The distinguished scholar examines the origins and history of African-American ancestry as he profiles nineteen noted African Americans and illuminates their individual family sagas throughout U.S. history.

A little boy wishes so much that he could whistle.

Pennsylvania-born filmmaker Ephraim Asili has been exploring different facets of the African diaspora-and his own place within it-for nearly a decade. His feature-length debut, THE INHERITANCE, is a vibrant, engaging ensemble work that takes place almost entirely within the walls of a West Philadelphia house where a community of young people have come together to form a collective of Black artists and activists.

In these brilliant new poems, Tracy K. Smith envisions a sci-fi future sucked clean of any real dangers, contemplates the dark matter that keeps people both close and distant, and revisits the kitschy concepts like "love" and "illness" now relegated to the Museum of Obsolescence. These poems reveal the realities of life lived here, on the ground, where a daughter is imprisoned in the basement by her own father, where celebrities and pop stars walk...

A long-lasting friendship develops between Larnel, a young African-American, and Mrs. Katz, a lonely, Jewish widow, when Larnel presents Mrs. Katz with a scrawny kitten without a tail.

Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father--the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids.

"The companion book to Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s PBS series, And Still I Rise--a timeline and chronicle of the past fifty years of black history in the U.S. in more than 350 photos" -- "Beginning with the assassination of Malcolm X in February 1965, And Still I Rise: From Black Power to the White House explores the last half-century of the African American experience. More than fifty years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act and the birth of...

BLACK BOYS illuminates the full humanity of Black men and boys in America. An intimate, inter-generational exploration, Black Boys strives for insight to black identity and opportunity at the nexus of sports, education, and criminal justice. Speaking with an array of figures - ranging from educators, athletes, journalists, activists, parents, and youth - the documentary explores the body, mind, voice, and heart of Black boys and the double edged sword...

This film focuses on how a group of African American pioneers became respected masters in a subculture dominated by Chinese and white men.

The luminaries of contemporary African American letters - poets, novelists, critics and actors - gathered in October, 2012 to pay tribute to Toni Morrison, read from her writings and share what it has meant to their lives and work.