I saw this on Facebook...

Writer, producer, director Oscar Micheaux was the first African-American to produce a feature length film, and one of the most prolific independent film producers of all time. He is considered a major figure in early American films and a symbol of the artist triumphing over long odds to bring his vision to the public. Born in 1884 in Metropolis, Illinois, Oscar Micheaux was one of 13 children of parents who had been born into slavery. When he was 17, he left town and moved to Chicago, where he got a job as a Pullman porter, one of the best jobs available to a young black man in the days of the Jim Crow laws.

But Oscar was a dreamer. And a doer. Inspired by the self-help teachings of Booker T. Washington and the "Go west, young man" philosophy of Horace Greenley, Oscar moved to Gregory County, South Dakota in 1905 and homesteaded a 500 acre farm, despite the fact that he had no farming experience. You know, my Mama was from South Dakota, and I'm guessing that in 1905, Oscar was maybe the only black person in the entire state. I can't imagine what all those Norwegian bachelor farmers made of him, though they were bound to have been impressed by his gumption.



http://www.reunionblackfamily.com/apps/blog/show/14351208-writer-producer-director-oscar-micheaux-was-the-first-african-american-to-produce-a-feature-length-film-