Micheaux_Image_110713For years, Hollywood has been known to keep the accomplishments of African-American low on the radar. Besides not awarding deserving actors and actresses for their outstanding performances in various big budget films, Hollywood has also shied away from pointing out the African-Americans who have made great strides in the film industry behind-the-scenes.  One person in particular is Oscar Micheaux.

 

Oscar Micheaux is one of the first black filmmakers.  Born of former sharecroppers, he made over 40 films outside of Hollywood that were tailored to black audiences. He scouted for and created his own stars, which produced Paul Robeson and Robert Earl Jones (the father of James Earl Jones) among his discovery.  Micheaux forty films were produced in a 30 year time span. His story of struggle and resilience is the reason why Jeremy Geltzer believes this story is a powerful one to tell.

 

Geltzer is a writer and entertainment lawyer.  Micheaux has been non-existent any Hollywood’s film history.  Many published books has overlooked the filmmakers contributions to the industry and the African-American film community. Therefore, Geltzer has written this biography for kids of ages 9 to 13.   Micheaux’s story serves as an outline for young people who has dreams but may face obstacles along the way.

 

Parents and teachers, if you think this would be a great book for your kids, Oscar Micheaux: A Self Made Man can be purchased on Amazon.com for $6.99 and via Apple’s bookstore for $3.99.