“People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them.”
–James Baldwin
These critically acclaimed documentaries about the African-American experience and race relations in America are all free to watch on Hoopla. Signing up for an account and downloading the free app are easy – just click here and scroll down to Hoopla to start watching today. Or, click on any of the links below. (Make sure you have your library card number, PIN, and email ready first!)
“Filmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished, Remember This House. It is a journey into black history that connects the Civil Rights movement to #BlackLivesMatter. It questions black representation in Hollywood and beyond and examines the lives and assassinations of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.”
“From May until December 1961, more than 400 black and white Americans risked their lives – many endured savage beatings and imprisonment – for simply traveling together on buses as they journeyed through the Deep South. Determined to test and challenge segregated travel facilities, the Freedom Riders’ were greeted with mob violence and bitter racism, sorely testing their belief in non-violent activism. From award-winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson, Freedom Riders features testimony from a fascinating cast of central characters; the Riders themselves, state and federal government officials, and journalists who witnessed the rides firsthand. Based on Raymond Arsenault’s acclaimed book Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice, the two-hour documentary comes to PBS in May 2011, marking the 50th anniversary of the historic Rides.”
“Slavery By Another Name challenges one of America’s most cherished assumptions – the belief that slavery in the US ended with Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation – by telling the harrowing story of how in the South, a new system of involuntary servitude took its place with shocking force.”
There are many more excellent documentaries, eBooks, and audiobooks about African-American history on Hoopla and other digital platforms that we will be recommending in the coming weeks while we are still closed to the public. Stay tuned!
Thanks for reading,
-George, FTPL
