Roz Batiste is a beautiful and dedicated mother of three, who is forced to admit that her family is falling apart due to her philandering husband Louis. Her younger daughter, Eve, witnesses one of her father's infidelities. Struggling to make sense of what she has seen, Eve turns to her older sister Cisely, who dismisses her in fear of the truth, and then to her Aunt Mozelle, a known psychic and rumored black widow. Unable to find the understanding she is looking for Eve decides to take matters into her own hands. For the Batiste family, the ties that bind may not be strong enough to keep them together, and what they learn will change their lives forever. With Samuel L. Jackson and Lynn Whitfield. (VHS)

The life of Malcolm X (Denzel Washington), who through his religious conversion to Islam, found the strength to rise up from a criminal past to become an influential civil rights leader (DVD and VHS)

In 1930's New York, Bumpy Johnson (Lawrence Fishburne) rules the Harlem numbers racket. When gangster Dutch Schultz (Tim Roth) threatens his reign, Bumpy realizes that his only way out is a dangerous plan involving mob chieftain Lucky Luciano (Andy Garcia). This isn't a great movie, but it's so much fun to watch.

Director Spike Lee fashions a bold, flavorful picture of family life in a crowded but cozy Brooklyn neighborhood nicknamed "Crooklyn" by the Carmichaels, who experience one very special summer in their hometown under difficult but often wonderful circumstances. Great performances from Alfre Woodard and Delroy Lindo. (VHS)

This is the story of a black family's growth and flowering as told through the life of Celie (Whoopi Goldberg). Set in the rural South about 1909, it tells of the loving relationship between Celie and her sister Nettie. At the center of everything is Celie, who as a young girl gives birth to two children who are both taken away from her. She and her sister are also separated. Celie then marries into a life of virtual servitude to a brutal man (Danny Glover) causing her life to be filled with oppression and grinding disappointments. Her joys are few until, after 40 years, she is reunited with her family.

Shaft (Richard Roundtree) is hired by a Harlem mobster to find his kidnapped teenage daughter and finds himself up against some Mafia chieftains who want to take over a chunk of the Black Underworld's uptown territory (VHS)

Three beautiful women visit record executive Morris Levy with one thing in mind: to claim the music royalties earned by their husband, the late, great '50s rock icon Frankie Lymon. They say good things and bad news always travel in threes: looks like the talented, troubled Frankie left more than his music behind. With Halle Berry and Vivica A. Fox.

For three young men growing up in South Central Los Angeles, the "hood" is a place of drive-by shootings, unemployment, drugs and pain. But their reactions to the world around them vary. One is an unambitious drug dealer, his brother is a college bound teenage father, and the brother's best friend is guided by a strong father who hopes for a better life for his son. Directed by John Singleton with Ice Cube and Angela Bassett.

A troubled single mother from a tough Chicago neighborhood is sent to spend a summer at her family's home in rural Mississippi. Directed by Maya Angelou, with Alfre Woodard and Al Freeman, Jr. (VHS)

Dramatic biography of boxing great Muhammad Ali (Will Smith), which focuses on the ten-year period of 1964-1974. In that time, the brash, motor-mouthed athlete quickly dominates his sport, meets and marries his first wife, converts to Islam (changing his name from Cassius Clay), and defies the United States government by refusing to submit to military conscription for duty in Vietnam. His world heavyweight champion title thus stripped from him entirely for political reasons, the champ sets about to win back his crown, culminating in a legendary unification bout against George Foreman in Zaire, dubbed the "Rumble in the Jungle."