Thursday, July 1, 2010

Dissent, Power & Diversity

I've watched a few films this week in an attempt to educate myself & find media to integrate into my classes. I'm currently teaching a cultural diversity course that is a mission based course for the institution I work. This diversity course, while housed in the sociology department is very much a historical account of race & ethnicity in the United States. My education is in sociology. I have had some formal education in history but insist upon engaging in more material so that I can more comfortably teach this course. I've taught the course five times this year and will teach it three more times in the fall - I know the material now, the mission is to find material that enhance it. This week I have watched three films; "African American Lives 2", "William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe" and "The People Speak"


http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aalives/profiles/index.html



Series Overview African American Lives 2
 
Building on the widespread acclaim of African American Lives (2006) and Oprah's Roots (2007), AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2 again journeys deep into ancestry of an all-new group of remarkable individuals, offering an in-depth look at the African-American experience and race relations throughout U.S. history. Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. returns as series host, guiding genealogical investigations down through the 20th century, Reconstruction, slavery and early U.S. history, and presenting cutting-edge genetic analysis that locates participants' ancestors in Africa, Europe and America. Joining Professor Gates in the new broadcast are poet Maya Angelou, author Bliss Broyard, actor Don Cheadle, actor Morgan Freeman, theologian Peter Gomes, publisher Linda Johnson Rice, athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee, radio personality Tom Joyner, comedian Chris Rock, music legend Tina Turner, and college administrator Kathleen Henderson, who was selected from more than 2,000 applicants to have her family history researched and DNA tested alongside the series' well-known guests.

I found African American Lives 2 fascinating. The detail and time that is put into discovering the history of these twelve individuals is astonishing. I feel that there are clips that are appropriate for use in my course - there are a number of teaching materials available via pbs and the corresponding website for the film.

Synopsis "William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe"

In William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe filmmakers Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler explore the life of their father, the late radical civil rights lawyer. In the 1960s and 70s, Kunstler fought for civil rights with Martin Luther King Jr. and represented the famed “Chicago 8” activists who protested the Vietnam War. When the inmates took over Attica prison, or when the American Indian Movement stood up to the federal government at Wounded Knee, they asked Kunstler to be their lawyer.

To his daughters, it seemed that he was at the center of everything important that had ever happened. But when they were growing up, Kunstler represented some of the most reviled members of society, including rapists and assassins. This powerful film not only recounts the historic causes that Kunstler fought for; it also reveals a man that even his own daughters did not always understand, a man who risked public outrage and the safety of his family so that justice could serve all.



Synopsis: "The People Speak"  
http://www.thepeoplespeak.com/

Inspired by Howard Zinn's bestseller A People's History of the United States and it's companion book Voices of a People's History of the United States this star studded documentary takes an unguarded look at our nation's decades-long struggle with the pressing issues of war, race, class, and women's rights. Viggo Mortenson, Danny Glover, Marisa Tomei, Matt Damon, and Kerry Washington, and other Hollywood stars stage impassioned readings of historical testimonies by the people who helped to shape our country's socio-political landscape, including Langston Hughes, Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglas, and Bob Dylan. Additional actors assume the roles of labor leaders, civil rights demonstrators, abolitionists, and various other trailblazers who weren't afraid to speak out during some of the more turbulent periods in our nation's history. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide




More on these at another time... all were fascinating and informative.


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