The History Makers: Success

Culled from interviews conducted by the History Makers (a national nonprofit oral history archive in Chicago that preserves African American history), this inspirational entry in the three-volume The History Makers series, hosted by James Avery, focuses on the road to success, as interviewees recall their false starts, renewed determination, and luck in finding strength in unexpected places. Even after landing her first book contract, writer Terry McMillan (Waiting to Exhale, How Stella Got Her Groove Back) had to learn how to be her own publicist after she realized that simply being signed didn't guarantee promotional support from her publisher. Musician Isaac Hayes (who was the first black artist to win an Oscar for Best Score for the film Shaft) initially wanted to be a doctor but the crowd's response to his singing Nat "King" Cole's "Don't Look Back" in a school talent show sent him down a different path. Also featuring the late Ossie Davis, Gordon Parks, Dionne Warwick, Dr. Alvin F. Poussaint, and other notable photographers, writers, judges, political figures, and entertainers, Success is more than just a collection of talking heads, nicely spicing up the visuals with both vintage photographs and dramatic reenactments of key moments. The other titles in The History Makers series are Faith and Courage. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (C. Block)