5 Documentaries to Celebrate the Black History Month

It’s Black History Month – rather than binge-watching another fictional series, why not learn something new by playing a few serious movies? Let’s celebrate diversity by getting more conscious: check out our fave Black History documentaries.   

The African-Americans: Many Rivers to Cross

A sweep of the African-American experience throughout history – as comprehensive as it can get in six mini-series. The first episode introduces viewers to the first Africans to arrive in America. The last one ends with a discussion of Barak Obama’s reelection in 2013. The series showcases different religious, social and cultural perspectives and gives a glimpse of what it means to be an African American today. 

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the revolution

The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was a revolutionary political organization in the 60s. The movement pivoted the revolutionary culture in America and, as it usually happens with game-changers, decades later it’s either glorified or demonized. The documentary is probably the first one to explore the party’s history in detail. The movie features some rare archival footage as well as interviews with Black Panthers, their supporters and critics, FBI informants and journalists.   

For Love of Liberty

Soldiers have many stories to tell. This documentary is all about men of color in the U.S. Military. A two-part series tells the stories of the nation’s black heroes and patriots since the earliest days of the U.S. Armed Force. 

Teach Us All

Has the educational inequality issue really been solved? The Teach Us All documentary tries to answer that question by looking back at the cases of black teenagers’ integration into all-white schools in the 1960s. Let’s see how far we have come after Brown vs. Board Education.     

Paris Is Burning

Let’s take a journey to New York City of the 1980s to witness the birth of Ball culture. Paris Is Burning introduces us to the world of the black LGBTQ + community of Harlem and shows us people who shaped the modern drag culture.