This document provides links to various films, documentaries, and other resources about issues of race and racism in the United States. It includes descriptions of content that examine racial inequalities in the criminal justice system through films like "13th" and "When They See Us." Other selections look at issues like police brutality through movies such as "Fruitvale Station" and "41 Shots." Several links also relate to discussions of white fragility and understanding racism from the perspectives of white and black communities.
4. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5165880/
In Cracked Up we witness the
effects adverse childhood
experiences can have across a
lifetime through the incredible
story of actor, comedian, master
impressionist and Saturday Night
Live veteran, Darrell Hammond.
Behind the scenes Darrell suffered
from debilitating flashbacks, self
injury, addiction and misdiagnosis,
until the right doctor isolated the
key to unlocking the memories his
brain kept locked away for over 50
years. Cracked Up, director
Michelle Esrick, creates an inspiring
balance between comedy and
tragedy helping us understand the
impact of toxic stress and
childhood trauma in a new light,
breaking down barriers of stigma
and replacing shame with
compassion and hope.
10. ‘American Factory’ (2019)
Documentary filmmakers have long been
fascinated by the logistics and
complexities of manual labor, but Steven
Bognar and Julia Reichert’s recent Oscar
winner for best documentary feature
views these issues through a decidedly
21st-century lens. Focusing on a closed
GM plant in Dayton, Ohio, that’s taken
over by a Chinese auto glass company,
Bognar and Reichert thoughtfully,
sensitively (and often humorously)
explore how cultures — both corporate
and general — clash. Manohla Dargis calls
it “complex, stirring, timely and
beautifully shaped, spanning continents
as it surveys the past, present and
possible future of American labor.”
11. ‘Mudbound’ (2017)
The fates of two families — one
white and one black, connected
by a plot of land one owns and
the other sharecrops — are
inextricably intertwined in
this powerful adaptation by the
director Dee Rees of the novel by
Hillary Jordan. Rees gracefully
tells both stories (and the larger
tale of postwar America) without
veering into didacticism, and her
ensemble cast brings every
moment of text and subtext into
sharp focus. Our critic called it a
work of “disquieting, illuminating
force.”
12. https://www.netflix.com/title/80200549
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. The cast is full
of Emmy nominees and winners,
including Michael K. Williams, John
Leguizamo, Felicity Huffman, and
Blair Underwood. Oscar nominee
and Emmy winner Ava DuVernay co-
wrote and directed the four
episodes.
13. https://www.netflix.com/title/80187052
Refusing to plead guilty, 16-year-old
Kalief Browder endures the brutality
of the notorious Rikers Island’s
adolescences unit and repeat abuse of
the prison’s corrupt officers. The
Bronx high school student was
imprisoned for three years awaiting
trial, two of which were solitary
confinement for being accused of
stealing a backpack.
The case was never prosecuted and
the charges ultimately dropped, but
Browder committed suicide after his
release. The six-part documentary
provides insight into the mental,
physical and sexual abuse the young
boy sustained in prison. The case has
been widely cited by activists,
campaigning for reform of the New
York City criminal justice system and
sheds light on the untrustworthy
system.
14. https://www.netflix.com/title/81024100
The premise: On the night a
teenage boy goes missing, his
parents Kendra (Kerry
Washington) and Scott (Steven
Pasquale) end up at the police
precinct. They're trying to figure
out what happened to
their son — and they end up
reopening old wounds
concerning race, fear, and their
rocky marriage in the process
15. https://www.netflix.com/title/80117555
When 15-year-old
black cyclist Brenton
Butler dies in a hit-and-
run with a white police
officer behind the
wheel. Jersey City
explodes with racial
tension and grief, as
the family comes to
terms with their loss.
The heartbreaking
drama takes us through
the difficulties faced
trying to prosecute a
police officer – with
the state and judicial
system all on the
opposing side.
18. Based on the events leading up
to the death of Oscar Grant – a
young black man who was killed
in 2009 by a BART police
officer, Fruitvale Station depicts
the final day of the 22-year-old.
The tough and moving drama
frighteningly replicates today’s
events with the officer
suffocating Grant and ultimately
shooting him dead. The
emotional and tear-jerking film
touches upon police brutality
and injustice in America.
19. From Netflix’s show Trial By
Media, 41 Shots tells the
story of the brutal killing of
Guinean immigrant Amadou
Diallo by NYPD officers in
1999. The unarmed black
man was shot 41 times while
trying to enter his own home.
Despite all these factors, all
police officers involved were
acquitted, leading to a
firestorm of controversy and
outrage in New York. The
insightful episode teaches us
all lessons that resonate in
today’s society.
22. Hip-hop music first developed
in the United States in the
1970s and has steadily grown
in popularity in the decades
since then. This docuseries
traces the genre's dynamic
evolution from the beginning
through the 1990s. It starts with
a look at artists -- including
Afrika Bambaataa and
Grandmaster Flash -- who laid
the foundation early on, and
then moves on to other
influential groups like Run-DMC
and Public Enemy. The show
also explores differences in hip-
hop on the East Coast
compared to the West Coast.
https://www.netflix.com/title/80141782
28. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=316&v=YvIO2GU8yTU&feature=emb_logo
Robin DiAngelo’s
bestselling book White
Fragility has provoked
an uncomfortable but
vital conversation about
what it means to be
white. As protests
organised by the Black
Lives Matter movement
continue around the
world, she explains why
white people should
stop avoiding
conversations about
race because of their
own discomfort, and
how 'white fragility'
plays a key role in
upholding systemic
racism
29. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45ey4jgoxeU
University of Washington
professor Dr. Robin
DiAngelo reads from her
book "White Fragility:
Why It's So Hard for
White People to Talk
About Racism," explains
the phenomenon, and
discusses how white
people can develop their
capacity to engage more
constructively across
race.
30. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCxNjdewAAA
Teaching Tolerance
talks with Robin
DiAngelo, author of
'White Fragility: Why
It’s So Hard for
White People to Talk
About Racism',
about her
background as a
teacher educator,
her conception of
“white fragility” and
her thoughts on
teacher
accountability.