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This two-part special begins with first years of the European slave trade but fundamentally focuses on the individuals who fought & struggled against colonialism, slavery, and their legacies. Insisting on the importance of individuals and their ability to resist historical conditions – to shoulder burdens and to break down walls – it covers five centuries of intertwining British and American histories. Divided in two parts, the first investigates the different struggles in the gradual labour of breaking down the system of slavery. It looks to the violent resistance that occurred within the Atlantic system, inspiring defiance, and fracturing the machine piecemeal, but also to the literary and political organising in the abolitionary process. The second part deals with very different sorts of struggles: the legacies of slavery and colonialism and how they have been patterned out and resisted up to the present day. It turns again to literary composers, political organisers and to especially resonant symbolic moments, reminding us of the importance of remembering those who have pioneered, resisted, spoken out and paved the way. Narrated by Dotun Adebayo MBE.

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. Distributed by PBS Distribution.

Discover how a man born into slavery became one of the most influential voices for democracy U.S. history. A gifted writer and charismatic orator, it is estimated that more Americans heard Douglass speak than any other 19th-century figure — Black or white. Directed by Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Stanley Nelson and Nicole London, the film features the voice of actor Wendell Pierce as Douglass. Distributed by PBS Distribution.

At the heart of this feature documentary is the groundbreaking Two Centuries of Black American Art exhibition curated by the late African American artist and scholar David Driskell in 1976. Held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, this pioneering exhibit featured more than 200 works of art by 63 artists and cemented the essential contributions of Black artists in America in the 19th and 20th centuries. The exhibit would eventually travel to the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, and the Brooklyn Museum. The film shines a light on the exhibition’s extraordinary impact on generations of African American artists who have staked a claim on their rightful place within the 21st-century art world.

Hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr, this series chronicles the rich history of an institution at the heart of the African American experience. Beginning with enslavement, traveling through Emancipation, Jim Crow, the Great Migration, the Civil Rights movement, and ending in the present-day, Gates takes viewers on a journey through time, focusing on the key events, charismatic figures, political debates, and musical traditions that have shaped, and been shaped by, the Black Church. The series also explores the complexity of these spaces of worship at a time when many believe it is at a crossroads. A chorus of leading scholars, ministers, and cultural influencers who grew up in the Black Church will weigh in and give meaning to events past and present.

Go beyond the legend and meet the woman who repeatedly risked her life and freedom to liberate others from slavery. One of the greatest freedom fighters in U.S. history, Tubman was an Underground Railroad conductor, a Civil War scout, nurse and spy. Directed by Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Stanley Nelson and Nicole London, the film is narrated by Emmy® Award-winner Alfre Woodard. Distributed by PBS Distribution.

African American women played a significant and sometimes overlooked role in the struggle to gain the vote.

Boasting an exceptional cast and production team, and based on Rebecca Skloot’s critically acclaimed 2010 nonfiction best-seller of the same name, this HBO Films drama tells the true story of Henrietta Lacks, an African- American woman whose cells were used to create the first immortal human cell line, known as HeLa. Told primarily through the eyes of Lacks’ daughter Deborah (Oprah Winfrey) and journalist Rebecca Skloot (Rose Byrne), the film chronicles Deborah’s search to learn about the mother she never knew, and to understand how the unauthorized harvesting of Lacks’ cancerous cells in 1951 led to unprecedented medical breakthroughs, from cancer to polio to radiation to AIDS, changing countless lives and the face of medicine forever. With a supporting cast that includes Renée Elise Goldsberry, Reg E. Cathey, Courtney B. Vance, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Leslie Uggams, Reed Birney, Rocky Carroll and John Douglas Thompson, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a story of medical arrogance and triumph, race, poverty, and deep friendship between the unlikeliest of people. Nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and another 20 awards. Winner of a Black Reel Award for Television, 2017. In English. Directed by George C. Wolfe. USA. An HBO Production.

This four-hour series, hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., chronicles the vast social networks and organizations created by and for Black people-beyond the reach of the “White gaze.” Gates takes viewers into an extraordinary world that showcases Black people’s ability to collectively prosper, defy white supremacy and define Blackness in ways that transformed America itself.

This documentary series explores the most controversial and misunderstood language variety in the United States: African American Language (AAL). With the perspectives of everyday people and the guidance of historians, linguists, and educators, the series showcases the history of the language, the symbolic role it plays in the lives of African Americans, and the tremendous impact on the language and culture of the United States.

Now more than ever, it's important to look boldly at the reality of race and gender bias -- and understand how the two can combine to create even more harm. Kimberlé Crenshaw uses the term "intersectionality" to describe this phenomenon; as she says, if you're standing in the path of multiple forms of exclusion, you're likely to get hit by both. In this moving talk, she calls on us to bear witness to this reality and speak up for victims of prejudice.