Maya Angelou

The story focuses on Newark's Baraka family and its involvement in social activism, poetry, music, art and politics.

Some day we’ll be able to measure the power of words but in the meantime let’s be careful about the words we use.

Bob Hercules and Rita Coburn Whack's unprecedented film celebrates Dr. Maya Angelou by weaving her words with rare and intimate archival photographs and videos, which paint hidden moments of her exuberant life during some of America’s most defining civil rights moments. From her upbringing in the Depression-era South to her swinging soirees with Malcolm X in Ghana to her inaugural speech for President Bill Clinton, we are given special access to interviews with Dr. Angelou whose indelible charm and quick wit make it easy to love her.

7.8/10
9.6%

I HOPE YOU DANCE: the power and spirit of song is the first full length documentary film to explore how one extraordinary song has transformed people's lives in profound, meaningful and sometimes startling ways. It is a film about hope, faith, optimism and the power of music to inspire and heal. The film highlights true stories of Love, Inspiration, Second Chances, Forgiveness and Miracles: A father who honors his daughter's memory by saving four lives through organ donation; a homeless shelter that teaches ballroom dancing, literally getting people back on their feet; a woman who miraculously recovers from a devastating spinal cord injury that should have killed her instantly; a couple who overcome the pain of their respective pasts to find love and redemption; two Nashville songwriters whose life experiences combine to create breathtaking piece of music for the ages.

6.4/10

From the director of ‘THE SECRET’ comes this unparalleled and life-changing film about the astonishing power and intelligence of your heart. Featuring some of the most inspiring and influential icons of our age including Paulo Coelho, Maya Angelou, Deepak Chopra, Isabel Allende, and Eckhart Tolle, ‘THE POWER OF THE HEART’ – which ties into a book of the same name – is an experience that will lead you to uncover... and rediscover... the treasure in your chest.

6.9/10

The origins of Kwanzaa and the seven principles upon which the pan-African holiday derives its meaning are explored in this fascinating documentary. Narrated by Maya Angelou.

6.8/10

An exposé of comic proportions that only Chris Rock could pull off, GOOD HAIR visits beauty salons and hairstyling battles, scientific laboratories and Indian temples to explore the way hairstyles impact the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships, and self-esteem of the black community.

6.9/10
9.5%

Based upon Tyler Perry's acclaimed stage production, Madea's Family Reunion continues the adventures of Southern matriarch Madea. She has just been court ordered to be in charge of Nikki, a rebellious runaway, her nieces, Lisa and Vanessa, are suffering relationship trouble, and through it all, she has to organize her family reunion.

5.2/10
2.5%

Explores the careers of twenty black women working as film directors.

6.3/10

Rosa Lynn sends her druggie daughter Loretta and her children Thomas and Tracy away from the big city to live with their uncle Earl in the ancestral home in rural Mississippi. Earl puts Loretta to work in his restaurant, Just Chicken, while also telling them about the generations of their family, the Sinclairs, dating back to their time in slavery before the the Civil War.

6.7/10
7.9%

In this documentary, artist-filmmaker Nicholas Hondrogen asks people to describe memorable moments of their lives. Some, such as Norman Lear and Indian activist Russell Means, talk about religion, while composer Philip Glass and film-producer Irwin Winkler discuss the births of their children. Pastor Jess Moody recalls WW II deaths of his friends, and artist Janice Blake remembers being raped.

Can there be such a thing as too much Christmas? Find out... when a magical Christmas wish is granted and Elmo gets to see what the world would be like if every day were Christmas! You'll enjoy lots of songs and holiday cheer with Elmo and his new friend Lightning, the reindeer, and discover for yourself why Christmas is best kept to one day a year!

6.4/10

This award-winning documentary tells the story of the American poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou’s journey to Ayrshire to visit the birthplace of fellow poet Robert Burns​. As a child, Angelou read Burns’ work and discovered similarities between her own life and his, which she explores throughout this documentary, filmed at the time of the bicentenary of Burns’ death.

