Pamela E. Oliver
Professor of Sociology

Soc 220 – Videos used in class

Locations

  1. Check MADCAT to find campus locations for videos. Use a guided search to find a particular video. Search on keyword video* AND other keywords to look for films that interest you OR restrict search to videos. Note that you will have to use a variety of keywords, there is no one subject heading or keyword that will locate all relevant films. Keyword “California Newsreel” will bring up a large number of excellent documentaries on the African American experience; this firm also produces films about South Africa, which are less relevant to this class.
  2. Videos can be checked out from the College Library Ethnic Studies collection, Room 1193, Helen C. White Hall (Undergraduate Library). Check MADCAT for holdings.
  3. Commercial video outlets have many documentaries. You need documentaries that are about the US and about racial/ethnic groups in the US. You may NOT use fictional feature films UNLESS they are made BY the minority group being discussed in the film. That is, films in which the White hero encounters and helps the disadvantaged minorities may NOT be used. If you have a question about the suitability of a film, look up reviews of it on the web and send me an email with the film title AND copies of or web links to summaries and reviews of the film.

EYES ON THE PRIZE 1

NOTE: The LSS copies of these videos are in very bad shape and are missing many key scenes. College Library has just invested in the new DVD set of Eyes on the Prize, so I recommend using that source. Four Star Video has the VHS versions of all episodes. The DVD set is likely to become available in more commercial video establishments.

  • .001 Awakenings (1954-56) Murder of Emmett Till & Montgomery Bus Boycott (shown in class 9/2602)
  • .002 Fighting back (1957-62) Integration of Little Rock High & of U. of Mississippi
  • .003 Ain’t scared of your jails (1960-61) Sit-ins in Nashville and Freedom Rides [this episode missing at College Library]
  • .004 No easy walk (1962-64) Campaigns in Albany, Birmingham, Washington DC
  • .005 Mississippi–is this America? (1962-64) Voting rights and political struggles
  • .006 Bridge to freedom (1965) Selma marches.

NOTE: Most of these episodes are also available at many commercial video rental outlets.

EYES ON THE PRIZE 2

.001 The time has come (1964-66) Malcolm X, SNCC “black power” campaign
.002 Two societies (1965-68) SCLC campaign in Chicago, northern riots
.003 Power! (1967-68) Carl Stokes, black mayor of Cleveland, Black Panthers
.004 The promised land (1967-68) Poor people’s campaign, King’s assassination
.005 Ain’t gonna shuffle no more (1964-72) Black pride, black studies, black unity
.006 A nation of law? (1969-71) FBI attacks on Black Panthers, Attica prison riots
.007 The keys to the kingdom (1974-80) Anti-busing riots in Boston, Affirmative Action in Atlanta
.008 Back to the movement (1979-83) Miami riot, Chicago election of Washington

NOTE: These episodes are less available at commerical outlets. Four Star Video has some of them.

CHICANO!: THE HISTORY OF THE MEXICAN AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

Learning Support Services # 259 Van Hise: #: SP1.105
College Library: # E184 M5 C4 1996
Chican@ Latin@ Studies Library in 338W Ingraham, students may check out DVD copies for two days

  • .001 Quest for a Homeland. General background & New Mexico struggles.
  • .002 The Struggle in the Fields. About United Farmworkers strike & boycott
  • .003 Taking Back the Schools. About East Los Angeles high school boycotts. (This is the episode I usually show in class)
  • .004 Fighting for Political Power. About La Raza Unida.

Asian American Videos

Asian American Studies (303 Ingraham Hall) has a large collection of videos about Asian Americans. These videos cannot be taken from the building, but can be watched in the conference room on the 3rd floor of Ingraham.

Who Killed Vincent Chin? is available for viewing during business hours through Asian American Studies office, 303 Ingraham Hall, and can be checked out from the MERIT library: CIMC PreK-12 Stacks (LTy) Call Number: HT1521 .W4 1988

Other Films Seen in Class

Spirit of Crazy Horse. College Library Ethnic Studies Collection, 1st Fl. West, Rm 1193, Call Number: E99 O3 S65 1996. Also available at some commercial video outlets. (I can place a DVD copy on reserve at LSS if requested.)

Racism 101. MERIT Library: CIMC Professional Stacks Call Number: HT1523 R32 1988. (I can place my copy on reserve at LSS if requested.)

Other Recommended Videos

Race, The Power of an Illusion. Three 50-minute episodes originally shown on PBS. These are very interesting and well-done. The first challenges the biological idea of race, the second explains how the idea of race was created in the 19th Century US to justify slavery, the third explains how explicit discrimination in US housing policies produced segregation and wealth differentials after World War II. Copies are available in College Library reserves. Call number: GN269 R334 2003b (DVD), the CIMC PreK-12 stacks (MERIT) & Social Work Library reserves (VHS) and the Ethnic Studies Collection in College Library (DVD listed as lost 10/23). This is also available for rent at many commercial video outlets, and is available through the Madison Public Library.

Africans in America. America’s journey through slavery is presented in four parts. For each era, you’ll find a historical Narrative, a Resource Bank of images, documents, stories, biographies, and commentaries, and a Teacher’s Guide for using the content of the Website and television series in U.S. history courses.

Slavery and the Making of America. A four-part series documenting the history of American slavery from its beginnings in the British colonies to its end in the Southern states and the years of post-Civil War Reconstruction.