Wright, Richard: 1908-1960

Movie - Black Boy, 1994

Richard Wright - Black Boy, 1994
- An educational video, which contextualizes Wright's work with dramatized excerpts from his best-known works, historical footage and the recollection of friends such as Ralph Ellison and Margaret Walker. The video traces Wright's life-long theme - the powerlessness and anger of the black male - back to the power and racism of his own childhood in the Jim Crow South. It follows his participation in the black cultural renaissance of the 1920s, the left-wing activism of the 1930s, the expatriate community in Paris during the McCarthy-era witch hunts and the Pan-African independence movement of the 1950s. The NTSC format video is available from California Newsreel, 1-800-621-6196; 149 Ninth Street / 420, San Francisco CA, 94103 or send an e-mail to newsreel@ix.netcom.com.