Special guest Robert Townsend explains why the themes in SOUNDER still resonate today with Professor Jacqueline Stewart at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. See it tonight during our celebration of #BlackHistoryMonth at 10pm ET. | Turner Classic Movies: TCM

Filmmaker Robert Townsend talks about Woody Strode's legacy as the first Black action-hero in SERGEANT RUTLEDGE ('60) and the making of the film directed by John Ford. See it tomorrow night as he joins Jacqueline Stewart from the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures as we continue to honor #BlackHistoryMonth. | Turner Classic Movies: TCM

Director and actor Robert Townsend shares his affinity for “Blaxploitation” films and how it was the first time he saw Black characters in films as superheroes. [VID: Interview with actor Robert Townsend. Transcript: For one, I hate the term black exploitation because that was the very first time I got to see black folks in lead roles kicking butt and being like all the other heroes that I had grew up on from Bogart to Cagney to John Wayne. You name it. So it was a period where Fred Williamson w