LibGuides: Black History Month: Media

Films

Narrative Films
Documentaries

Access free films on Kanopy via a DC Public Library Card. Residents of Fairfax, Loudoun, Arlington, Prince William, Falls Church, and Alexandria are eligible to apply for a DC Public Library card.

Black Film Archive
Black Film Archive is a living register of Black films. In its current iteration, it showcases Black films made from 1898 to 1989 currently streaming.
DVD: Love & Basketball (2000)
Monica (Sanaa Lathan) and Quincy (Omar Epps) are two childhood friends who both aspire to be professional basketball players. Quincy, whose father, Zeke (Dennis Haysbert), plays for the Los Angeles Clippers, is a natural talent and a born leader. Monica is ferociously competitive but sometimes becomes overly emotional on the court. Over the years, the two begin to fall for each other, but their separate paths to basketball stardom threaten to pull them apart.
DVD: Moonlight (2016)
A look at three defining chapters in the life of Chiron, a young black man growing up in Miami. His epic journey to manhood is guided by the kindness, support, and love of the community that helps raise him.
DVD: Neptune Frost (2022)
Multi-hyphenate, multidisciplinary artist Saul Williams brings his unique dynamism to this Afrofuturist vision, a sci-fi punk musical that’s a visually wondrous amalgamation of themes, ideas, and songs that Williams has previously explored in his work.
DVD: Nope (2022)
A man and his sister discover something sinister in the skies above their California horse ranch, while the owner of a nearby theme park tries to profit from the mysterious, otherworldly phenomenon.
DVD: The Watermelon Woman (1996)
An aspiring Black lesbian filmmaker researches an obscure 1940s Black actress billed as the Watermelon Woman.
DVD: Waiting to Exhale (1995)
Navigating through careers, family and romance, four friends bond over the shortcomings in their love lives - namely, the scarcity of good men.
Netflix: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)
Tensions and temperatures rise at a Chicago music studio in 1927 when fiery, fearless blues singer Ma Rainey joins her band for a recording session.
Netflix: They Cloned Tyrone (2023)
An eerie series of events leads an unlikely trio (John Boyega, Teyonah Parris and Jamie Foxx) down a rabbit hole into a sinister neighborhood conspiracy.

Free on Pluto: Betty Davis - They Say I'm Different (2017)
The original Funk Queen and one time wife of jazz legend Miles Davis took on the American establishment of the 1970s and changed the course of women in music forever. Despite being banned and boycotted, she went on to become the first Black woman to perform, write, and manage herself. Then suddenly she vanished.
DVD: Black Indians: An American Story (2004)
"Black Indians: An American Story" brings to light a forgotten part of Americans past - the cultural and racial fusion of Native and African Americans. Narrated by James Earl Jones, "Black Indians: An American Story" explores what brought the two groups together, what drove them apart, and the challenges they face today.
DVD: Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters (2021)
A modern re-interpretation of the 1989 ballet piece "D-Man in the Waters" which illustrated the fear, anger, grief, and hope for salvation felt by Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company during the AIDS epidemic.
Free Through the Library Catalog: How It Feels to Be Free (2021)
"How It Feels to Be Free" takes an unprecedented look at the intersection of African American women artists, politics, and entertainment and tells the story of how six trailblazing performers - Lena Horne, Abbey Lincoln, Diahann Carroll, Nina Simone, Cicely Tyson and Pam Grier - changed American culture through their films, fashion, music, and politics.
Free on Tubi: Twenty Pearls: The Story of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. (2021)
Tells a powerful story of sisterhood as nine Black women who enrolled at Howard University in 1908 made a decision that would change history.
Free on Tubi: Woman in Motion (2019)
A look at Nichelle Nichols' inspirational mission to use her sci-fi clout to recruit 8,000 underrepresented astronauts and bring them to space.

