Our Top Picks:

Red, White and Blue - Part of Steve McQueen’s Small Axe film series. ‘Red, White and Blue is the true story of Leroy Logan, a black British man who in the 1980s abandoned a career in research science to become a police officer, despite – or in some agonisingly redemptive sense, because of – the fact that his father was once beaten up by racists in uniform.’

 

The school That Tried to End Racism – Channel 4 (two part) documentary that looked at a class of year seven pupils and tested their unconscious racial bias. Based in a London comprehensive school and spread across three weeks, a multicultural class of pupils took part in a series of eye-opening activities as part of their normal school day. Taught by their regular teachers, the pupils were observed by a team of experts through each stage of the experiment. 

 

TV

• Explained: The Racial Wealth Gap. Systemic inequality. This episode of 'Explained' looks at the financial wealth gap based on race in America.
• Stephen: The Murder That Changed a Nation. Crime. This BBC three-part series investigates the failings of the Met Police in bringing justice to Stephen Lawrence’s family after he his racially motivated murder at a London bus stop in 1993.
• The School That Tried to End Racism. Systemic change and unconscious bias. This Channel 4 series follows students at a British school who aimed to eliminate racial bias.
• I May Destroy You. Consent, sexual assault and race. Described as one of the best series of 2020, I May Destroy You explores racism, consent, and sexual abuse by following the experience of Arabella, a young victim of sexual assault in present day London.
• When They See Us. Based on events of the April 19, 1989, Central Park jogger case, this series explores the lives of the five suspects who were prosecuted on charges related to the sexual assault of a female victim, and of their families.
• Small Axe (miniseries). Created and directed by Steve McQueen, this BBC series follows the stories of West Indian immigrants in London during the 1960s and 70s.
• Time: The Kalief Browder Story. This series traces the tragic case of Kalief Browder, a Black Bronx teen who spent three horrific years in jail, despite not being convicted of a crime.
• This Is Us. An American romantic family drama television series created by Dan Fogelman that premiered on NBC on September 20, 2016. The series follows the lives and families of two parents, and their three children, in several different time frames
• Diversity’s BLM Performance on Britain's got talent.

Film

• Hidden Figures. Gender and racial inequality. Hidden Figures follows the true stories of three black female mathematicians who helped NASA during the 1960s in the race to space and explores the challenges they faced which their colleagues did not.
• 13th. Crime and structural inequality. America has 5 percent of the world’s population but 25 percent of its prisoners. This award-winning documentary looks at the racial inequality of the American prison system and how it benefits from the mass incarceration of African American people.
• Moonlight. Identity, sexuality and masculinity. This Oscar-winning film follows a young black man’s coming of age and his struggle with sexuality, race and masculinity, delving into the lasting impacts of homophobia and inequality.
• Knock Down the House. Race, gender and class. This documentary film follows the primary campaigns of four female candidates – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Amy Vilela, Cori Bush and Paula Jean Swearengin – who ran in the 2018 American mid-term elections.
• Sitting in Limbo. Windrush and racism. After living in the UK for 50 years, Anthony Bryan was wrongfully detained and threatened with deportation by the Home Office. This film follows his story, part of the Windrush Scandal.
• The Hate U Give. The film stars Amandla Stenberg, Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, K. J. Apa, Common, and Anthony Mackie, and follows the fallout after a high school student witnesses a police shooting.
• Loving. The story of Richard and Mildred Loving, a couple whose arrest for interracial marriage in 1960s Virginia began a legal battle that would end with the Supreme Court's historic 1967 decision.
• Just Mercy. Based on the bestselling book, Just Mercy presents the unforgettable story of Bryan Stevenson and the case of Walter McMillian, who was convicted and sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit.
• When They See Us. Five teens from Harlem become trapped in a nightmare when they're falsely accused of a brutal attack in Central Park. Based on the true story.