23 Movies, Documentaries, & Shows About Race To Stream Right Now

This moment in history is long overdue. For almost a week now, demonstrators have flocked to their city streets night after night to protest Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin's killing of George Floyd.

While calls for justice may currently be at their loudest, they come after centuries of a systemic anti-Black environment that allowed for this crisis. In recent years, social media has granted much-needed visibility to the severe problem of police brutality, and shown the desperate need for reform in America’s police force. Everyone needs to find their place in this movement and not be silent — and that starts with educating yourself on how we got here.

Over 20 necessary movies, documentaries, and TV series from creators like Ava DuVernay, Spike Lee, and Barry Jenkins are available to stream or rent right now. They explore issues like the 1960s civil rights movement, mass incarceration, and police reform, and highlight Black leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Harriet Tubman beyond what you learned in your high school history textbooks.

While it’s not enough to read a few books and stream a couple Netflix movies to call yourself an ally, doing so will give you an informed, educated base from which to take to the streets, write to your local government, donate to the appropriate causes, share information on social media, and make the necessary changes in your own life to actively fight racism.