We believe ourselves to be accepting, rational and inclusive individuals, don't we? But, are we really? Delve deeper into the topic of racism to gain understanding of where we are, how we got here, and what we can do to make our world a better place for all.
This is a revisionist work of historiography that offers a critical reexamination of traditionally celebrated figures and events in American history—including the Patriots of the American Revolution, the Founding Fathers, and Abraham Lincoln and the Union during the Civil War. In our view, it's a book every American should read to gain a deeper and more honest understanding of our nation's past.
Oprah's book club selection - This is the unforgettable true story of Anthony Ray Hinton, who spent 30 years on death row for a crime he didn’t commit. With faith, resilience, and the help of attorney Bryan Stevenson, he was finally exonerated. A powerful testament to hope, justice, and the strength of the human spirit.
A #1 New York Times bestseller, this book is a memoir by attorney Bryan Stevenson, chronicling his work defending marginalized individuals in the U.S. criminal justice system. The book centers on the case of Walter McMillian, a Black man wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to death in Alabama. Through Stevenson's efforts, McMillian was eventually exonerated, highlighting systemic issues such as racial bias, inadequate legal representation, and harsh sentencing. Stevenson also discusses other cases, including juveniles sentenced to life without parole, emphasizing the need for compassion and reform in the justice system.
In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life.
This New York Times best-selling book explores the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality.
This is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. It captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.
America's Unholy Ghosts examines the DNA of the ideologies that shape our nation, ideologies that are as American as apple pie but that too often justify and perpetuate racist ideas and racial inequalities. MLK challenged us to investigate the "ideational roots of race hate" and Ghosts does just that by examining a philosophical "trinity"--Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Adam Smith--whose works collectively helped to institutionalize, imagine, and ingrain racist ideologies into the hearts and minds of the American people.
In his book, Kendi takes readers through a widening circle of antiracist ideas - from the most basic concepts to visionary possibilities - that will help readers see all forms of racism clearly, understand their poisonous consequences, and work to oppose them in our systems and in ourselves.
In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, the author offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?
This 57-minute documentary was produced by Connecticut Public Television (CPTV). It examines the enduring impact of discriminatory housing policies in Connecticut. The film explores how practices like redlining and exclusionary zoning have led to persistent racial and economic segregation across the state's towns and cities.
"A Class Divided" is an episode of the PBS series Frontline. It profiles the Iowa schoolteacher Jane Elliott and her class of 3rd graders, who took part in a class exercise about discrimination and prejudice in 1970 and reunited in the present day to recall the experience.
A powerful legal drama, this movie is based on the true story of attorney Bryan Stevenson. It follows his fight to free Walter McMillian, a Black man wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death for a murder he didn’t commit. Set in Alabama, the story highlights racial injustice, systemic flaws in the legal system, and the power of compassion, courage, and hope in the face of overwhelming odds.
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.
In this feature documentary, filmmaker Katrina Browne discovers that her New England ancestors were the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. She and nine cousins retrace the Triangle Trade and gain powerful new perspectives on the black/white divide.
This is a feature length documentary which delves into the lives of Black girls across the United States, examining how systemic biases, cultural misunderstandings, and discriminatory school policies contribute to their disproportionate punishment and marginalization within the educational system.
This is a moving 4-hour, 2-part documentary hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. that traces the 400-year history of the Black church in America. The series delves into how African Americans adapted their faith traditions from Africa to the New World, creating a unique form of Christianity that became a cornerstone for community, resistance, and cultural expression. It highlights the church's role in fostering resilience, autonomy, and social justice, featuring interviews, sermons, and gospel music that showcase its profound impact on American society.
Chronicling the riveting history and personal experiences – at once liberating and challenging, harrowing and inspiring, deeply revealing and profoundly transforming – of African Americans on the road from the advent of the automobile through the seismic changes of the 1960s and beyond. It explores the deep background of a recent phrase rooted in realities that have been an indelible part of the African American experience for hundreds of years and is told through the stories of the men, women and children who lived through it.
Henry Louis Gates Jr. presents this 4-hour documentary series which explores the transformative years following the American Civil War, when the nation struggled to rebuild itself in the face of profound loss, massive destruction, and revolutionary social change. The 12 years that composed the post-war Reconstruction era (1865-77) witnessed a seismic shift in the meaning and makeup of our democracy, with millions of former slaves and free black people seeking out their rightful place as equal citizens under the law. Though tragically short-lived, this bold democratic experiment was, in the words of W. E. B. Du Bois, a ‘brief moment in the sun’ for African Americans, when they could advance, and achieve, education, exercise their right to vote, and run for and win public office.
“Have black Americans had a fair shot at the American dream?” acclaimed journalist Bob Herbert asks. He probes the harsh and often brutal discrimination that has made it extremely difficult for African-Americans to establish a middle-class standard of living, while also exploring the often heroic efforts of Black families to pursue the American Dream in the face of unrelenting barriers.
On Easter Sunday, 1939, contralto Marian Anderson stepped up to a microphone in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Inscribed on the monument's walls behind her were the words “all men are created equal.” Barred from performing in Constitution Hall because of her race, Anderson sang for the American people in the open air. Hailed as a voice that “comes around once in a hundred years” by maestros in Europe and widely celebrated by both white and black audiences at home, her fame hadn’t been enough to spare her from the indignities and outright violence of racism and segregation. this documentary interweaves Anderson’s rich life story with this landmark moment in history, exploring fundamental questions about talent, race, fame, democracy, and the American soul.
A documentary that tells the inspiring story of how 6 iconic African American women entertainers – Lena Horne, Abbey Lincoln, Nina Simone, Diahann Carroll, Cicely Tyson and Pam Grier – challenged an entertainment industry deeply complicit in perpetuating racist stereotypes, and transformed themselves and their audiences in the process.