Books: Film Studies

Colorization: One Hundred Years of Black Films in a White World by Wil Haygood
Beginning in 1915 with D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation - which glorified the Ku Klux Klan and became Hollywood's first blockbuster - Wil Haygood gives us an incisive, fascinating, little-known history, spanning more than a century, of Black artists in the film business, on-screen, and behind the scenes.
Film Blackness: American Cinema and the Idea of Black Film by Michael Boyce Gillespie
In "Film Blackness", Michael Boyce Gillespie shifts the ways we think about Black film, treating it not as a category, a genre, or strictly a representation of the Black experience but as a visual negotiation between film as art and the discursivity of race. Gillespie challenges expectations that Black film can or should represent the reality of Black life or provide answers to social problems. Instead, he frames Black film alongside literature, music, art, photography, and new media, treating it as an interdisciplinary form that enacts Black visual and expressive culture.
Black Cinema Treasures: Lost and Found by G. William Jones and Ossie Davis
Focusing on a much-neglected area of film experience in America, "Black Cinema Treasures" furthers the preservation of America's cultural and historic heritage, especially its African-American heritage as seen through the eyes of the African-American independent filmmakers of the 1920s through the 1950s. Ossie Davis says that the collection is one of the best sources of Black "self-consciousness" in America during those decades.
Black Hollywood: From Butlers to Superheroes, the Changing Role of African American Men in the Movies by Kimberly Fain
Moving through cinematic history decade by decade since 1910, this important volume explores the appropriation, exploitation, and agency of Black performers in Hollywood by looking at the Black actors, directors, and producers who have shaped the image of African American males in film. To determine how these archetypes differentiate African American males in the public's subconscious, the book asks probing questions - for example, whether these images are a reflection of society's fears or realistic depictions of a pluralistic America. Even as the work acknowledges the controversial history of Black representation in film, it also celebrates the success stories of Black people in the industry.

Podcasts

1619
An audio series on how slavery has transformed America, connecting past and present through the oldest form of storytelling.
Autism in Black
Hosted by Maria Davis-Pierre, LMHC, "The Autism in Black Podcast" focuses on the intersectionality of being Black and autistic. Dedicated to reducing the stigma in the Black community, Maria supports Black parents of autistic children by providing a nonjudgmental space and empowering them to advocate for their children and themselves.
Blackbelt
The "Blackbelt Voices" podcast propagates the richness of Black Southern culture by telling the stories of Black folks down South. Through first-person narratives and in-depth conversations, hosts Adena J. White, Kara Wilkins, and Katrina Dupins share the experiences of Black Southerners living in, loving, and reconciling with the region we call home. Why Blackbelt?
Black Girl Songbook
Welcome to "Black Girl Songbook." Join author and former Vibe editor-in-chief Danyel Smith as she celebrates and uplifts the talents of Black women in the music industry. Tune in for in-depth discussions with your favorite songwriters, producers, and artists, as well as anecdotes from Danyel. Plus, you’ll hear the songs of Black women who changed the landscape of American music forever.
Historically Black
Objects hold history. They're evocative of stories stamped in time. As part of The Washington Post's coverage of the Smithsonian's new National Museum of African American History and Culture, people submitted dozens of objects that make up their own lived experiences of Black history, creating a "people's museum" of personal objects, family photos and more.

The "Historically Black" podcast brings those objects and their stories to life through interviews, archival sound, and music. The Washington Post and APM Reports are proud to collaborate in presenting these rich personal histories, along with hosts Keegan-Michael Key, Roxane Gay, Issa Rae, and Another Round hosts Heben Nigatu and Tracy Clayton.
Louder Than A Riot
Rhyme and punishment go hand in hand in America. "Louder Than A Riot" reveals the interconnected rise of hip-hop and mass incarceration. From Bobby Shmurda to Nipsey Hussle, each episode explores an artist's story to examine a different aspect of the criminal justice system that disproportionately impacts Black America. Hosted by NPR Music's Rodney Carmichael and Sidney Madden, this podcast is invested in power from all angles - the power the music industry wields over artists, the power of institutional forces that marginalize communities of color, the power of the prison industrial complex, and the power dynamics deep-rooted in the rap game.
NATAL
"NATAL" is a narrative podcast about having a baby while Black in the United States. Beyond the soundbites and statistics about Black maternal health are real people with intimate stories about their pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care. "NATAL" passes the microphone to Black parents to share their stories in their own words. The docuseries also highlights the birthworkers, medical professionals, and advocates fighting daily for better care and outcomes for Black families around the country.
The Nod
"The Nod" tells the stories of Black life that don’t get told anywhere else. Our show ranges from an explanation of purple drink’s association with Black culture to the story of an interracial drag troupe that traveled the nation in the 1940s. We celebrate the genius, the innovation, and the resilience that is so particular to being Black - in America, and around the world.
The Read
Join Kid Fury and Crissle for their weekly podcast covering hip-hop and pop culture's most trying stars. Throwing shade and spilling tea with a flippant and humorous attitude, no star is safe from Fury and Crissle unless their name is Beyoncé. (Or Blue Ivy.)
Resistance
"Resistance" is a show about refusing to accept things as they are. Stories from the front lines of the movement for Black lives, told by the generation fighting for change. Hosted by Saidu Tejan-Thomas Jr.
Therapy For Black Girls
The "Therapy for Black Girls" Podcast is a weekly chat about all things mental health, personal development, and all the small decisions we can make to become the best possible versions of ourselves.