Ruby Dee

Jack McCall is a fast-talking literary agent, who can close any deal, any time, any way. He has set his sights on New Age guru Dr. Sinja for his own selfish purposes. But Dr. Sinja is on to him, and Jack’s life comes unglued after a magical Bodhi tree mysteriously appears in his backyard. With every word Jack speaks, a leaf falls from the tree and he realizes that when the last leaf falls, both he and the tree are toast. Words have never failed Jack McCall, but now he’s got to stop talking and conjure up some outrageous ways to communicate or he’s a goner.

Lorie Walker is a small town girl whose big dreams of becoming a dancer come true when she becomes a star in the Hip-Hop video world. But she soon learns the hard way that life in front of the camera is not as glamorous as it seems.

In this open-letter style documentary, Ruby Dee & Ossie Davis' rich lives guide their grandson on his personal quest to master lasting love, conscious art, and undying activism.

In this film, childhood friends come face to face with the demons of rock and roll (lust, drugs, and passion) on a cross-country road trip that compels them to face their past, present, and future. Rocker Spyder, whose debut album was a huge hit saw his follow-on album bomb, causing him to retreat to his small hometown and give up. Seven years later, 27-year-old Spyder reconnects with his long-lost best friend and writer of his debut album Eric, son of a late great punk rock guitar legend, who has long settled into the sedate life of a suburban middle school music teacher. The reunion forces the two to recall their youthful ambitions and re-examine the choices they've made.

The film chronicles the life and revolutionary times of death row political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Loosely based on the criminal career of Frank Lucas, a gangster from La Grange, North Carolina, who smuggled heroin into the United States on American service planes returning from the Vietnam War, before being detained by a task force led by Newark Detective Richie Roberts.

Set in nineteenth-century New Orleans, the story depicts the gens de couleur libre, or the Free People of Colour, a dazzling yet damned class caught between the world of white privilege and black oppression.

Two Hollywood filmmakers attempt to find Morgan Freeman in Mississippi and convince him to star in their next movie. When life gets in their way they soon discover what matters to them most.

A matriarch organizes a feast with her family, in which she will name her successor. The heart has gone out of Nanna Maria's family. There are no parties — they don't even fight anymore...

Beah: A Black Woman Speaks is a 2003 documentary about the life of Academy Award nominated actress Beah Richards. Directed by Lisa Gay Hamilton, it won the Documentary Award at the AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival in 2003.

Set in 1969, Abel Shaddick, a crotchety deli owner, has a grudge against virtually everyone in his upstate New York town of Fairview, particularly against his slacker nephew Stanley who lives behind the shop. Without telling his uncle, Stanley agrees to put up a needy city kid for the summer as part of a charity program run by rich debutante Gloria. Abel immediately vetoes the plan, but it is too late. The kid, young Herman Washington, is already on his way...

In "America," Dr. Maureen Brennan, a psychiatrist at a youth treatment center, encounters her newest patient, a bi-racial boy named America. Through their sessions, Dr. Brennan helps America come to terms with his roller-coaster life, which began when he was taken by authorities from his crack-addicted mother, and placed into foster care as an infant. The short time of stability in his life occurred when America lived with Mrs. Harper, the elderly nanny to one of his foster families. Later reunited with his mother, she soon abandons America and he is again placed into foster care. Lagging behind in school and full of anger, America retreats further away from society after years of sexual abuse. After attempting suicide, America is placed in a treatment center where Dr. Brennan helps him open up about his painful past and discover the support and courage he needs to get his life back on track.

A true story about a concerned housewife, Pat Melancon, who tries to block Shintech, a massive Japanese petrochemical conglomerate, from building a plant in her toxic township already known as "cancer alley". Pat and a few newly recruited, fledgling activitsts face the full force of Shintech's wealth and influence peddling, which has bought the cooperation of the government from the local level all the way up to the Governor's office.

When the Civil War ended in 1865, more than four million slaves were set free. Over 70 years later, the memories of some 2,000 slave-era survivors were transcribed and preserved by the Library of Congress. These first-person anecdotes, ranging from the brutal to the bittersweet, have been brought to vivid life in this unique HBO documentary special, featuring the on-camera voices of over a dozen top African-American actors.

Discover how television has reflected the African American experience in this retrospective of the medium's first half-century. Actors, writers and historians discuss the image of black America on television from Amos and Andy to the present day. The interviews accompany clips from groundbreaking shows and performances by entertainment pioneers that create a timeline of the portrayal of African Americans throughout TV history.

A drama set in the 1920s, where free-spirited Janie Crawford's search for happiness leads her through several different marriages, challenging the morals of her small town. Based on the novel by Zora Neale Hurston.

Life affirming spiritual drama about love and loss set in the lush surroundings of Central Florida. Spencer Krane has returned to the town where he was raised. It is the news that his grandmother has suffered a debilitating stroke that prompts his visit. What starts as a simple visit home becomes so much more. It becomes a journey of consequence.

Three women — a young coed, a forty-something single mother, and one a senior-aged widow — meet in the sauna of the local gym, where they gradually get to know one another and bond over their respective trials and tribulations.

