Black Americans Of Achievement

Adapted from Chelsea House Publisher's book series, these 12 videos profiling the lives and times of some of our country's greatest individuals are superbly produced and informed by the commentary of professors from Princeton, Howard, and Rutgers universities. We watched four of the titles: Thurgood Marshall, Colin Powell, Sojourner Truth, and Madam C.J. Walker. Each of the programs offered excellent archival footage and photographs, interviews with historians and family members and/or descendants, and music from the period while painting a lively portrait of the individual subject and his/her achievements. Thurgood Marshall, renowned as the first black Supreme Court Justice, was perhaps the singlemost important figure in the struggle for equal education rights for black Americans. Colin Powell, an overnight celebrity due to the Persian Gulf War, is both the youngest person and the first black to become the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (one of the most powerful positions vis-a-vis foreign policy in the nation). Powell has offered hope, as one interviewee puts it, that "there is no glass ceiling" when it comes to advancement of minorities. Sojourner Truth was born into slavery at the close of the 18th century (and left it, of her own accord), and became an ardent spokeswoman for the rights of black Americans, the rights of women, and, incidentally, the Lord. And Madam C.J. Walker built an empire in the late 19th-century founded on hair products, and became the first black woman millionaire in America. Uniformly excellent, these four volumes, are accompanied by eight more: George Washington Carver, Frederick Douglass, Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Jackie Robinson, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, and Malcolm X. Handsomely packaged, this outstanding series is highly recommended and an Editor's Choice. (Available from: Library Video Company, P.O. Box 1110, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004; 1-843-3620.)