Black Lives Matter

"A Video Web Series Featuring Conversation on the Real Topics of Race and Justice"

"We want to highlight content that will continue the conversation, add historical context to these issues and enable change. Below you will find programs that profile police departments, specials that detail conversations parents of color have with their children, documentaries that cover the treatment of African Americans since slavery and films that shed light on both past and current civil rights activism."

"Although the Civil Rights Act of 1964 legally desegregated the South, discrimination was still rampant in certain areas, making it very difficult for blacks to register to vote. In 1965, an Alabama city became the battleground in the fight for suffrage. Despite violent opposition, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his followers pressed forward on an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, and their efforts culminated in President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965."

"**Oscar-winner** for Best Picture, MOONLIGHT is a moving and transcendent look at three defining chapters in the life of Chiron, a young man growing up in Miami. His epic journey to adulthood, as a shy outsider dealing with difficult circumstances, is guided by support, empathy and love from the most unexpected places. "

"I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO is an examination of racism in America through the lens of James Baldwin's unfinished book, REMEMBER THIS HOUSE. Intended as an account of the lives of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr., each of whom James Baldwin personally knew, only a 30-page manuscript of the book was ever completed. Combining Baldwin's manuscript with footage of depictions of African-Americans throughout American history, I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO uses Baldwin's words to illuminate the pervasiveness of American racism and the efforts to curtail it, from the civil rights movement to #BlackLivesMatter. Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO explores the continued peril America faces from institutionalized racism."

What are the connections between healthy bodies, healthy bank accounts and skin colour? Our opening episode travels to Louisville, Kentucky, not to explore whether medical care cures us but to see why we get sick in the first place, and why patterns of health and illness reflect underlying patterns of class and racial inequities.

"Black lives matter. Learn more about racial injustice and the Black experience in America with this collection of films, series and documentaries."

"In this thought-provoking documentary, scholars, activists and politicians analyze the criminalization of African Americans and the U.S. prison boom."

"In 1989 a jogger was assaulted and raped in New York's Central Park, and five young people were subsequently charged with the crime. The quintet, labeled the Central Park Five, maintained its innocence and spent years fighting the convictions, hoping to be exonerated. This limited series spans a quarter of a century, from when the teens are first questioned about the incident in the spring of 1989, going through their exoneration in 2002 and ultimately the settlement reached with the city of New York in 2014."

"This documentary profiles a defiant driver who challenged racial barriers in American auto racing, becoming the first black man to race in the Indy 500."

"Spike Lee's epic drama spans the extraordinary life of activist Malcolm X, whose relentless advocacy for Black liberation made him a humanitarian icon."

"Time passes and tension mounts in a Florida police station as an estranged interracial couple awaits news of their missing teenage son."

"This series traces the tragic case of Kalief Browder, a Black Bronx teen who spent three horrific years in jail, despite not being convicted of a crime."

"Stark footage traces decades of police brutality and public uprising leading up to the 1992 acquittal of four LAPD officers filmed beating Rodney King."

"A young Barack Obama forges his identity while dealing with race, divergent cultures and ordinary life as a New York City college student."

"It's been decades since Brown v. Board of Education, yet American schools remain largely segregated. Some leaders are working to change that."

"Dubbed the new “civil rights movement”, #BlackLivesMatter launched a transformative grassroots movement that moved from social media to the streets across America. As news and images of the senseless deaths of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Freddie Grey and others spread online, a new generation of civil rights activists came together demanding institutional change. From scheduled marches, to assembled sit-ins and to heated rallies across the country, protesters and communities pushed the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter into a worldwide rallying cry. This is the real story of brave young people who have found their voice to lead a powerful social movement. Now these activists face the daunting challenge of turning protest - into lasting change."

"Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am offers an artful and intimate meditation on the life and works of the acclaimed novelist. From her childhood in the steel town of Lorain, Ohio to '70s-era book tours with Muhammad Ali, from the front lines with Angela Davis to her own riverfront writing room, Toni Morrison leads an assembly of her peers, critics and colleagues on an exploration of race, America, history and the human condition as seen through the prism of her own literature. Woven together with a rich collection of art, history, literature and personality, the film includes discussions about her many critically acclaimed works, including novels "The Bluest Eye," "Sula" and "Song of Solomon," her role as an editor of iconic African-American literature and her time teaching at Princeton University."

"Salvatore "Sal" Fragione (Danny Aiello) is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito), becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria's Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin' Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin' Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise."

"Freedom Riders is the powerful harrowing and ultimately inspirational story of six months in 1961 that changed America forever. From May until November 1961, more than 400 black and white Americans risked their lives—and many endured savage beatings and imprisonment—for simply traveling together on buses and trains as they journeyed through the Deep South. Deliberately violating Jim Crow laws in order to test and challenge a segregated interstate travel system, the Freedom Riders met with bitter racism and mob violence along the way, sorely testing their belief in nonviolent activism."

"Fruitvale Station is a 2013 American biographical drama film written and directed by Ryan Coogler. It is Coogler's feature directorial debut and is based on the events leading to the death of Oscar Grant, a young man who was killed in 2009 by BART police officer Johannes Mehserle at the Fruitvale district station of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system in Oakland."

"In 2012 Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in Sanford, Fla., by neighborhood watch member George Zimmerman. Martin, a 17-year-old African-American high school student, was visiting a friend with his father and was unarmed. Based on Florida's Stand Your Ground Law, Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder, claiming he shot Martin in self-defense. The fatal encounter and the subsequent trial sparked outrage and protests and shined an unforgiving light on issues including race, politics, power, money and gun control. Across six episodes, this unscripted documentary recounts the life and legacy of Trayvon and includes interviews combined with home videos, family photos, and news footage. It also addresses cultural and societal issues surrounding the tragedy, and it presents an in-depth examination into the investigation, trial, and the not-guilty verdict."

Using interviews and rare archival footage, JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE chronicles Lewis’ 60-plus years of social activism and legislative action on civil rights, voting rights, gun control, health-care reform and immigration. Using present-day interviews with Lewis, now 80 years old, Porter explores his childhood experiences, his inspiring family and his fateful meeting with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1957. In addition to her interviews with Lewis and his family, Porter’s primarily cinéma verité film also includes interviews with political leaders, Congressional colleagues, and other people who figure prominently in his life.