Murray is a male fairy godmother, and he is trying to help 8-year-old Anabel to fulfil her "simple wish" - that her father Oliver, who is a cab driver, would win the leading role in a Broadway musical. Unfortunately, Murray's magic wand is broken and the fairies convention is threatened by evil witches Claudia and Boots.

A successful and married black man contemplates having an affair with a white girl from work. He's quite rightly worried that the racial difference would make an already taboo relationship even worse.

BabyCo is the world's leading manufacturer in baby products. However, what the public doesn't know, is that Drs Kinder and Heep, two of its most brilliant scientists, are tirelessly working in complete secrecy to crack the indecipherable code to 'baby talk': a highly sophisticated language, and the key to the secrets of the universe. Before long, problems arise when mischievous Sly, the smartest of the toddlers, escapes confinement, bent on uniting all babies to free those trapped in the laboratory. Now, Kinder and Heep must find Sly before it is too late.

When a pint-sized 8-year-old kid witnesses a murder he offers to help the police, if they make him a cop, too. Saddled with this streetwise sidekick, a hardboiled cop is forced to take his new partner seriously as they race the clock to bring the bad guys to justice.

A Harvard professor is lured back into the courtroom after twenty-five years to take the case of a young black man condemned to death for the horrific murder of a child.

A miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s ambitious story of good and evil, set in a near-future America decimated by an apocalyptic virus and following dozens of characters in overlapping storylines running over many years.

HBO (in association with the American Film Institute) presents this 1997 anthology, narrated by Liev Schreiber, which looks at sports in cinema from the earliest silent films until the nineties. Watch not for dramatic scenes but for the glimpse of historical figures shown both cinematic and athletic- in this tribute to the merging of sports and Hollywood.

Inept private investigator Harry Dobbs meets vampish new client Miss Dolan, who wants him to follow her abusive lover. But Dobbs sets about tailing a different person entirely – a mysterious character leading a double life. Harry, however, discovers that he himself is being followed by a distaff gumshoe.

Follows the story of Ernest Green, one of the Little Rock Nine who were the first blacks to integrate into an all white school.

From Amos 'n' Andy to Nat King Cole, from Roots to The Cosby Show, black people have played many roles on primetime television. Brilliantly weaving clips from classic TV shows with commentary from TV producers, black actors and scholars, Marlon Riggs blends humor, insight, and thoughtful analysis to explore the evolution of black/white relations as reflected by America's favorite addiction.

James Mink is a black man in Canada who has built a very successful livery business, and enjoys a white wife and a beautiful daughter, Mary. An excellent match is arranged with an American businessman, but when he takes his new wife Mary across the border his true character emerges - he sells her into slavery. James and Elizabeth must go to Virginia to rescue their daughter.

A cantankerous widower (Garner) who is virtually living the life of a recluse is forced to rejoin his community when his Godchild (Skaggs) gets in trouble and a childhood friend (Cobbs), a black tenant farmer, refuses to belatedly accept a Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery in World War II.

When Helene Angel walks home from school with her older brother she is attacked by a street gang and painted white. The effect on Helene and her family is devastating. Helene locks herself in her room, her brother blames himself for not having successfully defended his sister, and the media descends on their neighborhood, completely disrupting her small family. But an outpouring of love and understanding from Helene's friends, classmates and family helps her face what has happened and draws the community together. Inspired by actual events, WHITEWASH conveys a powerful message that transcends age and race, told in an entertaining way perfect for children of all ages.

A celebration of the life of Zora Neale Hurston, who was born at the turn of the 20th Century and grew to be an important voice with her written portrayals of Black American life in the rural south of the 1930's and 40's, and the stories, songs and folklore that were her heritage and inspiration.

Paul Robeson: Here I Stand presents the life and achievements of an extraordinary man. Athlete, singer, and scholar, Robeson was also a charismatic champion of the rights of the poor working man, the disfranchised and people of color. He led a life in the vanguard of many movements, achieved international acclaim for his music and suffered tremendous personal sacrifice. His story is one of the great dramas of the 20th century, spanning an international canvas of social upheaval and ideological controversy.

A moving and uplifting drama about the effects of interracial marriage in the 1960s. Friends since childhood, and loved by both families, this couple are exiled after their wedding and have to wage a courageous battle to find their place in America as a loving family.

A film about the early life of the baseball star in the army, particulary his court-martial for insubordination regarding segragation.

Tuesday Morning Ride is based on the short story "A Summer Tragedy" by Arna Bontemps, a Harlem Renaissance writer. Set in the 1930s, the story depicts an old man and woman -- he a stroke victim, she blind -- who feel they have nothing to live for since their children do not visit. They decide to put on their finest clothing and take a final ride in their car -- with no turning back. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.

Sal is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin' Out, becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria's Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin' Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin' Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.

After years of separation, Irena Gallier and her minister brother, Paul, reunite in New Orleans. When zoologists capture a wild panther, Irena is drawn to the cat – and zoo curator Oliver to her. Soon, Paul will have to reveal the family secret: that when sexually aroused, they revert into predatory jungle cats.

