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- 17 Films, Shows, and Documentaries That Can Help Educate Your Tweens and Teens About Race
17 Films, Shows, and Documentaries That Can Help Educate Your Tweens and Teens About Race
ABC / 20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection
In addition to diversifying your family’s bookshelves, listening, protesting, donating, and speaking out against racism, having necessary conversations with your kids about race is a vital action parents, especially white parents, should be taking to eradicate racism. Parents should foster conversations about race with their kids – not just one time, but all the time! – but if you’re finding it difficult to know where to start or how to further educate yourself and your family, there are so many great works that can help spark these important discussions.
Keep scrolling for the movies, documentaries, and shows you can watch with your tweens and teens to ensure you work together to educate yourselves.
Related: If You Think Your Kids (or Babies!) Are Too Young to Understand Race, Here's Proof They Already Do
Everett Collection / IFC Films/Courtesy Everett Collection
A Ballerina's Tale
Description: “Iconic ballerina Misty Copeland made history when she became the first African-American woman to be named principal dancer of the legendary American Ballet Theater. Get the incredible, behind-the-scenes story of how she overcame a tumultuous upbringing and near career-ending injuries to become one of the most revered dancers of her generation. More than just a ballet success story, Copeland’s journey is a hugely inspirational, universal tale of perseverance.”
Ages It’s Best Suited For: 9 and up
Where to Watch It: Rent A Ballerina’s Tale on YouTube here or watch it for free with a Sling TV subscription
Everett Collection / 20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection
Hidden Figures
Description: “The incredible untold true story of Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) & Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) – brilliant African-American women working at NASA, who served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. This stunning achievement galvanized the world and inspired generations to dream big.”
Ages It’s Best Suited For: 10 and up
Where to Watch It: Rent Hidden Figures on YouTube here or watch it on Hulu with a live TV add-on subscription
Everett Collection / Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection
Remember the Titans
Description: “Based on real events, this remarkable story celebrates how a town torn apart by friction and mistrust comes together in triumphant harmony. After leading his team to fifteen winning seasons, beloved football coach Bill Yoast (Will Patton) is demoted and replaced by tough, opinionated Herman Boone (Denzel Washington). How these two men overcome their differences and turn a group of hostile young men into champions is a remarkable portrait of courage and perseverance.”
Ages It’s Best Suited For: 10 and up
Where to Watch It: Watch Remember the Titans on Disney+ here
ABC / Lara Solanki
Black-ish
Description: “Andre ‘Dre’ Johnson has a great job, a beautiful wife, Rainbow, five kids, and a colonial home in the ‘burbs. But has success brought too much assimilation for this black family?”
Ages It’s Best Suited For: 11 and up
Where to Watch It: Watch Black-ish on Hulu here and catch new episodes on ABC
ABC / Kelsey McNeal
Mixed-ish
Description: “In this spinoff of the hit series Black-ish, Rainbow Johnson recounts her experience growing up in a mixed-race family in the ’80s, and the constant dilemmas they had to face over whether to assimilate or stay true to themselves. Bow’s parents Paul and Alicia decide to move from a hippie commune to the suburbs to better provide for their family. As her parents struggle with the challenges of their new life, Bow and her siblings navigate a mainstream school in which they’re perceived as neither black nor white.”
Ages It’s Best Suited For: 10 and up
Where to Watch It: Watch Mixed-ish on Hulu here and catch new episodes on ABC
Everett Collection / Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
42
Description: “In 1946, Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford), legendary manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, defies major league baseball’s notorious color barrier by signing Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) to the team. The heroic act puts both Rickey and Robinson in the firing line of the public, the press and other players. Facing open racism from all sides, Robinson demonstrates true courage and admirable restraint by not reacting in kind and lets his undeniable talent silence the critics for him.”
Ages It’s Best Suited For: 11 and up
Where to Watch It: Rent 42 on Amazon Prime Video here
Everett Collection / Focus Features/Courtesy Everett Collection
Harriet
Description: “From her escape from slavery through the dangerous missions she led to liberate hundreds of slaves through the Underground Railroad, the story of heroic abolitionist Harriet Tubman is told.”
