Embedded Files
Support the Black Student Alliance by purchasing a t-shirt, hoodie, and more with the 2021 theme!
*Please use your HCC username and password to access the documentary. If you have questions or experience access issues, please contact cclose@hcc.edu
From award-winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson comes a film that educates, informs, and examines more than 150 years of African American men and women who have embodied the qualities that are the heart of the American entrepreneurial spirit
*Please use your HCC username and password to access the documentary. If you have questions or experience access issues, please contact cclose@hcc.edu
The first major film documentary to examine the performer’s vast career and his journey for identity through the shifting tides of civil rights and racial progress during 20th-century America.
Sammy Davis, Jr., had the kind of career that was indisputably legendary, vast in scope and scale. And yet, his life was complex, complicated and contradictory. Davis strove to achieve the American Dream in a time of racial prejudice and shifting political territory. He was a veteran of increasingly outdated show business traditions and worked tirelessly to stay relevant, even as he frequently found himself bracketed by the bigotry of white America and the distaste of black America.
Official Selection at the Toronto International Film Festival. Winner of a Black Reel Award for Outstanding Independent Documentary.
*Please use your HCC username and password to access the documentary. If you have questions or experience access issues, please contact cclose@hcc.edu
Inspired by the groundbreaking book of the same name by Monique W. Morris, Ed.D, PUSHOUT: THE CRIMINALIZATION OF BLACK GIRLS IN SCHOOLS takes a deep dive into the lives of Black girls and the practices, cultural beliefs and policies that disrupt one of the most important factors in their lives – education. Alarmingly, African American girls are the fastest-growing population in the juvenile justice system and the only group of girls to disproportionately experience criminalization at every education level.
The film underscores the challenges Black girls face with insights from multiple experts across the country who have worked extensively in the fields of social and criminal justice, gender equality and educational equity, giving context to the crisis and providing a roadmap for how our educational system and those who interact with Black girls can provide a positive rather than punitive response to behaviors that are often misunderstood or misrepresented.
BLACK BOYS illuminates the full humanity of Black men and boys in America. An intimate, inter-generational exploration, Black Boys strives for insight to black identity and opportunity at the nexus of sports, education, and criminal justice. Speaking with an array of figures — ranging from educators, athletes, journalists, activists, parents, and youth — the documentary explores the body, mind, voice, and heart of Black boys and the double-edged sword of having to build up their own self worth while knowing the world is not built for them. As various Black men and boys open themselves up to the camera, the emotional landscape of racism and its affects on them are revealed.
Historical parallels are drawn while discussing the centuries long obsession with the bodies of Black men. Also at play is the narrowing window of what attainable success looks like for Black youth as stereotyped images of professional athletes and celebrities continue to be perpetuated, while other avenues often remain overlooked.
Also examined is the systemic inequality prevalent in the American educational system. Having been proportionally denied the quality education experienced by many of their non-Black peers, the achievement gap even for Black youth becomes evident as early as kindergarten. The cycle of the school-to-prison pipeline is evident in educational environments where negative messaging about Blacks boys' worth remains frequently unchallenged.
Interspersed throughout the documentary is archival footage of police brutality, protesting, and historic lynchings to historically demonstrate the ways in which the voices of Black men have been ignored and devalued for successive generations. When speaking about ways in which to break thee various cycles, several Black men hold up the beauty of a healthy relationship with a caring adult. Though societal fear and negativity exist in reaction to their very existence, the power of love can serve as a healer for a variety of traumas.
Black Boys is a film for this historical moment and beyond.
*Please use your HCC username and password to access the documentary. If you have questions or experience access issues, please contact cclose@hcc.edu
THE ROAD TO BROWN tells the story of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling as the culmination of a brilliant legal assault on segregation that launched the Civil Rights movement.
Its depiction of the interplay between race, law and history adds a crucial dimension to courses in U.S. History, Black Studies, Constitutional Law, Law & Society, Social Movements and Government. It opens up a discussion of the true significance of the Brown v. Board decision on the path towards racial equality. The example of Charles Houston's persistence and determination will inspire today's students to take America further down the long road to social justice.
*Please use your HCC username and password to access the documentary. If you have questions or experience access issues, please contact cclose@hcc.edu
Celebrated author and Nation magazine sports editor Dave Zirin tackles the myth that the NFL was somehow free of politics before Colin Kaepernick and other Black NFL players took a knee. BEHIND THE SHIELD digs deep into the history of the league, and navigates a stunning excavation of decades of archival footage and news media. Zirin traces how the NFL, under the guise of “sticking to sports,” has promoted wars, militarism, and nationalism; glorified reactionary ideas about manhood and gender roles; normalized systemic racism, corporate greed, and crony capitalism; and helped vilify challenges to the dominant order as “unpatriotic” and inappropriately “political.” The result is a case study not only in the power of big-time sports to disseminate stealth propaganda and reinforce an increasingly authoritarian status quo, but also the power of activist athletes to challenge this unjust status quo and model a different, more democratic vision of America.
Page updated
Report abuse