25 Movies and Shows I’ve Used to Effectively Teach about Systemic Injustice, Racism, Privilege and Policing
By: The Couch Tamale
Tags: Social Justice, Movies, BlackLivesMatter, Education, Film

Ameena Matthews in ‘The Interrupters’ (Kartemquin Films, PBS Frontline)

Recently a 15 year-old student in my class said that he yearned for more education to help him understand the signs of the times. “I look at social media, but after a while all I start seeing is box after box after box.” It’s too much and not enough, he seemed to say.

Keeping up with the latest in a long, long line of anti-Black murders, police repression, systemic injustice and civil unrest feels necessary, but may indeed feel like breadth and not depth at the same time. Many of us also may experience quarantine-related concentration challenges reading long form books.

What I offer here are films and series that allow us to sit on our sofas for a couple of hours and learn, or re-learn, context, history and stimulating ideas that may strengthen our resolve for the long push ahead to move the mountains of complicity, bigotry and systemic violence. To have vision, we need the past.

These are films I’ve shown or assigned to students in my high school ‘Social Justice’ (10th grade) and ‘Peace Studies’ (12th grade) classes for many years that have produced generous, sometimes uncomfortable, often rewarding discussion. Other sources are newer, occasionally carrying over into our zoom chats during a pandemic classroom that seemed to hurtle from urgency to urgency.

It is not a complete list but it’s what I could do right now, and after the school year is over, I hope to continue with another, as well as resources I use to teach creative nonviolence. Besides classroom instruction on nonviolence and social justice, I offer my experience as a film critic and 18 years work as a video store clerk for Vidiots, an independent video store that served as a community and industry resource in Los Angeles. If you would like the complete list just by title and not these descriptions, just scroll to the bottom.

(Note: Due to my time still occupied so greatly by teaching at the end of a school year, I didn’t have time to list the exact place where you can stream or find the media. With apologies — most are easily searchable from sources like Kanopy, Netflix, PBS, Amazon, Hulu, IDFA, youtube and more. A number are now offered for free or without subscription.)

’41 Shots’ episode of ‘Trial by Media’ — A black man killed by police through grotesquely and surreally excessive force. Black and white people take to the streets in protest. Authoritarian politicians and police posture and close ranks. A trial, incredible verdict and rage. Al Sharpton speaks out for the family.

Same as it ever was. Amadou Diallo, an immigrant from Guinea excited about his dream to be educated in America, was shot by NYPD 41 times when they ‘thought he had a gun.’ He was unarmed. Cover-ups ensue. His heartbroken mother, Katiadou, now an activist who helps other mothers who lose their children to police violence, gives us the human side of Amadou, whose American Dream was betrayed by the very people supposed to protect it. This excellent Netflix series perhaps moves a bit too fast through complex cases, but still, what you will find here will serve both to further awaken your moral compass as well as provide a cautionary tale: We’ve been here before. We know how this can turn out. What will we do this time to stop it? Amadou Diallo’s last words before being shot and killed: “Mom, I’m going to college!”

Always in Season — Lennon Lacy was a 17 year-old African-American teen who was found hanging from a swing set in his North Carolina trailer park neighborhood. A perfunctory police investigation followed according to their prejudice, concluding that he committed suicide. However, his mother and brother believe he was lynched, and Jacqueline Olive’s award-winning documentary, which aired earlier this year on PBS’ Frontline, gives them voice and space. Olive weaves the quest to solve the mystery of the high school linebacker’s death with an accessible, succinct and of course horrifying history of murder by lynching, reminding of us of both well-known and lesser known cases. For Lennon’s mother Claudia, who fights for justice alongside advocates who help her, the tragedy is compounded that this woman from a lower economic class has to spend time not only mourning her son but trying to find out what really happened. There’s a twist I didn’t see coming, but the film is not at all manipulative and in the end, you may feel your moral resolve strengthening for the long road. If teenage boys can still be lynched and the police close the books to serve themselves, the veil of illusion of racial progress drops quickly.

