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Brand New DVD 118 minutes
$22.95
“Paul Laurence Dunbar: Beyond the Mask” is a documentary on the life and legacy of the first African American to achieve national fame as a writer.Born to former slaves in Dayton, Ohio, Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), is best remembered for his poem, We Wear the Mask” and for lines from “Sympathy” that became the title of Maya Angelou’s famous autobiography “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” A clip of Angelou reciting Dunbar’s poem on the David Frost Show is featured. Dunbar’s story is also the story of the African American experience around the turn of the century. The man Abolitionist Frederick Douglass called “The most promising young colored man in America” wrote widely published essays critical of Jim Crow Laws, lynching and what was commonly called “The Negro Problem.”
Yet, to earn a living, Dunbar worked as an elevator boy and wrote poems and stories utilizing “Plantation Dialect.” He also composed songs for Broadway that bordered on blackface minstrelsy.
More than 8 years in the making, “Beyond the Mask” received support from Ohio Humanities and major funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. It is a production of the Central Region Humanities Center based at Ohio University.
Hopefully the DVD will stimulate some of the young folks to grab a book and read his poetry and prose. Thanks for doing business with us. Now over 30 years its hard to express how much we appreciate your support. Now more than ever We at EsoWon think the need for an alternative source of knowledge is needed. Our books represent some of the finest minds in our Nation’s History and Your continued support of our store keeps good books like these in print. Sincerely, James, Tom & Sam |