The Black Contribution: Literature and Theatre

The Black Contribution – Literature and Theater 1978 stands as a rare documentary that foregrounds the voices and cultural impact of African American writers and performers during the civil rights era. Introduced by NAACP leader Benjamin Hooks and narrated by Roscoe Lee Brown, the film fuses dramatic readings, theatrical excerpts, and candid urban street footage. Margaret Walker’s poem For My People is performed amid scenes of everyday Black life in New York City—children at play, families on their stoops, open fire hydrants, and the stark realities of poverty in 1970s neighborhoods. James Baldwin appears in interview footage, while signs for his play The Amen Corner and stage excerpts from Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun underscore the formidable presence of Black voices in American theater. Along with rare glimpses of Harlem life, literature, and performance, the documentary preserves the enduring contributions of African American artists to U.S. culture and history.