The Behind-the-Scenes documentary of the dramatic comedy Do the Right Thing.

Over a single, pivotal Saturday in 1930s Harlem, 14-year-old John Grimes wrestles with his religious calling and his fraught relationship with his abusive, hypocritical stepfather, Gabriel. Extended flashbacks explore the oppressive Southern past and personal histories of John's mother, his aunt, and Gabriel, ultimately illuminating the generational trauma and complex family secrets that shape his life.

Big city judge Parke Denison is involved in a forced busing dispute at the climax of his long career. The friendship between two families -- one white, one black -- and their sons, who are buddies, provides the microcosm of this major social issue that has been argued for several decades.

In 1963 a group of young Black boys living in Harlem were involved in an incident that earned them the nickname "The Harlem Six." Intent on protecting and clearing the names of their sons, several mothers bonded together to make their story known. This work emerges as a powerful close up of police brutality, and of power dynamics of 1960's Harlem.

A wagon master and a con-man preacher help freed slaves dogged by cheap-labor agents out West.

A presentation of key events in the life of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. Beginning with the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, MLK is followed through major steps in his struggle to promote racial equality. Including footage of King's stirring speeches, it is a fitting tribute to his legacy, and features clips narrated by a wide range of celebrities, including Harry Belafonte, Paul Newman Charlton Heston, Ruby Dee, Burt Lancaster, Anthony Quinn, Walter Matthau, Ben Gazzara, Clarence Williams III, Joanne Woodward, and James Earl Jones.

A mosaic biopic on Lorraine Hansberry, based on the stage play combining her unpublished writings, letters, and diaries.

A rape case opens racial divisions in a small town. A black sheriff and his white deputy investigate allegations that a wealthy white businessman raped a black college student.

This movie details the struggles of former Brooklyn Dodger catcher Roy Campanella to adapt to life in a wheelchair following his crippling automobile accident in 1959. Cinematographer Ted Voigtlander was Emmy-nominated.

Based on writer Maya Angelou's eloquent reminiscences of her days as a gifted youngster growing up in the South during the Depression years where she and her older brother were raised by their grandmother after the divorce of their parents.

Two hoodlums terrorize the passengers of a late-night New York City subway train.

Walter Lee Younger is a young man struggling with his station in life. Sharing a tiny apartment with his wife, son, sister and mother, he seems like an imprisoned man. Until, that is, the family gets an unexpected financial windfall.

Set against the backdrop of a community mourning the recent MLK assassination, Black militants building up an arsenal of weapons in preparation for a race war are betrayed by one of their own.

A young, idealistic man returns home to the plantation where he grew up in servitude. With him, he brings his fiance, Lutiebelle, in hopes of convincing the plantation owner that she is really his cousin in order to secure the family inheritance. To aid in the comic complications that follow are his family members Missy and Gitlow, and the plantation owners endearing (but ineffectual) son Charlie.

A detective tries to prevent the assassination of President-elect Abraham Lincoln during a train ride headed for Washington in 1861.

A male army deserter and a black male dock worker join forces against a corrupt manager, in a corrupt environment, and as their connection blossoms they must face the oppressive and morally decaying city they live in.

Two hoodlum brothers are brought into hospital for gunshot wounds, and when one dies, the other accuses their Black doctor of murder.

After African-American teenager Spence Scott gets expelled from his private school for arguing with a teacher, he turns to his grandmother for advice. Spence, who lives in a genteel white area and has mostly white friends, feels like an outsider. He visits a bar in a black neighborhood, where he meets a few prostitutes, which doesn't help. Eventually, Spence starts a friendship with the housekeeper, Christine, who tells him her own difficult story.

Biography of Jackie Robinson, the first black major league baseball player in the 20th century. Traces his career in the negro leagues and the major leagues.

Will Handy grows up in Memphis with his preacher father and his Aunt Hagar. His father intends for him to use his musical gifts only in church, but he can't stay away from the music of the streets and workers. After he writes a theme song for a local politician, Gogo, a speakeasy singer, convinces Will to be her accompanist. Will is estranged from his father for many years while he writes and publishes many blues songs. At last the family is reunited when Gogo brings them to New York to see Will's music played by a symphony orchestra.

From the moment of her birth in a rural black hospital in Georgia, Lena McPherson is recognized by all the nurses as a special child, one with the power to see ghosts and predict the future. Only Nurse Bloom knows the spells to ensure that the child will see benevolent spirits, not evil ones, but she hasn't bargained for Lena's mother, who scoffs at 'old time ideas' and discreetly disposes of the special tea the nurse has brewed. No ill effects are immediately apparent to Lena's relatives in their spacious house on the prosperous side of town. But early on there are signs of trouble, and Lena is prey to suspicions no one else need consider: a new face may be a new kid in town-or a face from the grave. From a special little girl, Lena grows into an especially fearful adolescent. Ultimately, she must accept that those she loves can give her love and nothing more and that she must find her own, uncertain way.

A chronicle of the history of baseball in the movies. Includes interviews with the directors and stars of some of the most memorable baseball-themed films.