Acclaimed filmmaker Stanley Nelson’s PBS-aired documentary traces the tumultuous history of the nation’s historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) from the pre-Civil War era to the present day. Most of these schools were founded in the South during the post-Civil War era by benevolent Northerners who supported higher education for the black population. Initially focusing on vocational education, the HBCUs later expanded their subject areas to incorporate law, medicine, science, and liberal arts studies. During the Jim Crow era, when colleges and universities in both the South and the North were hostile to black enrollment, HBCUs provided educational opportunities for men and women who would become pillars in their communities (nearly all black teachers in the early 20th century received their degrees from HBCUs), and served as stepping stones for individuals who would go on to change the world. Tell Them We Are Rising presents a wide-ranging history, although some of the stories have been covered at greater depth in other documentaries, most notably the intellectual feud between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois on the state of black education, and the role played by North Carolina A&T State University students in launching the lunch counter sit-in protests during the early 1960s. The film also gingerly examines the role of HBCUs in today’s inclusive society, as well as the struggles that some schools face in trying to maintain operations. A handsomely produced, ultimately celebratory history of black academic institutions in America, this is highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (P. Hall)
Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Historically Black Colleges and Universities
(2017) 85 min. DVD: $24.99 ($54.99 w/PPR), Blu-ray: $29.99 ($54.99 w/PPR). PBS Video. ISBN: 978-1-5317-0341-7 (dvd), 978-1-5317-0355-4 (blu-ray). Volume 33, Issue 3
Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Historically Black Colleges and Universities
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