The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson — This stirring non-fiction film alternates an investigation into the unsettled circumstances of how Marsha P. Johnson’s body was found in the river in her beloved New York, with a rightful restoration to her place in LGBTQ+ activism as a courageous pioneer, entertainer, New York’s ‘street queen’ and a tireless advocate for the poor. Johnson was a transgender person who along with Sylvia Rivera founded STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries), was prominent in the Stonewall uprising, and later became a member of AIDS activist group ACT-UP. All the vintage clips we see of her only make us want more of her presence. The film also threads in the early days of the trans and queer liberation movements, and also makes us want to know more about Johnson’s surviving friends, who are relentless in pursuing the truth about her death. Eventually we encounter cynical and frustrating cover-ups by the NYPD, encapsulating the many years of erasure and police violence against the trans community. This is the rare film that leaves you wanting more; you can easily imagine it as the framework for an entire series.

13th — Fiery truth bomb after truth bomb arrives with illuminating power in Duvernay’s cinematic essay/research paper/art film. ‘13th’ excavates, with tremendous intelligence and craft, the poisonous layers upon layers of sinful exploitation and cruelty underneath America’s anti-black criminal justice system. What you think you know is constantly upended by the scholarly yet pithy statements made by the film’s prophetic speakers; ‘13th’ is a denial-stripper. Duvernay has to cover decades of history, while still maintaining pace and clarity, and the editing, sourcing of material, music score and direction combine in miraculous and passionate fashion, like the most bracing college lecture you could ever imagine. Among its many strands you can find brilliance about the strategies of arrest in the civil rights movement, how the war on drugs was a war on communities of color and how much pain has been caused by rich white politicians in both American parties as they cavalierly plotted the massive reach of their domination. Absolutely essential.

The Interrupters — There are films that show us nonviolent change in action, and there are films that actually change life in real time after they are seen. ‘The Interrupters’ has achieved both. This involving, passionate film is essentially a ride-along with community guardians who use de-escalation techniques and in-person counseling to counter street violence in Chicago. That sounds far more technical than it is. Director Steve James (who also made the masterful ‘Hoop Dreams’; see below) introduces us to Ameena Matthews, Cobe Williams and Eddie Bocanegra, all of whom used to start or participate in community violence and who now devote their lives to keeping their ears to the street so they can reach the likely instigators before fights, gun violence and trauma can occur. It’s tough, often heartbreaking work, with ‘success’ measured by degrees. All are charismatic, but Ms. Matthews in particular has a quiet fire that we experience as a viewer, so we understand how she could be even more compelling in person as she persuades people that they are heard (it’s amazing how much violence occurs when people feel hurt and not heard) and that there’s an alternative. (If you want another example of systemic injustice, this masterpiece as well as ‘Hoop Dreams’ were both ignored by the Academy’s documentary division, notoriously shocking omissions.) James achieves a startling immediacy in the film, plunging us in media res so completely it’s hard to believe a camera was running. Today we hear many folks talking about policing reform that would be community-based and run; here’s an important example of what that would look like to inform our discussions. Highly recommended.

Angola: Life on the Farm — This documentary got a flurry of awards and attention upon its release, but I find it is now unknown to many, which is too bad because though elements may be dated, there is much that sets the stage for today. The Louisiana State Penitentiary is shown for what it is, a human warehouse, and barely that. There are men here gripped by fear, people who have been forgotten, one man even saying when he dies he hopes to be buried at the prison for a final resting place, ‘near his friends.’

Think about that.

One of the simplest but most complexly devastating sequences I’ve ever seen, one that speaks volumes, occurs when an African-American man, who has done everything he thinks he can to qualify for parole, finally goes before the board that can grant him freedom. The filmmakers have given us access to the parole board’s deliberations and reasoning, which is blinded by prejudice and stereotype, and seeing this man’s persistent hope in the face of it is crushing at a deep soul level. Unforgettable and unmissable.

