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Terre-Haute Channel 2 NewsCast Report on prison demonstrations May 4, 1996
Date: 5/4/1996Call Number: V 617Format: VHSProducers: WTWD Channel 2 Terre HauteCollection: Videos – camera originals and reference materials
Short news report about demonstrations at Indiana State Prison in Carlisle and the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute. The protesters were part of a national campaign against the death penalty, control units and the misuse of taxpayer resources. Interview with Sister Kathleen Desautels of 8th Day Center.
The Ohio 7 On Trial
The Ohio 7 On Trial is a series of interviews from prison with the political prisoners accused of membership in the United Freedom Front (UFF). The UFF was an armed clandestine guerilla organization active in the late 1970s and early 1980s against US imperialism and intervention in Central America, and South African apartheid. It includes interviews with Ray Luc Levasseur, Pat Gros-Levasseur, Barbara Curzi-Laaman, Jaan Lehman, Carol Manning, Thomas Manning, ans Richard Williams.
Poor quality dub.
WEB Du Bois: A Biography in Four Voices
Date: 1/1/1995Call Number: V 157Format: VHSProducers: Louis MassiahCollection: Videos – camera originals and reference materials
Writer/Narrators: Wesley Brown, Thulani Davis, Toni Cade Bambara and Amiri Baraka
The long and remarkable life of Dr. William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B) Du Bois (1868-1963) offers unique insights into an eventful century in African American history. Born three years after the end of the Civil War, Du Bois witnessed the imposition of Jim Crow, its defeat by the Civil Rights Movement and the triumph of African independence struggles.
Du Bois was the consummate scholar-activist whose path-breaking works remain among the most significant and articulate ever produced on the subject of race. His contributions and legacy have been so far-reaching, that this, his first film biography, required the collaboration of four prominent African American writers. Wesley Brown, Thulani Davis, Toni Cade Bambara and Amiri Baraka narrate successive periods of Du Bois' life and discuss its impact on their work.
Part One: Black Folk and the New Century (1895-1915)
Du Bois' first sociological work, The Philadelphia Negro, and, even more, The Souls of Black Folk, examined the cultural and political psychology of the American African Diaspora. During the same period, racism was institutionalized under the Jim Crow system. Du Bois emerged as the most outspoken critic of Booker T. Washington's advocacy of accommodation to segregation. He co-founded the Niagara Movement and then the NAACP to agitate for full equality between blacks and whites.
Part Two: The Crisis and the New Negro (1919-1929)
Du Bois created the NAACP's magazine, The Crisis, which became a vital organ in the burgeoning African American cultural movement, the Harlem Renaissance. Du Bois also was a founder of the Pan African movement, organizing the first international congresses of leaders from Africa and the Diaspora.
Part Three: A Second Reconstruction? (1934-1948)
Dismissed from the editorship of The Crisis for his radical views, Du Bois was forced to resume his academic career at age 68. It was now the Depression and he became more open to leftist ideology as reflected in his magnum opus, Black Reconstruction.
Part Four: Color, Democracy, Colonies and Peace (1949-1963)
Du Bois' continuing anti-racist activism and growing leftist sympathies made him a target during the McCarthy years. He was indicted and for a time his passport was revoked. In 1961, Kwame Nkrumah, the president of the newly independent African state of Ghana, invited him to participate in that country's development; Du Bois accepted, living there for the remainder of his life.
