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Streaming video

Title A question of color / a film from California Newsreel ; Film Two Productions ; produced, directed and written by Kathe Sandler ; co-writer, Luke Charles Harris
Published San Francisco, CA : California Newsreel, 1993
[San Francisco, California, USA] : Kanopy Streaming, 2015

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Description 1 online resource (1 video file, approximately 58 min.) : sound, color with black and white sequences
Summary A Question of Color is the first documentary to confront a painful and long taboo subject: the disturbing feelings many African Americans harbor about themselves and their appearance. African American filmmaker Kathe Sandler digs into the often subconscious world of "color consciousness, " a caste system based on how closely skin color, hair texture and facial features conform to a European ideal. A Question of Color traces "colorism" back to the sexual subjugation of black women by slave owners and the preferential treatment their mixed-race children received. The film is especially sensitive to the burdens borne by black women who often feel devalued by white standards of beauty. Disturbing scenes with teen-age rappers, a Harlem plastic surgeon, a television news anchor and a writer indicate the color problem is still very much with us, affecting employment, friendship and marriage. This unusually sensitive film can help viewers examine the complex interplay between racial identity, culture and self-image in society and within themselves
Notes Title from title frames
Credits Cinematography, Michael Chin & Robert Shepard ; music, Jason Hwang [and others] ; executive producer, St. Clair Bourne ; co-writer/chief consultant, Luke Charles Harris ; editors, Kate Davis, Lucy Winer
Performer Participants: Curtia James, Esther Lloyd, Wiley Woodard, Harriet Mayner, Kim Mayner, Harold Mayner, Bobby Davis, Johnny Ford, Dr. Benjamin Payton, Baylies Davis, Robert L. Davis, Rhonda Baraka, Dianne Houston, Cheryl Anthony, Pat Williams, Vertamae Grosvenor, Melba Tolliver, Malcolm X, Kathleen Cleaver, Stokeley Carmichael, Jesse Jackson, Karen Halliburton
Event Originally produced by California Newsreel in 1993
Notes In English with optional closed captions in English
Subject Colorism -- United States
African Americans -- Color -- Social aspects
African Americans -- Color -- Psychological aspects
African Americans -- Race identity -- Psychological aspects
Race awareness -- United States
Body image -- Psychological aspects
Race awareness.
Colorism.
African Americans -- Color -- Social aspects.
Body image -- Psychological aspects.
United States.
Genre/Form Internet videos.
Documentary films.
Internet videos.
Documentary films.
Vidéos sur Internet.
Documentaires.
Form Streaming video
Author Sandler, Kathe, film director, film producer, writer.
Harris, Luke Charles, 1950- writer.
Hwang, Jason, composer.
Film Two Productions, production company.
California Newsreel (Firm), production company.
Other Titles Subtitle on Kanopy landing page: Subconscious world of color consciousness