Once Upon a Time...When We Were Colored

Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored is a film directed by Tim Reid and the screenplay was written by Paul W. Cooper. The film is based on Clifton Taulberts real life and his nonfiction book Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored. The film plays out Taulberts life.

The film takes place in Glen Allan, Mississippi, during the mid1900s. In the early stages of the film, the audience gains more knowledge regarding Cliffs upbringing. His biological mother was too young to take care of him and was not able to provide Cliff with financial support therefore he was raised by his extended family. Ma Pearl and Poppa begin to take care of him but after a couple of years, Ma Ponk begins to take care of Cliff and ultimately raises him, with the help of Poppa. Ma Pearls character is played by Paula Kelly, and Ma Ponks character is played by Phylicia Rashad.Poppas character is played by Al Freeman, Jr. Ma Ponk, Poppa, and Cliff are the three main characters in the film. Another scene that occurs early on in the film which helps to portray the racial climate during the 1950s in the South, is when Cliff and Poppa attend a parade hosted by the Ku Klux Klan and are confronted for being African Americans by a violent Ku Klux Klan member. As the film progresses, it is known that Cliff lives in a lowincome, rural place where almost every adult is a laborer, most commonly a field worker. This is known when the narrator mentions that Cliff attends school in a single bungalow where his classmates are the children of servants, illiterate farm workers, poor field workers, and maids. Even his caregiver, Ma Ponk works in a cotton field picking cotton for a white farmer. ........

Source: Wikipedia