Herskovits at the Heart of Blackness

The Pioneering American Anthropologist of African Studies

Part of the Series: California Newsreel Essential Collection

Is there a politics of knowledge? Who controls what knowledge is produced and how it will be used? Is there "objective" scholarship and, if so, how does it become politicized? These questions are examined through this groundbreaking film on the life and career of Melville J. Herskovits (1895-1963), the pioneering American anthropologist of African Studies and one of the most controversial intellectuals of the 20th century.

How did this son of Jewish immigrants come to play such a decisive role in the shaping of modern African American and African identities? Herskovits emerges as an iconic figure in on-going debates in the social sciences over the ethics of representation and the right of a people to represent themselves.

Winner, Best Documentary, Hollywood Black Film Festival

"Paradox abounds in considering the place of Melville J. Herskovits in American intellectual and political history. An important documentary that should be required viewing for students of American intellectual history" - James Pritchett, Director, African Studies Center, Michigan State University