Black History Month: Authors, Books, Films, Websites, and More!: Must-See Films

The heart-wrenching story of a young black girl in the early 20th century who is forced into a brutal marriage and separated from her sister.

Languid look at the Gullah culture of the sea islands off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia where African folk ways were maintained well into the twentieth century and was one of the last bastions of these mores in America.

Based on the acclaimed movie, this is an episodic series that tells the story of a group of black students navigating the daily slights and slippery politics of life at an Ivy League college that's not nearly as post-racial as it thinks.

In 1960s Mississippi, Skeeter, a southern society girl, returns from college determined to become a writer but turns her friends' lives and a small Mississippi town upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families. Aibileen, Skeeter's best friend's housekeeper, is the first to open up, to the dismay of her friends in the tight-knit black community.

A young black man struggles to find his place in the world while growing up in a rough neighborhood of Miami.
You can also access this video online through our catalog at this link: https://mnpals-msumk.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01MNPALS_MSUMK/cn7h67/alma9989853784604301

A mini-series adaptation of Alex Haley's "Roots", in which Haley traces his African American family's history from the mid-18th century to the Reconstruction era.

12 YEARS A SLAVE, an Academy Award winner for Best Picture, is based on the true story of Solomon Northup. It is 1841, and Northup, an accomplished, free citizen of New York, is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Stripped of his identity and deprived of all dignity, Northup is ultimately purchased by ruthless plantation owner Edwin Epps and must find the strength within to survive. Filled with powerful performances by an astonishing cast including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt, and newcomer Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave is both an unflinching account of slavery in American history and a celebration of the indomitable power of hope.

Explore with Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. the evolution of the African-American people over five centuries, as well as the multiplicity of cultural institutions, political strategies, and religious and social perspectives they developed-forging their own history, culture and society against unimaginable odds.
This series is also available to stream as "The African Americans Collection" at this link: https://mnpals-msumk.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01MNPALS_MSUMK/cn7h67/alma9989852468904301 or you can stream each episode separately. Search "The African Americans Collection" in MavScholar to find links!

"Dark Girls is a fascinating and controversial film that goes underneath the surface to explore the prejudices dark-skinned women face throughout the world. It explores the roots of classism, racism and the lack of self-esteem within a segment of cultures that span from America to the most remote corners of the globe. Women share their personal stories, touching on deeply ingrained beliefs and attitudes of society, while allowing generations to heal as they learn to love themselves for who they are."--Container.

s the United States raced against Russia to put a man in space, NASA found untapped talent in a group of African-American female mathematicians that served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in U.S. history. Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Johnson crossed all gender, race, and professional lines while their brilliance and desire to dream big, beyond anything ever accomplished before by the human race, firmly cemented them in U.S. history as true American heroes.

Explores the life and career of civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr.
Following his journey across the mountaintops and valleys while capturing the Civil Rights Movement at large, the film provides intimate, firsthand insights on Dr. King, exploring moments of personal challenge and elation, and an ongoing movement that is as important today as when Dr. King first shone a light on the plight of his fellow African Americans.

Screen version of the life of Malcolm X, who through his religious conversion to Islam, found the strength to rise up from a criminal past to become an influential civil rights leader. This DVD contains both the theatrical film about the life of Malcolm X, directed by Spike Lee, and the 1972 documentary about Malcolm X, created by Arnold Pearl.