William Kuntsler Book Tour
Year: 1994Call Number: V 857Format: VHSCollection: Videos – camera originals and reference materials
William Kunstler speaking in 1994 on book tour after publication of his autobiography (My Life as a Radical Lawyer, 1994). He summarizes background on how book evolved and comments on a number of his clients and cases, including: an appeal in the Jack Ruby case, the Chicago conspiracy trial (amusing story about cannabis package in the courtroom), the chaining and gagging of Bobby Seale, the Ohio 7, Leonard Peltier/Wounded Knee, the Birmingham 6 civil rights/freedom riders cases, and others. Kunstler also has a book of poetry coming next month—Allen Ginsberg says the poetry is not too good but he likes it. Comments on the OJ Simpson case (not yet decided at this time) and the racial polarization it represents. Talks about his friendship with Marlon Brando. Also Kunstler mentions his own acting roles, as in Law and Order and several films. He takes questions. What does he hope is the legacy? Hopes that young lawyers will decide that their real job is to represent people who are not going to take things lying down. Of his own life, he says he was always anti-establishment, “a terrible kid”…
father said he’d end up in prison. Discusses the idealism of the “1960s.” Also speaks about Kent State and Vietnam. Says that there is no single social advancement that has not come from mass upsurge. Says, “la luta continua”—in every country. Says that activists should avoid
“rhetoric” to better communicate with masses of people. Also intersperses comments on the positive attributes of the 1960s/70s “counterculture,” and how he attended Woodstock with Abbie Hoffman and went back with Richie Havens for the 15th anniversary.
Behind Censorship Political Prisoners
This documentary is about political prisoners who participated in the black liberation movement. This documentary contains interviews with Assata Shakur, Geronimo Pratt, Mumia Abu Jamal. This documentary was created with the intent of spreading awareness for all political prisoners in the U.S.
A Memorial for Attorney William Kunstler
Date: 4/26/1992Call Number: V 155Format: VHSProducers: WBAI New YorkCollection: Videos – camera originals and reference materials
Attorney William Kunstler speaks to the Palestine Solidarity Rally at John Jay High School, April 26, 1992.
Inside the CIA, On Company Business, Part 1-The History
Date: 1/1/1990Call Number: V 084Format: VHSProducers: Howard Dratch, Allan FrancovichCollection: Videos – camera originals and reference materials
Describes inception and early years of CIA with the aftermath of World War II and the rise of communism. Former agents discuss the true function and reason for the agency, how it has operated both in Europe and in the Third World, use of front organizations, infiltration of labor movements, support of dictators and oligarchies, attempt on Castro’s life, necessity of secrecy from US press and public, and how exactly it all gets ordered and carried out, along what chain of command.
Paul Robeson, The First 100 Years: A Celebration of His Life and Legacy
Date: 4/5/1998Call Number: V 147Format: VHSProducers: WBAI New YorkCollection: Videos – camera originals and reference materials
Begins with a video montage with narration on Robeson’s life, including excerpts from his speeches and interviews, historic film footage.
Followed by speakers who pay tribute to Robeson; musical performances. Concludes with a panel discussion and questions from audience.
Dr. Charles Wright is seated on the stage but is not shown speaking.
Paul Robeson, The First 100 Years: A Celebration of His Life and Legacy
Date: 4/5/1998Call Number: V 146Format: VHSProducers: WBAI New YorkCollection: Videos – camera originals and reference materials
Begins with a video montage with narration on Robeson’s life, including excerpts from his speeches and interviews, historic film footage.
Followed by speakers who pay tribute to Robeson; musical performances. Concludes with a panel discussion and questions from audience.
Dr. Charles Wright is seated on the stage but is not shown speaking.
Ghosts of Attica
Date: 1/1/2001Call Number: V 035Format: VHSProducers: David Van Taylor, Brad Lichtenstein, Lumier ProductionsCollection: Videos – camera originals and reference materials
Only last year, inmates wrested an historic $12-million settlement from the state, and that bittersweet victory spurred a new round of agitation by guards and their survivors.
This stirring documentary features extensive interviews with Attica survivors, including former inmate Frank "Big Black" Smith.
Also interviewed is Mike Smith, who was a guard who was taken hostage and subsequently wounded by police fire.
Elizabeth Fink, the attorney who headed the inmates' decades-long legal battles against New York State, is also interviewed. Other interviews include those with New York Times columnist Tom Wicker, Congressman Herman Badillo, Assemblyman Arthur Eve, and civil rights lawyer William Kunstler.
GHOSTS OF ATTICA offers the definitive account of America's most violent prison rebellion, its suppression, and the days of torture that ensued. Using exclusive, newly uncovered video of the assault, interviews with eyewitnesses who've never spoken before on-camera, and footage of inmates and hostages throughout their battles against the state, this film unravels one of America's deepest cover-ups, and shows how the legendary prison riot transformed the lives of its survivors.
