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As Black Lives Matter protests have rippled across the country, there’s been nationwide reckoning with how this country has dealt with race — or rather, not dealt with it. As individuals and corporations alike scramble to make statements pledging their support and vowing to better educate themselves on race and diversity, we’ve realized just how deep the roots of our failure to address racism go. Many of us have realized, looking back on our education, how shockingly little we were taught about the realities of slavery, let alone the atrocities that followed. And since we don’t expect curriculums to change overnight, we looked into what we could watch with our own kids right now to remedy that problem.
Before we get into viewing choices, let’s address the most common complaint about teaching young kids about slavery, mass incarceration, or the reality of Jim Crow America. Those in favor of keeping the history books sanitized argue that it’s inappropriate, or unnecessarily traumatizing for kids to learn about this violence — but the truth is, Black parents in America have never had the option of keeping these realities from their children. From a young age, Black kids are forced to learn that some will consider the color of their skin a threat, are given strict instructions on how to behave if they ever interact with a police officer, and are subjected to racist comments and opinions from the world around them.
If we want our children to grow up with a greater understanding of America’s true history and the long fight for racial equity ahead, we have to take it upon ourselves to educate them now. Movies like Harriet, Lincoln, and Slavery and the Making of America give more honest accounts of the suffering of Black people at the hands of slaveowners than most of us were taught in American schools, without relying on nightmare-inducing images or doing whatever it is Django Unchained was supposed to be doing. If we can raise the next generation to look at issues of race in America with a clear understanding of the need for change, we can build a better future. But before we get there, we have to address our past.
Here are some recommendations of movies and TV shows that don’t shy away from the truth about America’s history when it comes to slavery.
A version of this article was originally published in 2020.
‘Roots’
Based on Alex Haley’s 1976 book Roots: The Sage of an American Family, based on his own family’s history, celebrated miniseries Roots follows the story of young African Kunta Kinte, enslaved and taken to America, and his descendants all the way from 1750 to post-Civil War. The original series starring John Amos, Ben Vereen, LeVar Burton, and more was remade in 2016 starring Forest Whitaker, Anika Noni Rose, Anna Paquin, and Bridgerton‘s Regé-Jean Page.
’12 Years a Slave’
In 2014, Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave made history as the first movie from a Black director to win best picture at the Oscars, with Lupita Nyong’o and writer John Ridley also picking up best supporting actress and best adapted screenplay, respectively, for the film. The film tell the story of free Black man Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who’s kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South and endures 12 years of slavery before finally finding his way back to freedom.
‘The Underground Railroad’
Based on the popular Colson Whitehead novel, The Underground Railroad documents escaped slave Cora Randall’s mad dash for freedom in the antebellum South as she’s pursued by her vengeful slaveowner on a fantasy version of the Underground Railroad, with real train tracks that can take her to other worlds.
‘Harriet’
Cynthia Erivo’s performance as Harriet Tubman is nothing short of breathtaking in this biopic about her storied escape from slavery and the hundreds of others she helped to free in her lifetime.
‘The Book of Negroes’
This TV miniseries tells the heartbreaking story of a young girl wrenched from her home in West Africa and sold into slavery in America. Once there, she fights first for survival and then for freedom as she, and eventually her child, are sold off to different slave masters. Despite the hundreds of people to whom stories like this happened, a story like this is still rarely told.
‘Slavery and the Making of America’
This PBS docuseries, narrated by Morgan Freeman, is about as family-friendly as it gets when it comes to learning about this patch of American history. The series underscores how central slavery was to America’s beginnings, and relays a few stories from individual slaves.
‘Sankofa’
Haile Gerima’s 1993 Sankofa puts a time-travel spin on understanding America’s history of enslaving Africans, starting with fashion model Mona (Oyafunmike Ogunlano) posing for a photoshoot at a Ghanaian castle once used as the last stop before kidnapped Africans were transported to America and enslaved. The guardian of the castle sends Mona back in time, where she finds herself enslaved alongside fellow Africans fighting to keep their sanity, spirit, and culture amidst unimaginable abuse.
Watch on Netflix.
‘Lincoln’
Steven Spielberg’s epic depiction of Abraham Lincoln travailing to end the Civil War and abolish slavery through the 13th amendment is a PG-13 drama that will have you on the edge of your seat.
‘The Abolitionists’
This three-episode series tells the story of Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Harriet Beecher Stowe, John Brown, and Angelica Grimke worked together to get the abolitionist movement off the ground. We know far too little about the heroes behind this movement, and this is a good start toward help these become household names.
‘The 13th’
Ava DuVernay’s Netflix documentary on the 13th amendment and how the system of mass incarceration grew in its place should be required viewing for all Americans — but maybe not before the age of 13, given the complex and sometimes violent subject matter.
Watch here.
‘Carry Me Home: A Remember America Film’
In 1860, a young enslaved mother takes a chance and hatches an escape plan, fleeing with her family. On the run, they encounter Harriet Tubman, who takes them under their wing — but their troubles, they learn, are far from over.
‘Underground Railroad’
This documentry interviews the members of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, who explain how the Underground Railroad functioned and how their organization fights for civil rights today.
‘The Journey of August King’
The Journey of August King stars Thandie Newton as a slave who has run away from her slave master’s estate when she encounters a widowed white man (Jason Patric) who decides to help her escape.
‘Savannah’
Savannah, based on a true story, tells the story of a friendship between a former slave and a privileged landowner who decides to give up his birthright for life as a duck hunter.
‘A Woman Called Moses’
In another compelling docuseries about Harriet Tubman, Cicely Tyson takes on the role the American icon who led so many slaves to freedom.
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