Resources

Meet the thought leaders and education experts who have influenced the work of ROSAmerica

Recommended resources for teachers and students

Recommended books

Recommended documentaries, films and TV productions

  • 4 Little Girls – A 1997 historical documentary about the 1963 murder of 4 little black girls in the 16th Baptist church bombing.
  • 12 Years a Slave, film based on the 1853 auto-biography by Solomon Northup
  • 13th is a Netflix documentary offering a deep dive into the inexorable links of race, justice and mass incarceration
  • A Love Song for Latasha, found on Netflix
  • All In: The Fight for Democracy, An examination of the issue of voter suppression in the U.S. featuring Stacey Abrams, Ari Berman and David Pepper.
  • Amend: The Fight for America, Netflix docuseries that explores the passage and consequences of the 14th Amendment
  • Asian Americans – a five-hour film available through PBS Passport, offers a new lens on US history and the role Asian Americans have played in shaping our nation’s history. (You need to be a paid subscriber to access the film)
  • Blackkklansman, Film chronicling the true story of African American Ron Stallworth’s successful infiltration of the KKK in 1979, in order to expose the organization’s stronghold in Colorado Springs, CO.
  • Colin in Black and White, found on Netflix
  • The Color of Care, found on Pluto TV
  • Descendant, found on Netflix
  • Eyes on the Prize, 14-part docuseries released on PBS in 1987 about the Civil Rights movement from 1954 to 1990.
  • February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four, a 2003 documentary broadcast on PBS about the civil disobedience that took place at the lunch counter in Woolworths, in 1960.
  • Freedom Riders, Documentary film for PBS based in part, on the book “Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice” by Raymon Arsenault.
  • Fruitvale Station, Film portraying the final days of Oscar Grant III’s life, who was killed by BART police on New Year’s Day, 2009.
  • Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker, a documentary covering the role Ms. Baker played as friend and advisor to MLK, Jr. “Fundi” is the Swahili word for a person who passes their skills to the next generation.
  • Green Book, film depicting the 1962 story about jazz pianist Don Shirley and his Italian American bouncer, Frank “Tony Lip” Vallelonga, who served as Shirley’s driver/bodyguard in the Deep South.
  • Hidden Figures, a 2016 biographical drama, based on the non-fiction book of the same title about Black American women who were mathematicians and worked for NASA during the space race.
  • I Am Not Your Negro, 2016 documentary based on James Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript “Remember this House.”
  • Ida Wells: A Passion for Justice, a 1989 documentary chronicling the dramatic and turbulent life of Ida B. Wells, who was a pioneering black journalist and activist
  • In Our Mothers’ Gardens, found on Netflix
  • John Lewis: Good Trouble, documentary film chronicling the life of John Lewis
  • Just Mercy, Film about Harvard law graduate, Bryan Stevenson, and his work with Equal Justice Initiative. Michael B. Jordan portrays Bryan Stevenson.
  • Lincoln, A 2012 biographical drama covering the final 4 months of President Lincoln’s life.
  • The Loving Story, Biographical film depicting the story of Mildred and Richard Loving’s illegal interracial marriage in VA during the Jim Crow era.
  • The Murder of Emmet Till, a 2016 documentary covering the brutal murder of a 14-year-old boy in 1955 by white supremacists in Mississippi.
  • Neshoba the Price of Freedom, a 2008 Documentary film about events and attitudes in Neshoba County, MS, especially the 1964 murders of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner.
  • North Town, found on Amazon Prime, by local documentarian Bruce Nelson, is about Mesa, AZ, during segregation that began in 1900 and ended in the 1980s.
  • Roots, by Alex Haley. The TV mini-series, released in 1977 received 37 primetime awards
  • Ruby Bridges – a 1998 TV film based on the true story of Ruby Bridges, who was one of four black 1st graders to attend previously white segregated schools in New Orleans in 1960.
  • Sally Hemings, biographical documentary of Thomas Jefferson’s slave who bore 6 of his children
  • Selma – film chronicling the events surrounding the 1965 Voting Rights marches from Selma, AL to Montgomery, AL.
  • Time: The Kalief Browder Story, Documentary about a boy who was arrested, without evidence, for stealing a backpack. He never faced trial and was never convicted of a crime, but was sent to Rikers Island for 1,000 days, spending more than 700 of them in solitary confinement. He died by suicide after his release.
  • The Tuskegee Airmen, a 1995 HBO movie based on the exploits of an actual groundbreaking unit, the 1st Black American combat pilots in the U.S. army air corps that fought in WWII.
  • The Two Killings of Sam Cooke, a documentary tracking Cooke’s rise to fame, his broad appeal that crossed racial lines and how his success posed a threat to others.
  • Toni Morrison, The Pieces I Am, found on Netflix
  • What Happened, Miss Simone? Documentary spanning the life and career of Eunice Waymon (Nine Simone)
  • Whose Streets? Documentary about the unrest that followed the deadly shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, at the hands of law enforcement.