Black American Experience, The: American Activists

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Ida B. Wells: Crusader For Human Rights - 0:19:05
IDA B WELLS walked the long road from slavery to freedom and equality. Born 1862 in Holly Springs, Mississippi to parents who were former slaves, she rose to challenge and strongly condemned American lynching in the South. Her work as teacher, journalist and human rights activist brought worldwide attention to this brutality. She was a community organizer and grass roots leader who was a precursor of the modern Civil Rights movement. Her inspiring story takes us from Memphis, to Chicago, Washington D.C. and England

From penning editorials and publishing the first expose on the horrors of lynching, The Red Record, to touring America and Europe as a speaker and protestor, Ida B. Wells was a true crusader in the fight to preserve human rights. Her relentless public battle against the injustices of lynching won her more enemies than friends in her time, but she is remembered today as a strong woman, tireless crusader and a true American hero.

Fannie Lou Hamer: Voting Rights Activist - 0:30:05
FANNIE LOU HAMER born in 1917 in Montgomery County, Mississippi was the granddaughter of a slave and the youngest of 20 children. Raised by hardworking parents who were sharecroppers, she was no stranger to poverty or hardship. An inspirational speaker and writer, she used her powerful voice to raise the cause of equality and freedom for all blacks in America and became a defining force in the fight against social injustice during the early years of the civil rights movement. In this rare documentary, her struggles and triumphs are expressed through Hamer’s own words as well as those of friends and colleagues. While attending the 1964 Democratic National Convention, Fannie Lou Hamer posed the defining question: “Is this America? The land of the free and the home of the brave? Where we have to sleep with our telephone off the hook, because our lives be threatened daily because we want to live in peace as human beings in America?”

She will be remembered for winning the right to vote for Black Americans and exposing America’s poverty by giving a voice to those in need. This program is an inspiration to anyone who has ever faced oppression and acts as a powerful reminder of what one individual is capable of achieving in the face of adversity.

Mary Mcleod Bethune: Champion For Education - 0:29:58
MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE (1875-1955) was born the 15th of 17 children to former slaves in South Carolina. This inspiring program follows her illustrious path from the cotton fields of the South to renowned African American educator, leader of women, distinguished adviser to several American presidents including Franklin D. Roosevelt, close friend of Eleanor Roosevelt and champion of racial equality. Her many achievements are a testament to the power of education and its importance in the African American community.

Mary McLeod Bethune understood the importance of education for all people. In an era when most African American children received little or no education, she established a school for African American girls. In 1904, she rented a two-story frame building in Daytona Beach, Fla., and opened her school with only $1.50, six pupils, used crates for desks and crushed elderberries for ink. Through determination and dedication, she built this tiny school into United Methodist Church affiliated Bethune-Cookman University. During her long career Bethune received many honorary degrees and awards, including the Haitian Medal of Honor and Merit (1949), the highest award of the Haitian government.

Mary McLeod Bethune set a standard of excellence for the education of African Americans and she achieved her dreams through her own determination and strong faith in herself.