Ages It’s Best Suited For: 12 and up
Where to Watch It: Rent Harriet on Amazon here
Everett Collection / ERIKA DOSS
The Hate U Give
Description: “A teen witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood friend by a trigger-happy cop and must decide whether to testify or not.”
Ages It’s Best Suited For: 13 and up
Where to Watch It: Watch The Hate U Give on Hulu with a Cinemax add-on subscription
Everett Collection / Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
Just Mercy
Description: “A powerful and thought-provoking true story, Just Mercy follows young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) and his history-making battle for justice. After graduating from Harvard, Bryan had his pick of lucrative jobs. Instead, he heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or who were not afforded proper representation, with the support of local advocate Eva Ansley (Brie Larson). One of his first, and most incendiary, cases is that of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), who, in 1987, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence and the fact that the only testimony against him came from a criminal with a motive to lie. In the years that follow, Bryan becomes embroiled in a labyrinth of legal and political maneuverings and overt and unabashed racism as he fights for Walter, and others like him, with the odds – and the system – stacked against them.”
Ages It’s Best Suited For: 13 and up
Where to Watch It: Watch Just Mercy on Google Play here
Everett Collection / Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection
Selma
Description: “Although the Civil Rights Act of 1964 legally desegregated the South, discrimination was still rampant in certain areas, making it very difficult for blacks to register to vote. In 1965, an Alabama city became the battleground in the fight for suffrage. Despite violent opposition, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his followers pressed forward on an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, and their efforts culminated in President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965.”
Ages It’s Best Suited For: 13 and up
Where to Watch It: Rent Selma on Amazon here
Everett Collection / Courtesy Everett Collection
The Color Purple
Description: “An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie (Whoopi Goldberg), an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie’s abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing ‘Mister’ Albert Johnson (Danny Glover), things go from bad to worse, leaving Celie to find companionship anywhere she can. She perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister in Africa.”
Ages It’s Best Suited For: 14 and up
Where to Watch It: Rent The Color Purple on Amazon here
Everett Collection / Atsushi Nishijima/Netflix
When They See Us
Description: “In the spring of 1989, five boys of color are arrested, interrogated and coerced into confessing to the vicious attack of a woman in Central Park.”
Ages It’s Best Suited For: 15 and up
Where to Watch It: Watch When They See Us on Netflix here
Everett Collection / David Lee
BlacKkKlansman
Description: “Nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture, this film is described by The New York Times as ‘a furious, funny, blunt and brilliant confrontation with the truth.’ Directed by Spike Lee, the film tells the true story of Ron Stallworth, an African American detective in the early 1970s who sets out to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan with help from a white undercover partner.”
Ages It’s Best Suited For: 15 and up
Where to Watch It: Watch BlacKkKlansman on HBO Max here
Everett Collection / Courtesy Everett Collection
13th
Description: “In this thought-provoking documentary, scholars, activists and politicians analyze the criminalization of African Americans and the U.S. prison boom.”
Ages It’s Best Suited For: 15 and up
Where to Watch It: Watch 13th on Netflix here
Everett Collection / Copyright Everett Collection / Everett Collection
If Beale Street Could Talk
Description: “Based on the novel by James Baldwin, If Beale Street Could Talk is a soulful drama about a young couple fighting for justice in the name of love and the promise of the American dream.”
Ages It’s Best Suited For: 15 and up
Where to Watch It: Watch If Beale Street Could Talk on Hulu here
Everett Collection / Fox Searchlight/Courtesy Everett Collection
12 Years a Slave
Description: “In the years before the Civil War, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man from upstate New York, is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South. Subjected to the cruelty of one malevolent owner (Michael Fassbender), he also finds unexpected kindness from another, as he struggles continually to survive and maintain some of his dignity. Then in the 12th year of the disheartening ordeal, a chance meeting with an abolitionist from Canada changes Solomon’s life forever.”
Ages It’s Best Suited For: 15 and up
Where to Watch It: Rent 12 Years a Slave on YouTube here
Everett Collection / Roadside Attractions/Courtesy Everett Collection
Dear White People
Description: “Students of color navigate the daily slights and slippery politics of life at an Ivy League college that’s not nearly as ‘post-racial’ as it thinks.”
Ages It’s Best Suited For: 17 and up
Where to Watch It: Watch Dear White People on Netflix here