History of Black People in Film

What this topic is about!

My topic is about the history of black people in film during the 1930s-now and who has lead the black film industry to where it is now!

Detailed Summary!

• Whites don’t initially want to put black people in films,but do it anyway.
• For a while black people were never picked for the oscars because they were more than likely a side character
• For many, many years, the only roles that Black people could get were as maids/servents,slaves,villians,and of course we had stereotypical roles that were on the big, wide, 60-foot screen for people to watch and people of color couldn't even do that until July of 1963!

Additional Infomation!!

• While doing more reasearch, I found out that in 1914 a man named Sam Lucas was the first black actor to be cast in a leading role in a mainstream film!
• The movie was called Uncle Tom's Cabin!
• Nina Mae McKinney was the the first black woman to be in a film and it was called Hallelujah!
• Blackface started around the 1830s in New York
• Ernest Fredric “Ernie” Morrison was the first Black child movie star!
• He played in Dead End Kids/East Side Kids and his stage name was Sunshine Sammy!

Timeline!

In the 1940s and 1950s, movie-goers began to see a shift in the ways Black characters were written and portrayed in mainstream Hollywood films.

The 1960s were marked by a greater push back against the racial status quo, greater cast integration, and greater engagement with the meanings of race in the U.S.

The 1950s saw the advent of large productions featuring all-Black casts and the beginnings of a shift in the ways in which Black and White actors shared screen time.

In the 1970s the variety of opportunities open to African American actors, directors, writers, and producers continued to expand

The roles offered to African American actors in the 1930s and 1940s reflected the societal perceptions and limited occupational opportunities for African Americans at the time.

Notable Figures!

• Julie Dash was the first Black Woman to Direct and Produce a Full Length Film
• Daughters of the Dust was the film that she directed
• She helped people especially women get into the industry of film

• Oscar Micheaux was the first black film director
• Oscar started the evolution for black people in film
• For the next 30 years, Micheaux produced and directed films that challenged Jim Crow Era society.

• Hattie McDaniel was the first to Win an Oscar
• Hattie McDaniel won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Mammy in film
• She appeared in more than 300 films.
• She helped more black people get into films by winning a oscar

CRT Analysis!

Microagression

"White people would darken their skin with shoe polish, greasepaint or burnt cork and paint on enlarged lips and other exaggerated features to immate looking like black people."

This shows that white people used exaggerated characteristics to try and imatate black people

Inequity

"Blacks weren't allowed to go into movie theaters until July of 1963 when the whites decided to put a segergated movie theater in."

This shows that black people weren't allowed to even step foot into a movie theater until later in the years when they had their own black movie theater.

White Privilege

“Black people in movies were used as slaves, nannies, villains,or white people would present as blackface in film"

This shows that white people were using their power to treat black people with ignorance.

Images

Videos

Work Cited!

The Artifice. “Author Talks: The history of Black cinema in America.” McKinsey, 24 November 2021, https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-on-books/author-talks-the-history-of-black-cinema-in-america. Accessed 1 March 2023.

“The evolution of black representation in film.” YouTube, 13 August 2018, https://youtu.be/KBRYXZWzgiU. Accessed 1 March 2023.

Lewis, Femi. “Black American Firsts in Film and Theatre.” ThoughtCo, 8 March 2017, https://www.thoughtco.com/african-american-firsts-film-and-theatre-45137. Accessed 1 March 2023