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From the Archives: The Blaxploitation Era.

Filmmaker, writer, director, playwright, producer and actor Melvin Van Peebles. His 1970 movie, "Sweet Sweetback's Baadass Song" made him famous and made Variety's list of all-time money-makers. He's launched two musicals on Broadway and written five novels. (REBROADCAST FROM 7/17/90)

Isaac Hayes is a renowned soul musician, who rose to the top of the charts in the 1970's on the Stax label, a soul record label. His 1972 soundtrack to the movie "Shaft," went platinum and won an Oscar for "Theme From Shaft." HAYES is also an actor, who has held roles in the movies "Robin Hood: Men in Tights," "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka," and "Posse." (REBROADCAST FROM 7/28/94)

Actress Pam Grier. She got her start playing tough, scantily-clad women in black exploitation films, such as "Black Mama, White Mama," "Foxy Brown," and "Sheba Baby." She played a hooker in "Fort Apache: The Bronx," and appeared in the film, "The Class of 1999." (REBROADCAST FROM 5/10/90)

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Other segments from the episode on July 21, 1995

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, July 21, 1995: Interviews with Melvin Van Peebles, Isaac Hayes, and Pam Grier; Interviews with Keenan Ivory Wayans and Daman Wayans; Interview with Robert Townsend.
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13:00

From the Archives: Contemporary Black Hollywood.

Keenan Ivory Wayans. He co-wrote and acted in "Hollywood Shuffle," Robert Townsend's film about a black actor trying to make it in a world of show business stereotypes. He wrote, directed and starred in, "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka," a comedy that parodies black exploitation, kung fu and wild action movies. (REBROADCAST FROM 8/9/89)

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18:39

Melvin Van Peebles on Taking Control of Black Representation

The African American film director is best known for Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, which added a political dimension to the black action movie genre. Van Peebles says that, unlike his own work, the blaxploitation films that came later were apologies for systems of oppression, not critiques of them. Prior to his career in film, he lived in France as a writer. His new book, coauthored by his son Mario, is called No Identity Crisis.

Interview
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44:47

Soul Musician Isaac Hayes

Hayes rose to the top of the charts in the 1970's on the Staxl record label. He released his first solo album, "Presenting Isaac Hayes," in 1968. His next album, "Hot Buttered Soul," became a gold record in the 1970's.

Interview
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11:00

Director and Writer Gordon Parks

Parks directed the early black action film, Shaft. His son, who died in 1979, was also a director. The elder Parks began his career as a photographer for Vogue and Life, and documented difficult aspects of the African American experience. He's just written his memoir, "Voices in the Mirror."

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