ku Klux Klan. He became a gangster, and while in jail discovered the Nation of Islam writings of Elijah Muhammad. After getting out of jail, he preaches the teachings, but later on goes on a pilgrimage to the city of Mecca. There he converts to the original Islamic religion and becomes a Sunni Muslim. He changes his name to El-Hajj Malik Al-Shabazz and stops his anti-white teachings, having...
17) Marshall
On Shelf
Villa Park Public Library - Adult AV
DVD DRAMA MAR
1 available
DVD DRAMA MAR
1 available
Description
The story of young Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, as he battles through one of his career-defining cases.
Mature thematic content, sensuality, violence and some strong language.
On Shelf
Villa Park Public Library - Adult AV
DVD DRAMA BUT
1 available
DVD DRAMA BUT
1 available
Description
Inspired by a true story about Cecil Gaines, a devoted husband, father, and White House butler who served eight Presidential administrations during the turbulent politics and civil rights battles of twentieth century America.
Author
Series
eAudiobook
eBook
Description
"A harrowing memoir about one of the darkest periods in American historyBorn a free man in New York, Solomon Northup was abducted in Washington, D.C., in 1841 and spent the next twelve years of his life in captivity as a slave on a Louisiana cotton plantation. After his rescue, he published this exceptionally vivid and detailed account of slave life--perhaps the best written of all the slave narratives. It became an immediate bestseller and today...
20) Black Panther
Formats:
On Shelf
Villa Park Public Library - Adult AV
BLU-RAY BLA
1 available
BLU-RAY BLA
1 available
On Shelf
Villa Park Public Library - Adult AV
DVD ACTION BLA
1 available
DVD ACTION BLA
1 available
Description
King T'Challa returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to serve as new leader. However, T'Challa soon finds that he is challenged for the throne from divisions within his own country. When two enemies conspire to destroy Wakanda, the hero known as Black Panther must join forces with C.I.A. agent Everett K. Ross and members of the Wakandan Special Forces, to prevent Wakanda from being drawn into a world war.