Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the most influential leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. He believed in equal treatment of all races. He initiated peaceful protests throughout the South and founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). In 1964, he was named Time magazine's Man of the Year and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Learn about his life and how he died for his beliefs.

From an early age, Josephine Baker knew what she wanted and did whatever it took to get it. Whether building her career or her family, Baker heeded no one's advice but her own, becoming one of the world's highest-paid performers, adopting 12 children into her "Rainbow Tribe," losing her fortune, then returning triumphantly to the stage just days before her death in 1975. Intimate Portrait: Josephine Baker, narrated by Arsenio Hall, captures Baker's sex appeal, energy, determination, and the important legacy she left behind for women performers in all media. Blending rarely seen dance clips, archived interview footage, and commentary by choreographer Debbie Allen, actress Lynn Whitfield (who portrayed Baker in The Josephine Baker Story), and two of Baker's sons, this exquisitely choreographed video reveals more sides to Baker's life than one would have thought possible in an hour. -Larisa Lomacky Moore.

Joe Louis was called the "Brown Bomber". he represented the United States and the African American population, and did both admirably.

Accompanied by a menagerie of products, Ken Burns's expansive 10-episode paean, Jazz, completes his trilogy on American culture, following The Civil War and Baseball. Spanning more than 19 hours, Jazz is, of course, about a lot more than what many have called America's classical music-especially in episodes 1 through 7. It's here that Burns unearths precious visual images of jazz musicians and hangs historical narratives around the music with convincing authority. Time can stand still as images float past to the sound of grainy vintage jazz, and the drama of a phonograph needle being placed on Louis Armstrong's celestial "West End Blues" is nearly sublime. The film is also potent in arguing that the history of race in the 20th-century U. S. is at jazz's heart. But a few problems arise. First is Burns's reliance on Wynton Marsalis as his chief musical commentator. Marsalis might be charming and musically expert, but he's no historian. [+]

The 1986 nationally syndicated television series "War of the Stars" hosted by Dick Van Patten brought together famous Hollywood actors & superstar athletes for a series of sporting contests that proved to be entertaining and often surprising. All we found mentioned were 15 shows including: Milton Berle vs Willie Mosconi in billiards, Chad Everett and Sonny Bono vs Anne White in tennis, Actor Christopher Atkins vs Indy Car driver Danny Sullivan in auto racing, John Davidson and Pancho Segura vs brothers Nels and Vince Van Patten in tennis, Abby Dalton and Elke Sommer vs brothers Nels and Vince Van Patten in tennis, Actor Paul Sorvino vs Lou Butera in billiards, Comedian Norm Crosby vs Lee Trevino in golf, Actress Jennifer O'Neill vs jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. in horse racing, Tim Conway vs jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. in horse racing, Comedian Dick Shawn vs J. C. Snead in golf, William Devane and Jameson Parker lead a celebrity polo team against the USC Trojans, Actress Valerie Perrine vs Willie Shoemaker in horse racing, Gabe Kaplan vs PBA Hall-of-Famer Dick Weber in bowling, Comedian Jack Carter vs PGA tour player Rex Caldwell in golf, and "Michael Jordan vs The Sheens. " This is the only episode we've ever seen released on videotape, and not many of these were made at all. In fact it is perhaps THE holy grail of videotape collecting; most rare video dealers aren't even aware of its existence and will never even see a copy for sale let alone touch one! The tape also has vast appeal to sports & Michael Jordan Collectors. The film was copyrighted in 1987 and was possibly made after the 1986/1987 season when Jordan was still approaching superstar status; Jordan still has hair! It was released two years before "Come Fly With Me" & is Jordan's Film Debut! After a dunking exhibition they do three events Foul Shooting, Horse, & 2 on 1 to 10. Jordan throws the fellahs some handicaps including shooting his free throws with his eyes shut. [+]

Videotape, based on "A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr. ", by David Adler. Approx. 9 minutes.

2 complete films on 2 separate tapes.

Boxed set includes ALL STARS 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 2 RAW 4 TV.

