Richard Wright: Black Boy (TV)

RICHARD WRIGHT: BLACK BOY is the first documentary film on the life, work and legacy of Richard Wright. Born outside Natchez, Mississippi in 1908, Wright overcame a childhood of poverty and oppression to become one of America’s most influential writers. The film follows his journey through the Chicago black cultural Renaissance of the ’30s, the Communist Party during the Depression, the witch-hunts of the McCarthy era and the American expatriate community in Paris in the ’50s. This film biography demonstrates Wright’s life-long belief that “words can be weapons against injustice.” It will encourage students of American Literature, Black Studies and 20th Century American History to revisit Wright’s work with fresh enthusiasm and deepened understanding.