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Want to support this channel and help us preserve old films? Visit Visit our website Hosted by Ossie Davis, this 1965 educational film “Heritage of the Negro“ was made by the National Educational Television and Radio Center. The film is part of a series called “History of the Negro People.“ This episode challenges Eurocentric accounts of African history. While the film features many outdated ideas and terms, and contains racist imagery of Black people, these images and terms are used as examples of harmful stereotypes that suppress the richness of African-descended people and their histories. The film is split between documenting the lived experiences of African Americans, critiquing the use of the word “negro”, and educating about the history of Africa. 00:14 Man speaks. Background map of Africa. 00:21 Man in glasses speaks. 00:31 Man speaks, background map. 00:43 Man speaks. 01:02 Young boy leans on mother. 01:03 Montage: Black women and men in various dress and styles. 01:12 Mother holds son. Children in background. Title: “History of the Negro People“. 01:18 Boy smiles in doorway. Title: “ Heritage of the Negro“. 01:25 Ossie Davis leans on mantel decorated with African sculptures. 02:02 Close up: Davis. 03:16 Stereotyped image of Black man grimacing, “tribal“ face paint. 03:18 Group of actors in stereotypical “tribal“ dress. 03:20 Black men kneeling before white woman. 03:22 Montage: Images of Black men and woman in media. Serving and comforting white people. 03:24 White man grabs Black man. 03:27 Minstrel show clips. Popular in the 19th and early 20th century, minstrel shows relied on racist depictions of Black people. 03:32 Davis speaks. 04:50 Farmer rolls hay. 05:09 Young boy. 05:19 Group of men. 05:21 Woman carries plate to outdoor table with child. Man grills. 05:32 Pan from Bible to Black audience in pews. 05:52 African Americans on subway cars. 06:11 Train passes “Canal“ sign. 06:20 Montage: Integrated classes of children. 07:19 Students read from textbook. 07:42 Davis speaks. 08:22 Two women in kitchen, one shows off “Nigerian“ style clothing. 08:47 Black man in western business attire argues with Nigerian dressed woman. 09:51 African portraits, “Watusi“, books about people of African descent: “Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah“, “The Slave who Freed Haiti: The Story of Toussaint Louverture“. 10:04 Class of all Black students. 10:07 Woman asks question. 10:22 Robert Moore addresses class. 10:43 John Henrik Clarke, influential professor of Africana studies, lectures. 11:13 Students listen. 11:27 Clarke speaks. 11:41 Basil Davidson, British journalist specializing in African history, speaks. 12:20 African soldiers walk behind white woman. 12:31 White woman picks cotton with young Black children. 12:34 Montage: European colonists demonstrate skills to African people on plantation. 12:43 Motorcade procession, white woman under parasol in car. 12:48 Town of grass-sewn huts. 13:10 Herd of cattle. 13:16 Two people sail in canoe. 13:21 Forest vegetation. 13:28 Seamstresses weaves fabrics. 13:46 Savannah landscape. 13:56 River. 14:02 Sun. 14:07 Sahara Desert dunes. 14:17 Tracks in sand. 14:29 Mountain covered in foggy clouds. 14:34 Waterfall. 14:40 Rainfall in jungle. 14:52 Jungle environments. 15:04 Crocodile creeps into water. 15:16 Snake. 15:18 Buzzards on branches. 15:21 Lion. 15:24 Zebra herd. 15:35 Lion. 15:38 People work on archeological dig site. 15:56 Dr. Louis Leakey, paleoanthropologist, holds fossil. 16:05 Assembled skull of Paranthropus boisei. 16:17 Graphic of ancient hominina. 16:21 Egyptian monument. 16:37 Pan of Great Pyramids and Sphinx. 17:07 Montage: Busts of Egyptian people. 17:28 Group of Ethiopian tribesmen circled together. 17:35 Men talk and smoke. 17:55 Timbuktu. 18:04 Crowds of people at market. 18:13 Ghanaian people meet indoors. They talk together. 18:46 Cavalry ride through desert. 18:58 Montage: Battle between Arabs and Ghanaians. 19:50 Islamic group of Africans pray. 20:03 Boy holds written stone tablet. 20:12 Man instructs child. 20:28 Caravan with King Mansa Musa, ruler of Mali empire. 20:52 Timbuktu skyline. 21:14 Davidson speaks. 21:41 People play instruments, drums as people dance. 22:06 Group of dancers. 22:24 Montage: Sculptors carve on various mediums. 22:51 Examples of African art, some are Benin Bronzes, collection of pieces from Kingdom of Benin. 23:17 Crowded European museum interior. 23:29 Pieces of African art inside museum. 23:48 Davis speaks. 24:33 Female student asks question. 24:44 Clarke speaks. 27:04 Classrooms of Black youth. 27:44 Producer, writer, director: Arthur W. Rabin 28:45 NET logo. This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit
