This introduction to 20th century African American art is accompanied by jazz and blues and by a conversation between director Elyseo Taylor and printmaker Dan Slater that outlines the specific pressures on Black artists: the difficulties of asserting aesthetic authority, the desire to reflect politically on race in the US and the necessity to suit white and middle-class Black tastes.

Julie Dash’s first work as a director is this dance film set to Nina Simone’s performance of the title song.

O.Funmilayo Makarah's oblique meditation on the semiotics of ethnic female identity accompanies a cynical narration about how to “win an invitation to the dominant culture.”

Filmmaker Alicia Dhanifu constructs a rigorous and beautifully rendered history of belly dancing –  its roots and history, forms and meanings. The filmmaker performs this art as well, alone and with other dancers.

L.A.’s diverse racial and ethnic communities (African, Asian, Latin American) express themselves through a wide variety of masks, which come together in the annual festival documented by this film.