How Black America saved Hollywood By 1969, Hollywood was in decline. The old studio system was failing, TV was dominating, and big-budget films were flopping. Audiences, shaped by the Civil Rights Movement and counterculture, wanted fresh, relevant stories—but Hollywood wasn’t delivering. Enter Black Hollywood. Sidney Poitier had paved the way, but the real shift came in the early 1970s with blaxploitation films. Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971) and Shaft (1971) proved that Black-led fil