Within Our Gates (1919)
Directed by Oscar Micheaux. Earliest known surviving feature directed by an African-American. Created in response to The Birth of a Nation which depicted southern whites in need of the Ku Klux Klan to protect them from blood thirsty blacks. Shows the reality of Dixie racism in 1920, where a black man could be lynched for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Library of Congress.
Colby Libraries Streaming:
Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools
Takes a deep dive into the lives of Black girls and the practices, cultural beliefs and policies that disrupt one of the most important factors in their lives — education. Alarmingly, African American girls are the fastest-growing population in the juvenile justice system and the only group of girls to disproportionately experience criminalization at every education level. Inspired by the groundbreaking book of the same name by Monique W. Morris, Ed.D. (Kanopy)
Pushout (Kanopy)
I Am Not Your Negro
(2016) An Oscar-nominated documentary about and inspired by the writings of James Baldwin. Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson. Directed by Raoul Peck. A journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter. It is a film that questions black representation in Hollywood and beyond. And, ultimately, by confronting the deeper connections between the lives and assassination of these three leaders, Baldwin and Peck have produced a work that challenges the very definition of what America stands for.
I Am Not Your Negro (Kanopy)
Black Is...Black Ain't
The final film by Marlon Riggs. White Americans have always stereotyped African Americans. But the rigid definitions of "Blackness" that African Americans impose on each other, Riggs claims, have also been devastating. Is there an essential Black identity? Is there a litmus test defining the real Black man and true Black woman? (1995) California Newsreel. Academic Video Online.
Still: Black Is...Black Ain't (California Newsreel /AVON)
P.S. I Can’t Breathe
(2015) On December 13th 2014, tens of thousands of New Yorkers took to the streets to call attention to the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of the police and to urge lawmakers to take action. P.S. I Can't Breathe Documentary is a raw, uncensored glimpse into the Millions March NYC AFTER a NYC grand jury deliberated to not indict the officer who killed Eric Garner by placing him in a choke hold.
P.S. I Can't Breathe (Kanopy)
Whose Streets?
(2017) Told by the activists and leaders who live and breathe this movement for justice, an unflinching look at the Ferguson uprising. When unarmed teenager Michael Brown is killed by police and left lying in the street for hours, it marks a breaking point for the residents of St. Louis, Missouri. Grief, long-standing racial tensions and renewed anger bring residents together to hold vigil and protest this latest tragedy.
Poster: Whose Streets? (Kanopy)
Broken on All Sides: Race, Mass Incarceration & New Visions for Criminal Justice in the U.S. (2017)
Today, there are more African Americans in prison or jail, on probation or parole, than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began. The prison population has exploded by 500% since the end of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. America locks up more of its racial and ethnic minorities than any other country (including South Africa at the height of apartheid).
East Lake Meadows: A Public Housing Story (2020)
East Lake Meadows: A Public Housing Story gives voice to some of the most marginalized people in our society and raises critical questions about how we have created concentrated poverty and limited housing opportunity for African Americans.
Limited Time Free Streaming:
When They See Us by Ana DuVernay for Netflix
Netflix miniseries directed by Ana DuVerney. Five teens from Harlem become trapped in a nightmare when they're falsely accused of the rape of a woman in New York's Central Park. Based on the 1989 Central Park jogger case that revealed the systematic racism and inequities in law enforcement and our justice system.
13th by Ava DuVernay for Netflix
(2016) Combining archival footage with testimony from activists and scholars, director Ava DuVernay's examination of the U.S. prison system looks at how the country's history of racial inequality drives the high rate of incarceration in America.
Oscar-nominated, best documentary at the Emmys, BAFTAs and NAACP Image Awards.
TV-MA For mature audiences.
Temporarily on YouTube courtesy of Netflix.
PBS Videos: (Duration of availability unknown)
Policing the Police (2016) PBS Frontline
How do you change a troubled police force? Get a rare look inside a police department being forced to reform. 53:16
Race Matters: America in Crisis, A PBS NewsHour Special (2020)
As the United States grapples with widespread unrest after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, our fraught national relationship with race is again in the spotlight. How can we move forward from this moment? PBS NewsHour believes we should begin the conversation by listening to black Americans. For that, we turn to a variety of grassroots voices, newsmakers and thought leaders. Rating NR, 56m 45s
The Talk: Race in America (2017)
A film about “the talk” that parents have with their children of color (primarily boys) to teach them how to act around the police in order to remain safe. 1hr 55 min. PBS
Still from The Talk: Race in America (AVON)
The Criterion Channel is no longer offering free open access, but does have free trials.
Black Panthers (1970)
Agnès Varda turns her camera on an Oakland demonstration against the imprisonment of activist and Black Panthers cofounder Huey P. Newton. In addition to evincing Varda’s fascination with her adopted surroundings and her empathy, this perceptive short is also a powerful political statement.
Body and Soul (1925)
BODY AND SOUL, directed by the legendary African American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, is a direct critique of the power of the cloth, casting Robeson in dual roles as a jackleg preacher and a well-meaning inventor. Starring the legendary Paul Robeson, Mercedes Gilbert, Lawrence Chenault.
Daughters of the Dust (1991)
Julie Dash’s rapturous vision of black womanhood and vanishing ways of life in the turn-of-the-century South was the first film directed by an African American woman to receive a wide release. Starring Cora Lee Day, Alva Rogers, Barbara O. Jones.
Down in the Delta (1998)
The only film directed by the iconic writer, poet, and activist Maya Angelou is a warm, richly evocative celebration of black southern family and resilience. Starring Alfre Woodard, Al Freeman Jr., Esther Rolle.
Losing Ground (1982)
One of the first feature films directed by an African American woman, Kathleen Collins’s LOSING GROUND tells the story of a marriage between two remarkable people, both at a crossroads in their lives. Starring Seret Scott, Bill Gunn, Duane Jones.
My Brother's Wedding (1983)
Recut and restored twenty-five years after its ill-fated premiere, Charles Burnett’s second feature is an eye-opening revelation—wise, funny, heartbreaking, and timeless. Pierce Mundy works at his parents’ South Central dry cleaners with no prospects for the future and his childhood buddies in prison or dead. With his best friend just getting out of jail and his brother busy planning a wedding to a snooty upper-middle-class black woman, Pierce navigates his conflicting obligations while trying to figure out what he really wants in life.
Portrait of Jason (1967)
On the night of December 2, 1966, Shirley Clarke and a tiny crew convened in her apartment at the Hotel Chelsea to make a film. For twelve straight hours, they filmed the one-and-only Jason Holliday as he spun tales, sang, donned costumes, and reminisced about good times and bad behavior as a gay hustler and aspiring cabaret performer. The result is a mesmerizing portrait of a remarkable, charming, and tortured man who is by turns hilarious and heartbreaking.
The Watermelon Woman (1996)
Cheryl Dunye’s bitingly funny, deeply personal feature debut is a landmark look at the black lesbian experience. The director herself stars as Cheryl, a twenty-something lesbian struggling to make a documentary about Fae Richards, a beautiful and elusive 1930s black film actress popularly known as the Watermelon Woman.