Slavery has been addressed by so many movies and television shows over the years. Many of those stories have their origin in books, as in Roots, while others are entirely fictional and original, as in the recent Django Unchained. It’s rare for a seemingly new story to be unearthed and adapted into a movie. Such […]
A free black man from New York is kidnapped and sold into slavery in 12 Years a Slave. Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), an avid violinist, is living with his wife and young children in 1841 when he’s offered a compelling musical opportunity in Washington, DC. Eager for any chance to better their position in life, […]
One of the worst three-day periods in the history of our country is recounted when a local hospital gets the unbelievable call to treat a mortally wounded president in Parkland. A part of our country died along with a fallen president in November of 1963. It left an indelible mark on our history and anyone […]
Backup singers are often overlooked in rock music. You’ve heard their work on records or live, but unless they get to vocalize a little more than normal in a song, they blend into the background. Because of the early influence of Motown and the blues in rock music, many of these background singers were black […]
A popular classic rock song’s lyrics rhetorically ask, “War. What is it good for?” It answers that by stating, “Absolutely nothing.” Well, one thing it seems to help is the documentary film industry. That’s certainly the case with Dirty Wars — a film from The Nation reporter Jeremy Scahill. Scahill is no stranger to war or […]
Unfortunately, history almost always loses out to creativity when money’s on the line. That appears to be the case here.
Immigration is one of the hottest topics in politics in America today, and it will only gain prominence as Congress does nothing to address it and we enter another presidential election cycle. People are divided about this issue along racial, political and economic lines; it’s as important to some people as abortion. A documentary about […]
The cause of Latino-based American immigration is the focus of a new documentary based on the book from award-winning journalist Juan González entitled Harvest of Empire. Harvest of Empire comes along at an incredibly opportune time just as the United States government wrestles with the latest round of immigration reform. This documentary examines the root causes […]
The quirky song that virtually everyone in America has experienced at one time or another is uncovered in the documentary Hava Nagila (The Movie). The Electric Slide, The Hokey Pokey and even YMCA have nothing on this age-old Jewish standard. We all know it. We’ve all experienced it — or soon will (for younger readers) — and yet almost […]
“Kill Mumia now!” That’s what I yelled at the Free Mumia Now crowds outside City Hall in Philadelphia some years ago. I just happened to be driving by one day when I didn’t expect the rally and would have otherwise avoided the area. If you’re from the Philadelphia area, you heard about Mumia Abu-Jamal at […]
Relative newcomer Neil Barsky looks at the man most New York City residents knew simply as “The Mayor” in his new film entitled Koch. Ed Koch dominated New York City politics in a way no other politician of recent memory ever has. He first shot onto the scene as a congressman for New York’s 17th District […]
Although I was an AP scholar in both European and American history in high school, I don’t count myself as a history buff. An occasional historical biography or autobiography is about the extent of my interest. This limitation means that I can’t always tell the real history from the events on the big screen when […]