“The Color Purple” (1985) - This gem of a gritty drama got 11 Oscar nominations but ended up with a giant goose egg in the win column. Whoopi Goldberg, in her second feature film appearance, and Oprah Winfrey, making her big-screen debut, were nominated but did not receive any recognition, snubbed by the Academy. GRADE: A+ “Shaft” (1971) - This significant action crime-thriller was amazing be-cause it started the whole blaxploitation trend in the 1970s. It also won a Best Song Academy...

This is a forgotten gem in the Miramax Films arsenal. “Fresh,” which came out in 1994,” is a crime drama youth tale about the title character (Sean Nelson), a 12-year-old boy who’s a drug dealer. The only time he sees Sam (Samuel L. Jackson), his father, is in the park because Fresh is not supposed to be seeing him. Sam is considered a derelict by his family. He plays chess in the park with his father, and it serves as a motivator for his life. Fresh works for two rival gangs and pits them against each...

If Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today, he would be 94 years old. He would have lived through 9/11 and the election of former president Barack Obama. Current president Joe Biden is 80 and saw the civil rights movement end with Dr. King’s death,...

Conversation starters for discussions about African-American cultural identity were the theme of the “Celebrating Blackness” event Feb. 9, part of college-wide events celebrating Black History Month.

The presentation in El Paso Hall covered a variety of areas including vernacular language, family and community engagement and the viability of Black literature, music and art.

Ricardo Williams, a coordinator for the Multicultural Center, said that Black History Month served to honor “the pioneers of the past.” He said the center works synergistically with students’ different cultures in order that those cultures might each be celebrated.