Subtitled The Dream Keeper, this biography effectively illustrates the importance of Langston Hughes not only as a poet, but as the voice of his people and a champion of black artists. Asker of the famous question "What happens to a dream deferred?" in his poem "Harlem," Hughes was a poet whose art was inspired by his life as a black man. Poems read aloud on this 56-minute video, such as "The Weary Blues" and "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," celebrate aspects of African American life. Friends, including his assistant, the executor of his estate, James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Brooks, and the former president of Senegal, discuss his writing life, his civil rights work, his reading tours through the South, and his trip to Africa. They detail his struggles with his more mercenary-minded parents, his prejudiced patron, and with his racial peers when he appeared to promote stereotypes with his first screenplay "Way Down South. " Most of the poems excerpted are illustrated with photos or film, but one of his "Simple" stories is performed by actors, followed by an audio-taped explanation by Hughes himself. -Kimberly Heinrichs.

Videotape, based on "A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr. ", by David Adler. Approx. 9 minutes.

The most successful public-television miniseries in American history, the 11-hour Civil War didn't just captivate a nation, reteaching to us our history in narrative terms; it actually also invented a new film language taken from its creator. When people describe documentaries using the "Ken Burns approach," its style is understood: voice-over narrators reading letters and documents dramatically and stating the writer's name at their conclusion, fresh live footage of places juxtaposed with still images (photographs, paintings, maps, prints), anecdotal interviews, and romantic musical scores taken from the era he depicts. The Civil War uses all of these devices to evoke atmosphere and resurrect an event that many knew only from stale history books. While Burns is a historian, a researcher, and a documentarian, he's above all a gifted storyteller, and it's his narrative powers that give this chronicle its beauty, overwhelming emotion, and devastating horror. Using the words of old letters, eloquently read by a variety of celebrities, the stories of historians like Shelby Foote and rare, stained photos, Burns allows us not only to relearn and finally understand our history, but also to feel and experience it. -Dave McCoy Hailed as a documentary masterpiece without parallel, Ken Burns' filmed chronicle of America's most terrible and destructive conflict will hold you in thrall as it portrays the strategies and action of the war's famous battles, and tells the stories of illustrious generals and ordinary field soldiers, politicians and rogues, heroes and a beleaguered President. Winner of two Emmy Awards, the series begins by looking at the fateful causes of the war that led to the firing on Fort Sumter, to the devastating battles of Shiloh, Antietam and Gettysburg, climaxing with Lee's surrender and the assassination of President Lincoln. Vivid photographic imagery and narration by many of today's most acclaimed performers highlight this epic program. Titles are: "The Cause of 1862," "A Very Bloody Affair 1862," "Forever Free 1862," "Simply Murder 1863," "The Universe of Battle 1863," "Valley of the Shadow of Death 1864," "Most Hallowed Ground 1864," "War Is All Hell 1865," and "The Better Angles of Our Nature 1865. ".

Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the most influential leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. He believed in equal treatment of all races. He initiated peaceful protests throughout the South and founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). In 1964, he was named Time magazine's Man of the Year and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Learn about his life and how he died for his beliefs.

1990. 120 minutes stereo. Canon Collins Educational Trust for South Africa. Produced by Robert Lemkin, Paul Snell, Shaun Fenton and Jane Stylianou SYNOPSIS The history of apartheid from 1918 to February 11, 1990, when Mandela was released. Narration is by President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia. The video uses documentary footage backgrounded by music and appearances by over thirty musical artists. In contrast to other films/videos featuring mostly international musicians, this one features the following South African groups: Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Hugh Masekela, Johnny Clegg and Savuka, Malapoets, the SWAPO Cultural group, amongst others. Bob Marley, Latin Quarter and Black Uhuru are some of the non-South African groups featured. The video contains scenes of important events: volunteers during the Defiance Campaign of 1952, and the indelible image of a youth and a girl running with the lifeless body of a young child shot by police bullets. This image recurs with the equally tragic news photograph of Hector Peterson on June 16, 1976.