Watch Black History: Lost, Stolen or Strayed For Free

You won't be disappointed!

It is a performances centric movie

Absolutely Fantastic

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

The experiment I recall from this life-changing documentary, was that a black child was asked to draw little "Sally," and the child proceeded to draw a person with full arms, legs, hair, eyes, etc. Then the black child was asked to draw herself, whereby she sketched what was pretty much a STICK person, without eyes, nose, etc. There was no fallacy in the experiment. The point made was that the black child saw herself as less than the white child.A few years ago I asked my granddaughter Hillary to draw "Heather," our neighbor next door, and she sketched what looked like a mosquito. Then I asked her to draw herself. She put to paper a second mosquito. Perhaps we're making progress as long as we're ALL mosquitoes living together...

I really enjoyed this documentary. It really makes us realize that due to the fact that most history books (back then especially) were written by white people, that much of the information is one-sided. We hardly get any real or true facts about the African American history. For example, all of these feats were accomplished by an African American: The first open heart surgery First blood bank (developed the technology to do so) Invented the traffic light Processing sugar etc. It's amazing to find out how many inventions that we take for granted that makes our lives comfortable were by African Americans! How do we not know about this?The only thing most people seem to know (if anything) was that George Washington Carver invented peanut butter...

I saw this documentary only once, when I was about 8 or 9 years old, and shortly after it came out. I was in second grade, in a segregated school in Houston, Texas. They were in the process of mandating integration in the school, and our teacher showed this to our class. to help us understand why integration was important. I had only seen Bill Cosby before on "I Spy", and had always liked him more than the other characters because he seemed so nice and funny. In this, he was stern and angry, and made an incredible impression on me. I felt ashamed for how whites had treated blacks in America, and vowed then and there that I would do better. I like to think I have. I still think about his righteous anger from time to time. I am amazed that his message made such an impression on me, and that I still remember this piece, almost 40 years later.

If your only impression of Bill Cosby is the funny man from FAT ALBERT, or the kindly Cliff Huxtable from THE COSBY SHOW, this documentary is a revelation. Basically, the filmmakers take you through a history of African-Americans in cinema. Now, this being the late 60's, it is a very ANGRY retrospective, hosted by a very, shockingly, ANGRY Cos. This doc is loaded with really amazing historical footage and some rather shocking footage from the time. The "Black Power" elementary school is a true masterwork. It is a shame that this doc isn't available on home video, because it is a slice of a life and an insight into a time that has been glossed over by the slow drift of history. Call your local PBS station, petition home video distributors, demand that you see this piece! Bill seems so angry in it, that he may scare younger viewers, but it sure seems more 'real,' than the guy who sells you the Jello.