I Am Not Your Negro — If you never caught this dazzling fusion of documentary and cinematic collage featuring the lacerating words of novelist. essayist and Queer pioneer James Baldwin, now would be an ideal time to experience this brilliant film essay. Baldwin’s rigorous and investigative mind was bold and provocative, full of equal parts hope and despair about the possibility of America ever dealing in an honest way with its poisonous legacy of racism. Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson in a hushed voice-over approximating Baldwin’s voice (it’s actually one of Jackson’s best performances), IANYN uses all the tools of filmmaking, including scintillating footage of Baldwin himself being interviewed (on college campuses, on talk shows). Director Raoul Peck seamlessly blends in contemporary news footage of African-American protest, Hollywood portrayals of blacks, images of nature and historical examples of racism. Peck didn’t just make one of the best documentaries of recent times, he made one of the best films period. Talk shows today are often places where guests appear to promote and joke, but at one time, several prominent talk shows regularly invited ‘intellectuals’ to engage in stimulating conversation, and Baldwin was a notable guest in that regard; footage here may make you lament the devolution of the talk show (though recent events have sparked a notable change.)This film is sure to provoke discussion and probably best of all, it can introduce young people (and many older folks) to the work of the brilliant prophet James Baldwin.

White Like Me — Documentary version of Tim Wise’s book which tries to break down questions related to white silence, denial and privilege, such as “Isn’t Racism a Thing of the Past?” and “But What About Us?” using archival footage and passages from his text. Always a discussion starter in class. Particularly effective: the clips of white talking heads who confidently asserted that people of color no longer ‘have an excuse’ and declared racism was dead when Barack Obama was elected. In hindsight, the fact they were given so much voice over voices of color is chilling. Everything was “fine.” “No more racism!” For anyone who thinks white supremacy only made a comeback with the candidacy of Donald Trump, you will find ample evidence here that it never went away.

G-Dog — I’ve shown this film to students numerous times to illustrate the ideal we can aspire to. If you are a Christian, the ‘Kingdom of God here on earth.’ If a follower of MLK, the ‘beloved community.’ If a humanist, here is human dignity in action.

If you know Jesuit priest Fr. Greg Boyle (nicknamed ‘G-Dog’ by the people he serves), ‘radical kinship’ is his philosophy, which is on full display in this film. Fr. Boyle changed the Los Angeles landscape when he slowly but faithfully began to visit and offer hope to Los Angeles’ gang members, right at the peak of a relentless targeting of Latinos and people of color on two sides, gangs and cops. This inspiring film will show you how creative nonviolence and truthful attention to the rigors of the Christian gospel message led Boyle and his team (mostly made up of ex-gang members he persuaded to ‘leave the life’) build Homeboy Industries, whose slogan, ‘Nothing stops a bullet like a job’, has given employment, training, counseling, spiritual guidance and even tattoo removal to people who grab onto the plank of hope Boyle extends before they drown in generational trauma, social neglect and moral immaturity. For those who know Boyle’s work and storytelling, you are never far away from a tear and a laugh at the same moment. What is now a success story of creative nonviolence was too often opposed by the city, police and the gangs until the sheer power of redemption broke through and forged a path that rescues people from the margins. Not by urging them to come forward towards the dominant but instead those who choose the path of love walking towards them until, as Boyle so often says, “the margins disappear.”

Policing the Police — Today many are calling for greater police reform, some waking up to it for the first time in their consciousness. However, both calls for reform and retraining have been going on for as long as people have experienced police misconduct. This bracingly intelligent work from the great writer/historian Jehlani Cobb is about the Newark police department’s efforts to engage with its community and just as importantly, what the Newark community asks. While it gives voice to many concerned, the film may leave you in despair about how deeply rooted the problems are — ‘hearts and minds’ does not begin to describe the level of scrutiny and change needed.

