8 Must-Watch Docs For Black History Month
When it comes to setting up your must-watch list in honor of Black History Month, it’s hard to know where to start. For their wide range of topics, we recommend…
UNSPECIFIED – OCTOBER 18, 1964: American pianist and jazz singer Nina Simone performs October 18, 1964 in an unidentifed location. Simone, whose deep, raspy voice made her a unique jazz figure and later helped chronicle the civil rights movement, died in her sleep on April 21, 2003 of natural causes after a long illness. She was 70.
Photo by Getty ImagesWhen it comes to setting up your must-watch list in honor of Black History Month, it’s hard to know where to start. For their wide range of topics, we recommend these eight documentaries. Enjoy!
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
Released in 2011, The Black Power Mixtape is made up of film footage from Sweedish journalists chronicling America’s Black Power Movement and features notable activists like Angela Davis, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale.
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Nina Simone's monumental influence as an artist and activist shine through this moving documentary that's also not afraid to go deep on her personal struggles.
Freedom Riders
In 1961, civil rights activists (both black and white) boarded a Greyhound bus in Washington D.C. and rode through the south’s most segregated areas en route to New Orleans in protest of federal laws regarding the desegregation of public buses that weren’t being enforced. This Stanley Nelson Jr. documentary tells the story of these brave men and women.
The African Americans: Many Rivers To Cross
This six-part docuseries covers over 500 years of African American history, from the slave trade to the second inauguration of President Barack Obama.
Forgotten Four: The Integration of Pro Football
Most are familiar with Jackie Robinson’s story of becoming the first African American to play in Major League Baseball, but the year before Robinson’s rookie season, Kenny Washington, Woody Strode, Marion Motley and Bill Willis broke the color barrier in the National Football League.
Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap
Directed by Ice-T, Something From Nothing gathers rap's biggest names to discuss…well…the art of rap. (The title really does spell it out.)
13th
Ava DuVernay's remarkable Netflix documentary delves into mass incarceration in the United States and its ties to the 13th Amendment. (BONUS: Also available is 13th: A conversation with Oprah Winfrey and Ava DuVernay, which makes for an excellent follow-up to watching the documentary.
Good Hair
Starring and narrated by Chris Rock, Good Hair explores the $9 billion black hair industry and examines the cultural and historical definition of what having “good hair” means.
