The Krio of West Africa: Islam, Culture, Creolization, and Colonialism in the Nineteenth Century
Book
"The Krio of West Africa: Islam, Culture, Creolization, and Colonialism in the Nineteenth Century,...
Greatness in the Shadows: Larry Doby and the Integration of the American League
Book
Breaking the color line with Jackie Robinson Just weeks after Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn...
Unprecedented: The Masters and Me
Tiger Woods and Lorne Rubinstein
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In 1997, Tiger Woods was already among the most watched and closely examined athletes in history....
Twenty Feet from Stardom (2014)
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The backup singer exists in a strange place in the pop music world; they are always in the shadow of...
Kosher USA: How Coke Became Kosher and Other Tales of Modern Food
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Kosher USA follows the fascinating journey of kosher food through the modern industrial food system....
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Hidden Figures (2016) in Movies
Jul 12, 2019
Hidden Figures discusses the contributions of African-American women at NASA — Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe). The film is enlightening and allows for audiences to gain a greater understanding of women and women of color in ensuring the success of the American Space program. The film does not exaggerate circumstances to a point where it is difficult to believe. What is difficult to believe for audiences in using this film to look at the past is that we have waited so long to recognize and honor these heroes. Without their contributions, the United States may have never made it to the moon.
The film offers adults and youth audiences an honest look into what these women faced in the forms of racism and sexism. There is no brutality of racism or violence demonstrated, but the spectre of it lingers over the film and reminds the viewer of the hardships that these women faced. They had the minds to carry out their tasks, but they did not have the right gender or color to be taken seriously, at first. The film is empowering and allows for young girls, despite race, to see that science and math are not fields that are not limited to men. Appropriate representation allows for more depth to history and the role that people of different walks, faiths, and nationalities have played in society. Hidden Figures is a timely film that allows for greater representation and may push filmmakers and audiences to discover more hidden figures in history.
Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture
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Disco thumps back to life in this pulsating look at the culture and politics that gave rise to the...
Cuisine and Culture: A History of Food and People
Book
An illuminating account of how history shapes our diets now in a new revised and updated Third...
The History of European Jazz: The Music, Musicians and Audience in Context
Book
The increased circulation of people and ideas within Europe is not matched by an awareness of a...
Eugene O'Neill: A Life in Four Acts
Book
A major new biography of the Nobel Prize-winning playwright whose brilliantly original plays...