Learning History at the Movies
Dear Leading Ladies,
First, a quiz. Do you know who said this?:
“If you can control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his action. When you determine what a man shall think you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself.”
If you don’t know, you’re not alone. Until a few days ago, we could neither recognize his name, his quote, nor his place in history.
His name is Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the second African Amercan to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard and the man who created Negro History Week, the precursor to our current Black History Month. Considered the father of African American history as a field of study, Woodson was the author of The Miseducaton of the American Negro, among many other texts that both celebrated the accomplishments of Black Americans and explained how they were systematically denied equality and made to feel unworthy.
When we came across Dr. Woodson, we were surprised to learn there were no feature films or full-length documentaries about him, but we did find a couple of interesting shorts that were full of information. You can find them below.
That got us thinking that we might best celebrate Black History Month this year by viewing a number of films that could further educate us about issues, people, and history having to do with African Americans, white people, and racism. So we watched a slew of docs, docudramas, and dramas. The movies we watched include stories of accomplishment and denial, hope and despair. Most are full of information rarely included in our history classes in school. Our list is hardly exhaustive, but we chose only to recommend only those that we have watched ourselves.
Stamped from the Beginning is a documentary based on Ibram X. Kendi’s book of the same name. It is a distressing, but compelling, look at the history of racism in our country including interviews with many scholars. (Netflix)
Descendant is a new documentary about the descendants of what is believed to be the last slave ship that brought Africans to America, long after it was legal. The wreckage of the Clotilde was recently found in Alabama, giving some closure to those whose relatives had been stolen in 1860 to be enslaved, a full 60 years after the slave trade had been made illegal. An amazing story. (Netflix)
Passing, a 2021 film based on a novel, follows two old friends, one who passes as white in her adult life, and their reunion. Very interesting and moving story about the construct of race and self-concept. (Netflix)
John Lewis: Good Trouble is a great doc about the penultimate civil rights beacon and his lifelong devotion to voting rights and standing up despite serious personal risk. Wonderful footage from throughout his career in the Movement and in the House of Representatives. (CNN On Demand)
Rustin is a new feature film based on the life of Bayard Rustin, a right hand to Martin Luther King Jr and one of the main architects of the 1963 March on Washington. Because he was gay, his prominence was sidelined, a sign of the times. Another story only recently told and worth hearing. (Netflix)
Bosco, a new feature film, is based on the true life story of Quawntay “Bosco" Adams who was sentenced to 35 years in prison for possession of marijuana. Another sad tale of how poverty and the system failed a bright Black boy, but keep watching until the end for a tale of redemption. (Peacock)
Selma, an engrossing dramatization of the months building up to the march on Selma features the major players, particularly Martin Luther King Jr. and his team. Includes a disturbing reenactment and some actual footage. (Paramount Plus)
13th, a documentary by Ava Duvernay, investigates our prison system. The title refers to the amendment that outlawed the enslavement of people unless they were criminals. That created a loophole whereby former slaves were imprisoned in larger and larger numbers, often for petty crimes such as loitering, to provide the necessary labor to rebuild the South after the Civil War. Our prison system continues to be overly represented by Black prisoners. Great interviews with luminaries like Angela Davis, Jelani Cobb, Henry Louis Gates, and Van Jones. (Netflix)
MLK/FBI is another new documentary, this one about the assault that the FBI and J. Edgar Hoover conducted on Martin Luther King Jr. via bugs and wiretaps, hellbent on destroying him. Shortly after the 1963 March on Washington, the second in command at the FBI wrote an internal memo that said: “It’s clear that Martin Luther King Jr is the most dangerous Negro in America and we have to use every resource at our disposal to destroy him.” (Hulu)
Ida B. Wells, a Chicago Stories Special Documentary profiles the 19th century investigative journalist, civil rights leader, and passionate suffragist, now credited with being the inspiration for the Black Lives Matter movement. This one-hour documentary produced by PBS describes her courageous role as a woman writing openly about the horrors of post-Civil War atrocities, particularly lynching. Inspiring. (YouTube)
I am Not Your Negro was written in 1979 by James Baldwin in homage to his murdered friends, Black leaders Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Baldwin recounts his childhood as a Black boy in America in the 1920s-1940s amidst racism and the rampant portrayal of his people as stupid and comical in the media. He returned from Paris after many years to chronicle, in piercing speech and writings, the realities of Black life in America. (Peacock)
Hidden Figures, a feature film based on a true story and book, celebrates three brilliant African American women at NASA – Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson – who were the brains behind the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. A great movie that checks a lot of boxes: adventure, heroines, politics, underdogs winning. (Hulu)
Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Historically Black Colleges and Universities recounts how reading and writing was denied to the enslaved as a further form of control so that, following emancipation, gaining knowledge became an important goal. Admission to white institutions was very limited so Blacks created their own “contraband” schools. The development of Black colleges and universities followed. A fascinating story about how the schools changed from their beginnings and became major players in the formation of the Black middle class. (PBS documentary)
Till dramatizes the story of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old from Chicago who was murdered in 1955 while visiting his cousins in Mississippi. The major story, however, is about his mother Mamie, her fight to seek justice for her son, and her subsequent transformation into a civil rights leader after her son’s murderers were exonerated. A truly moving and inspiring story. (MGM+)
Marshall, a biopic focusing on Thurgood Marshall’s early days as a lawyer for the NAACP, (before he became the first African American Supreme Court Justice) defending a Black man accused of raping a white woman in Connecticut. Starring Chadwick Boseman and Sterling K. Brown. Great story and terrific cast. (Netflix)
Just Mercy dramatizes one of the first cases taken on by Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, an organization committed to representing the poor and wrongfully convicted. Based on part of Stevenson’s memoir of the same name, Just Mercy is both eye-opening and heart wrenching. Stevenson is a hero for our time. (Peacock)
Lorraine Hansberry’s Raisin in the Sun (the 1961 original or the 2008 remake) and any of the films made from August Wilson plays – Fences, The Piano Lesson (due out soon), or Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – are always worth the time. And we hope to see Ava DuVernay’s new movie, Origin, about the nonfiction book by Isabel Wilkerson, Caste, which looks at the worldwide and age-old systems of hierarchy.
We’d suggest finishing your Black History Month film odyssey with American Symphony, a documentary that explores the amazing genius of musician/composer/performer/singer/dancer/conductor Jon Batiste. Prepare to be wowed. (Netflix)
Happy viewing. And don’t forget to pass it on.
Therese (she/her/hers)
Judy (she/her/hers)
Didi (she/her/hers)
Leading Ladies Executive Team