Made especially for the HBO cable network, this well-wrought feature is comprised of three short stories by three noted black American authors, each of which is directed by a respected black director.

6.2/10

Soon-to-be-wed graduate student Finn Dodd develops cold feet when she suspects her fiancé is cheating on her. In order to clear her head, Finn visits her grandmother, Hy, and great aunt, Glady Joe Cleary, in Grasse, Calif. There, Finn learns that Hy and Glady Joe are members of a group of passionate quilters, and over the course of her visit she is regaled with tales of love and life by women who have collected rich experiences and much wisdom.

6.3/10
6.1%

In this film, we see the world through the eyes of main character Justice, a young African-American poet. A mail carrier invites a few friends along for a long overnight delivery run.

6/10
3.4%

From Publishers Weekly The devastating story of brothers Lafayette and Pharoah Rivers, children of the Chicago ghetto, is powerfully told here by Kotlowitz, a Wall Street Journal reporter who first met the boys in 1985 when they were 10 and seven, respectively. Their family includes a mother, a frequently absent father, an older brother and younger triplets. We witness the horrors of growing up in an ill-maintained housing project tyrannized by drug gangs and where murders and shootings frequently occur.

6.4/10

James Baldwin was at once a major 20th century American author, a Civil Rights activist and, for two crucial decades, a prophetic voice calling Americans, black and white, to confront their shared racial tragedy.

8.1/10

Heated confrontations and revelations result when a divorcee returns with her young son to the home of her two sisters.

8.2/10

Based on writer Maya Angelou's childhood, this story is about a young girl in the South who is sent to live with her grandmother after her parents divorce.

7.2/10

The Richard Pryor Show is an American comedy variety series starring Richard Pryor. It premiered on NBC on Tuesday, September 13, 1977 at 8 p.m. opposite ABC's popular television shows Laverne & Shirley and Happy Days. The show was produced by Rocco Urbisci for Burt Sugarman Productions. It was conceived out of a special that Pryor did for NBC in May 1977. Because the special was a major hit, both critically and commercially, Pryor was given a chance to host and star in his own television show. TV Guide included the series in their 2013 list of 60 shows that were "Cancelled Too Soon".

7.6/10
6%

A television drama directed by Maya Angelou. In 1975, the accomplished writer became the first African American woman to join the Directors Guild of America in the director’s category. Produced by trailblazing TV executive Barbara Schultz, Visions often focused on complex themes including social justice, feminism, race and sexuality. Executive Producer: Barbara Schultz. Director: Maya Angelou. Writer: Alexis DeVeaux. With: Gloria Jones Schultz, Glynn Turman, Ebony Wright.

The great Diana Sands stars as a African American pop star with few political ideas, and no need for black-activist war deserters who want her voice for their cause--much to the dismay of the quietly seething white-hating Minnie Gentry. Georgia's mother-figure and companion fears for Georgia's soul--in every sense of the word. Written by Maya Angelou (but made on a low budget), this is a significant, powerfully radical movie-of-ideas in need of rediscovery. (IMDb)

7.3/10

Integration Report 1, Madeline Anderson's trailblazing debut, was the first known documentary by an African American female director. With tenacity, empathy and skill, Anderson assembles a vital record of desegregation efforts around the country in 1959 and 1960, featuring footage by documentary legends Albert Maysles and Richard Leacock and early Black cameraman Robert Puello, singing by Maya Angelou, and narration by playwright Loften Mitchell. Anderson fleetly moves from sit-ins in Montgomery, Alabama to a speech by Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington, D.C. to a protest of the unprosecuted death in police custody of an unarmed Black man in Brooklyn, capturing the incredible reach and scope of the civil rights movement, and working with this diverse of footage, as she would later say, “like an artist with a palette using different colors.”

7.1/10

A jukebox operator helps promote a calypso craze.

5.5/10

A young orphaned boy comes to live with his aunt and discovers that his best friend is having an affair with her.