Guides: African American Studies Research Guide: Streaming Videos

Streaming Videos

Black Film Archive
Black Film Archive celebrates the rich, abundant history of Black cinema and is dedicated to making historically and culturally significant films made from 1915 to 1979 about Black people accessible through a streaming guide with cultural context. BFA was created by and is curated by Maya Cade.
Kanopy Streaming Video
Multidisciplinary mediated streaming video service, licensed for classroom use, and viewable on a range of devices and platforms.
Please note: Kanopy films without instant access are available upon request. Please fill out Kanopy's Request Form to request reactivation of titles. At this time, only current faculty requests for required course assignments will be considered. Current faculty/staff may request 3-5 films.
For assistance with closed captioning (CC), transcripts, and audio description, or other questions, contact Brinna Pam Anan, Collection Development Coordinator, at bpanan [at] cpp [dot] edu.

African American Film List

bell hooks: Cultural Criticism & Transformation
In Part One, bell hooks discusses the theoretical foundations and positions that inform her work (such as the motives behind representations, as well as their power in social and cultural life). bell hooks also explains why she insists on using the phrase "white supremacist capitalist patriarchy" to describe the interlocking systems of domination that define our reality.
In Part Two, she demonstrates the value of cultural studies in concrete analysis through such subjects as the OJ Simpson case, Madonna, Spike Lee, and Gangsta rap. The aim of cultural analysis, she argues, should be the production of enlightened witnesses - audiences who engaged with the representations of cultural life knowledgeably and vigilantly. (Via Kanopy)
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution is the first feature-length documentary to explore the Black Panther Party, its significance to the broader American culture, its cultural and political awakening for black people, and the painful lessons wrought when a movement derails. Master documentarian Stanley Nelson goes straight to the source, weaving a treasure trove of rare archival footage with the diverse group of voices of the people who were there: police, FBI informants, journalists, white supporters and detractors, and Black Panthers who remained loyal to the party and those who left it. (Via Kanopy)
The Great White Hope
This safe, well-meaning drama stars an electric James Earl Jones as Jack Jefferson in a fictionalized account of boxer Jack Johnson’s life - the first Black heavyweight champion of the world. Jones received a Best Actor Academy Award nomination for his performance. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name. (Via Black Film Archive)
I Am Not Your Negro: James Baldwin and Race in America
I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO is a journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter. It is a film that questions black representation in Hollywood and beyond. And, ultimately, by confronting the deeper connections between the lives and assassination of these three leaders, Baldwin and Peck have produced a work that challenges the very definition of what America stands for. (Via Kanopy)
Walk in My Shoes
This 1961 news documentary uses innovative narrative techniques to allow viewers to 'walk in a Black person's shoes.' Through point-of-view shots and centering varied Black perspectives defining the state of Black America, "Walk in My Shoes" became a documentary standard to examine America's 'racial problem.'(Via Black Film Archive)