Living Undocumented — ICE is a police force which terrorizes communities of color, particularly Latinx. This six-part series takes you on a journey with a variety of charismatic, compelling immigrants from Mexico and Central America and around the world, some of whom have lived here for many years. Beautifully filmed and edited, ‘Living Undocumented’ shows in real-life terms the emotional upheaval, rupture of families and sheer pain visited on good people who have tried to follow the ever-shifting rules of the immigration system under Obama and Trump. The one constant is the chaotic and morally bankrupt policing and detention by ICE, which often not only violates policies but the lowest ethical bar. Watch an ICE officer knock an attorney to the ground. Watch a military man’s wife, promised immunity from deportation, say goodbye to her daughter at the airport. Watch a teenager writhe in pain in a youtube video in fear his janitor father, once a civil servant in Colombia, will be deported back to a city where drug cartels promise his tortuous death. Violence comes in many state-sponsored forms, and we need to wake up to all the communities it threatens.

The work of Anna Deavere Smith — Smith is truly one of the most mercurial actors you’ve ever witnessed, with a skill set that allows her to switch in and out of the skins and mannerisms of the persons she’s interviewed to artfully shape her documentary-plays. If you’ve ever witnessed these plays live, they are electrifying. ‘Fire in the Mirror’ explores tensions between the Black and Jewish communities after each has experienced a tragic loss of one of its own. ‘Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992’ is composed of monologues she performed in a one woman show based on hundreds of interviews she conducted in the wake of the LA uprising following the Rodney King verdict. ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail’ is her one-woman oral interpretation of King’s seminal letter on nonviolent spirituality. ‘Notes from the Field’ tackles the immense poverty to prison pipeline through the distillation of hundreds of interviews; Smith again plays all the people she’s recorded. Smith’s honorable dedication to, in today’s words, ‘give voice’ is evidence of a life of theatrical service well-lived.

Life (1999) — On the surface and in the cover art, this looks like a broad comedy irreverently set in a Mississippi prison with Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence. To be sure, it has moments that fulfill that low bar. However, Ted Demme, a rising director who was the great director Jonathan Demme’s nephew, was also an heir to the family tradition of humane filmmaking, even within genre confines. Murphy and Lawrence entertain as they scheme and plot to survive and escape prison in the 1930s, but that’s not really the story here or reason it’s included on this list. For someone looking for some knowledge in an entertaining way, Demme is really after showing the tragedy of mass incarceration of black people. The plot and setting serve to show yet another decade’s systemic repression. Admittedly this isn’t everyone’s type of film, and it’s not like others on this list, but if you put away the expectations, you may find it’s a lighter (but sensitized) way to share the burden. Director Ted Demme’s death, as well as the too-young death of Jonathan Demme, are great losses to cinema.

Fruitvale Station — Before the metaphoric adventures of ‘Black Panther’, Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan teamed to tell the story of Oscar Grant, the young black man shot and killed by BART officers at the Fruitvale stop on New Year’s Eve when many people were coming home from celebrating. The film gives you Grant’s last day; Jordan’s charisma works well here to show a man who apparently did charm many even as his own life was full of contradictions. There’s also a vivid performance by Melonie Diaz, an underrated and always welcome actor, as Grant’s partner. Going over the mundane details of Oscar Grant’s life on the day he doesn’t know will be his last reminds you that any black man’s day could be his last if he encounters prejudicial, fast-triggered officers. Yet another cautionary tale in the canon of deaths of black men and people of color by police.

The Force — This documentary goes deep inside the Oakland police force as it struggles to grapple with orders to reform, deals with scandal and attempts retraining of officers. The art of this film is simple in how it makes the injustices clear even as it shows an even hand in letting us hear from a variety of well-intentioned but frustrated officers, citizens and political leaders.

When They See Us/The Central Park Five — Rather than write as rapturously and lengthily as I want to about Ava Duvernay’s four part series telling the story of the Exonerated Five, the boys falsely accused and jailed for the notorious Central Park rape, I can work to advocate for you to see for yourself. Simply put, it is a the place where tragic history and clarifying art meet. The final episode is so heart-scraping you may have to take a breath to get through it. ‘The Central Park Five’ is by the documentary family of Ken Burns and his daughter Sarah and her husband David McMahon. Once again, essential viewing particularly as both drop in the chilling and racist grandstanding of the man who would incredulously would someday be president.

Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé — I never could afford a ticket to a Beyoncé show, so when I heard Coachella was going to broadcast her show live on youtube, I settled in. I anticipated spectacle, but somehow it would be containable, rankable in the list of great music festival shows. Within a few moments it became an artistic statement that felt historic even as you were watching it. Coming after her ‘Formation’ video and Super Bowl halftime show which blended in critique of police violence with precision dance moves, it became a major artistic statement. Though it arrived like a surprise on the Coachella stage, this film recognizes the yearlong planning, rehearsal and commitment to a message beyond the star’s own career. The concert addressed Historic Black Colleges, the tradition of drumlines, male physical and emotional violence against women, systematic oppression and fighting to break its chains. When you need a dose of power, inspiration and the goddess Beyoncé to get back to reform work — who better than an artist who restlessly re-forms herself.

The Good Fight — This CBS All Access series is a spin-off from ‘The Good Wife’, but other than a few common cast members like the deliciously regal Christine Baranski, it’s moved far beyond its roots. Baranski’s character now works in an African-American owned and staffed law firm, and the series often explores thorny issues that model the kinds of uncomfortable questions black and white people have been reluctant to process. Fiercely intelligent, the show doesn’t stop there — ‘The Good Fight’ also works in intra-community challenges, such as the debate among the black lawyers when they discover their venerable founder sexually harassed employees. This is also one of the few series which doesn’t look at what it’s like to live under the Trump presidency in a discreet way, it meets it head-on in plots that are often genuinely thrilling and acidly funny.

A Class Divided — Many people still have not heard of brilliant teacher Jane Elliot’s classroom activity with her third graders to illustrate prejudice. Captured in ‘The Eye of the Storm’, Elliot followed her discussion of the aftermath of the killing of Martin Luther King with an activity to awaken them when she saw them nonplussed. Dividing them into ‘blue eyes/brown eyes’, she gave favorable status to one group before the other, and vice versa. The students so fully and quickly immersed themselves into stereotypical power roles, internalized oppression and gleeful domination that it revealed how deep the current of bigotry and the embrace of power is planted even by the age of eight. In ‘A Class Divided’, Ms. Elliot is reunited with those students in 1985, and they discuss how the experiment affected them and stayed with them throughout their lives. While it’s doubtful teachers today could directly enact such an exercise without administrative and parental complaint, and while scholars may debate its efficacy and ethics, Elliot’s exercise clearly inspired educators for years afterwards to challenge passive teaching. Consider watching Elliot’s recent interview on Jimmy Fallon to see her thoughts today.

The Hate U Give — You’ll find my full review of the excellent ‘The Hate U Give’ at the link below:

Sounder — If you have children who you would like to teach about the various historical manifestations of racism, please consider this deeply affecting story of a tight-knit family with a beloved dog (Sounder). Paul Winfield, Cicely Tyson, Taj Mahal and Kevin Hooks deliver performances for the ages in this acclaimed film based on a celebrated children’s novel. Nathan Lee, the family’s patriarch, makes a choice to feed his hungry family and the connection between poverty, ‘crime’ and unjust punishment is easy for children to see. Discussions on how that line of progression still occurs today and leads to similar results can occur naturally. Also note: there’s a reason that the elating reunion scene by two key characters is shown in Oscar montages year after year.

Zoot Suit — Mexican-American youth were targeted by the LAPD in the WWII years, stereotyped by their stylish ‘pachuco’ dress and music. When the Chicano young people clashed with whites and servicemen because their clothes used too much cloth and were therefore “unpatriotic”, the resulting battles rocked the streets. The clashes led to police repression, the riots spread to other cities, the courts dealt out phony verdicts. Luis Valdez’ hybrid play/musical grounds the story with elements such as the way the press of the day played judge and jury, the clear bigotry of the city’s officials and the reasons why eruption was a constant temptation. A young Edward James Olmos, as the mythical ‘El Pachuco’, charismatically serves as our guides to the events, as well as a machismo whisperer and occasional consoler. ‘Zoot Suit’ is basically a filmed version of the play; we are distanced a bit, but the sense of injustice comes through. (See also: this season of ‘Penny Dreadful: City of Angels.’)

