Author William W. Lace provides an insightful perspective on the history of African American representation and participation in the American film industry. Chapters discuss the incremental access to, and acceptance in, mainstream mass culture by its gatekeepers, white studio heads and the largely Caucasian viewing public. This volume examines the stereotyped characters that flooded silent and early sound pictures and explores the beginning of films produced by and for African Americans, such as Blaxploitation films of the 1970s and the work of groundbreaking directors like Spike Lee, who broke into mainstream cultural success and shattered racialized stereotypes in the 1980s and beyond.