Bunk is a shared home for the web's most interesting thinking about American history. Take a moment to read about How Bunk Works. You can find the entire article that each excerpt on Bunk is drawn from by looking for the “View on…” button below that excerpt.

This linked excerpt places Oscar Micheaux’s body of work within the genre of “race films”, defined as movies “made between the late 1910s and the late 1940s…for black audiences, by black filmmakers and actors.” After reading the excerpt and recalling any elements of the lobby card for The Betrayal (Required Source) that you found noteworthy, write down, discuss, or simply think about answers to the following questions:

• Consider various forms of civil rights activism. What do you see as some of the key similarities and differences between “race films” and other forms such as public demonstrations, speeches, writings, lawsuits, political lobbying, etc.? 
• If you were writing a paper about Micheaux as an artist-activist, what specific biographical information would you prioritize in your research?
• If you wanted to understand how Micheaux fit into the broader “race film” movement, what kinds of primary and secondary sources would you look for in your research?