Movies

The Butler is a feature film which won  the 2013 African-American Film Critics Association awards for both Best Actor (Forest Whitaker) and Best Supporting Actress (Oprah Winfrey). Winfrey was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Starr Carter is constantly switching between two worlds: the poor, mostly black neighborhood where she lives and the rich, mostly white prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Now, facing pressures from all sides of the community, Starr must find her voice and stand up for what's right. Recommended by YWCA of Madison

In this drama, a nurse puts her own plans and dreams on hold when her husband is sentenced to eight years in prison. Despite the disapproval of some of her family and financial stress, she works to maintain her marriage and support her husband emotionally- making regular trips to visit him in prison. Writer/director DuVernay explores the lives of women waiting, and said in the Los Angeles Times she was inspired by the lives of women from her own neighborhood (she grew up in Long Beach and Compton).

In this feature film based on the book Push by Sapphire, in 1987 an obese, illiterate, black 16-year-old named Claireece 'Precious' Jones lives in Harlem with her dysfunctional family. She has been raped and impregnated twice by her father, Carl and suffers constant physical, mental and sexual abuse from her unemployed mother, Mary. After getting pregnant for the second time, Precious is suspended from her school. Her principal arranges to have her attend an alternative school where her new teacher, Ms. Rain, helps Precious learn to read and she responds to this glimmer of hope. There Precious also meets Mrs. Weiss, a social worker, who discovers the abuse and incest that Precious has had to endure. As the film ends, we are hopeful about Precious' future. Gabourey Sidibe won many awards for her portrayal of Precious- including an NAACP Image Award, an Independent Spirit Award, a Black Reel Award and many others. The film (as well as director Lee Daniels and co-star Mo'Nique) also received many award nominations- including multiple Academy Award nominations.