Still a Brother
| Still a Brother: Inside the Negro Middle Class | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | William Greaves |
| Written by | William B. Branch, William Greaves |
| Narrated by | Ossie Davis |
| Edited by | William Greaves |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Still a Brother: Inside the Negro Middle Class is a 1968 documentary film directed by William Greaves.[1]
Development
[edit]Still a Brother was written by William B. Branch and directed by William Greaves. It was narrated by Ossie Davis.[2]
After the film was finished, Greaves encountered difficulty in convincing National Educational Television (NET) to air it, saying that "They had expected an Ebony magazine kind of film."[3]: 93 It aired on NET a few weeks after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in April 1968.[4]
Synopsis
[edit]The documentary featured interviews from Black middle-class professionals across a wide variety of careers. It emphasizes Black dignity and achievement.[4] The film sought to contrast their experiences with the experiences of both Black radicals and white middle-class professionals; and describe a situation in which the Black middle class are reaching economic security but without social equity or equality.[4][5] The film also touches on issues with housing, the role of religion in Black nationalism, and the rise of African-American culture.[6]
Horace Wesley Morris, associate director of the New York Urban League (NYUL) is featured.[7] Also appearing in the film are John H. Johnson, president of Johnson Publishing Co; Robert E. Johnson, editor of Jet magazine; Cathy Aldridge of the New York Amsterdam News; St. Clair Drake, sociologist and professor at Roosevelt University; Ralph Featherstone of SNCC; Julian Bond, Georgia legislator; Bayard Rustin, director of the A. Philip Randolph Institute; Percy Julian, a research chemist and millionaire; and Nathan Wright, Episcopal Minister and organizer of the 1967 Newark Black Power Conference.[8][9]
Reception
[edit]Still a Brother was positively received upon release. Jack Gould, writing in The New York Times, praised the construction of the documentary but criticized the repetition of some points.[10]
The film ran 90 minutes but it was later edited down into a 60 minute piece and re-aired in 1969. In 1969, Greaves was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work Still a Brother,[1] which also won the Blue Ribbon Award at the American Film Festival.[11][12]
A few years later a television documentary film called, "To Be Black" aired on ABC, which also explored the Black middle class.[4]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Mutima, Niamani (1976). "Hatch-Billops Archives Interviews with Playwrights". Negro American Literature Forum. 10 (2): 64–65. doi:10.2307/3041209. ISSN 0028-2480.
- ^ "Still a Brother: Inside the Negro Middle Class". William Greaves. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
- ^ Holloway, Jonathan Scott (2013). Jim Crow Wisdom: Memory & Identity in Black America since 1940. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-1-4696-1070-2. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
- ^ a b c d Samuel, Lawrence R. (2013-07-18). The American Middle Class: A Cultural History. Routledge. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-134-62468-3.
- ^ Cross, Robert (1968-05-01). "Businessmen, Professionals on NET Documentary". Chicago Tribune. p. 79. Retrieved 2023-03-21 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Educational Films. University of Michigan Media Resources Center. 1973. p. 467.
- ^ "Businessmen, Professionals on NET Documentary". Chicago Tribune. 1968-05-01. p. 79. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
- ^ MacDonald, Scott; Stewart, Jacqueline Najuma (2021-06-01). William Greaves: Filmmaking as Mission. Columbia University Press. pp. 142–144. ISBN 978-0-231-55319-3.
- ^ Aldridge, Cathy; Bond, Julian; Branch, William; Davis, Ossie; Drake, St Clair; Evans, Sticks; Greaves, William; Johnson, John H.; Julian, Percy Lavon, eds. (2018). Still a brother: inside the Negro middle class. New York: William Greaves Productions.
- ^ Gould, Jack (1968-04-30). "N.E.T. Program Views Negro Middle Class". The New York Times. p. 95. ProQuest 118309108. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
- ^ "Making the Film: About William Greaves". pbs.org. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
- ^ Nelson, Emmanuel S. (2004-10-30). African American Dramatists: An A-to-Z Guide: An A-to-Z Guide. ABC-CLIO. pp. 45–46. ISBN 978-0-313-05289-7.
Further reading
[edit]- MacDonald, Scott; Stewart, Jacqueline Najuma (2021). William Greaves: Filmmaking as Mission. Columbia University Press.