Dear White People — Consider: there was a brief firestorm in social media that writer/director should even think to call his film by that title. Reverse racism! Promoting division! Promoting bigotry against whites! Did anyone ever see it? There are many reasons to watch this smart, witty and frisky exploration of campus life at a time of ‘wokeness’ among African-American students (and their friends of other races) but I’ll focus on one: the type of racist campus party where frat boys and sorority girls think it’s funny to dress up ‘hip hop’ and ‘black’ as caricatures. There’s all too much evidence of this strange contradictory we-like-your-music-but-use-it-to-stereotype-you racism on too many school campuses.

The African-Americans: Many Rivers to Cross — In sound bites and among the general population, you sometimes hear opinions that seem to indicate there was the civil rights era and then Obama’s election, without a lot of knowledge about the in-between. This fascinating series covers that time period, and explores divergent conversations within the community even as it continued to withstand attack from outside it.

Targeting El Paso — It’s hard to believe, but it wasn’t that long ago we were reeling from mass shootings. Why do we have so many ways of doing away with each other, how cheap has life become? How far away is a president’s dehumanization of an entire people from their eventual killing? Trump’s obsession with scapegoating, warehousing and threatening violence on Mexican and Central American people fleeing great violence was turned into policy, including arrests and lack of proper processing. White supremacists found this era to be a ‘step out of the shadows’ moment and the result was the deadly shooting of mostly Latinx folk in a Walmart parking lot near El Paso. The ugly ironies of a mass shooting at one of America’s superstores; cheap prices, cheap price of life, cheapened democracy, expensive despair.

Hoop Dreams — Do you have a teenager who loves basketball or team sports and who also wants to learn about systemic inequality? Steve James’ classic non-fiction epic ‘Hoop Dreams’, is a nearly three hour immersion into the lives of two young black men, William Gates and Arthur Agee, who are both gifted basketball players. In specifics, the film takes us on a journey to see whether their talents can be their proverbial ‘ticket out’ of poverty and erasure. But along the way, we see the institutional injustice that keeps their Chicago community in a cycle of desperation, hope, and poverty. We see the joy of playing sports and the intelligence needed to do so, but we also see the heartwrenching fragility of the widespread dream that playing collegiate and professional sports will provide visibility, liberation, rescue. I don’t know any teenager who has been able to invest in this film for three hours who doesn’t come away enlightened by it, and obviously that goes for many adults too.

List:

’41 Shots’ episode of ‘Trial by Media’

Always in Season

The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson

The Interrupters

13th

Angola: Life on the Farm

I Am Not Your Negro

White Like Me

G-Dog

Policing the Police

Living Undocumented

Anna Deavere Smith’s plays

Life

Fruitvale Station

The Force

When They See Us/Central Park Five

Homecoming: A Film by Beyonce

The Good Fight

A Class Divided

The Hate U Give

Sounder

Zoot Suit

Dear White People

The African-Americans: Many Rivers to Cross

Targeting El Paso

Bonus Film: Hoop Dreams

Consider also: ‘The Hard Stop’ film about the shooting by police of Mark Duggan in London; Childish Gambino’s fiery and artful 4 minute video for ‘This is America’; ‘Cooked: Survival by Zip Code’; the ‘Hope’ episode of ‘Blackish’ (or any episode of ‘Blackish’ really); ‘The Murder of Fred Hampton’ (also check out the Michael Kiwanuka video for ‘Hero’ based on Hampton; ‘Alcatraz is Not an Island’; the dated but still affecting ‘In the Heat of the Night’; the films of Charles Burnett; the beautiful ‘Daughters of the Dust’; the young female-centered ‘Our Song’; ‘Harriet’; ‘Freedom Riders’; Ava Duvernay’s ‘The Middle of Nowhere’ and of course, ‘Selma’ (which I will include in an upcoming list about strategic nonviolence); ‘Rampart’, a drama about LAPD police corruption; ‘Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project’ (also to be included in my next list in more depth); ‘The First Rainbow Coalition’; the work of ‘Culture Clash’ and many more. List of films specifically about creative nonviolence and protest upcoming.