This Oscar winning doc from The Roots’ musical savant Questlove relives the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a six-week concert series that featured some of the most notable acts of the day— some of whom are the greatest musicians who ever lived. One of the things that makes this 117-minute movie so captivating is the time it chronicles: 1969 was, of course, the year Woodstock took place in upstate New York, and while that event is considered part of American cultural history, so little is known about the Harlem Cultural Festival.

That event brought out incredible artists, including Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight & The Pips, and many more. It’s a history lesson, a celebration of culture, and a teachable moment about finding the value in Black art when the mainstream doesn’t. 

It’s never a bad time to revisit Queen Bey’s 2019 concert film, a masterfully directed synopsis of her 2018 spectacle at Coachella. Of course, Beyoncé being Beyoncé, the music is on point, the choreography will take your breath away, and her performances are nothing short of mesmerizing. But "Homecoming" is much more than a concert.

As the name implies, it’s also a moving tribute to the HBCU experience, with overt and subtle nods to many facets of HBCU life, from the costumes to the band to the stunning re-arrangements of her material. It’s Black excellence to a beat, a treat the whole family can savor again and again and see something new every time.

Caution: this one will make you hungry! This beautiful, tender series, based on the book "High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America" by Dr. Jessica B. Harris, examines the roots of African American culinary history. Starting in Benin, West Africa, the series shows how resilient and creative Black people ingeniously held onto recipes and traditions— many of which are still very much in use and enjoyed today.

In this touching story from director Channing Godfrey Peoples, Nicole Beharie stars as Turquoise, a single mother living in Texas and the former winner of the local Miss Juneteenth pageant. When she enters her 15-year-old daughter, Kai (Alexis Chikaeze), in a pageant, all sorts of family fissures become exposed, and the family has to reconcile with the past and an uncertain future. With its focus on the Black holiday celebrating freedom, it’s a worthy watch. 

Funnyman Kevin Hart stars in this drama based on a true story. Adapted from a memoir by writer Matthew Logelin, Hart plays a dad whose wife Liz (Deborah Ayorinde) died just after giving birth to their daughter. Adjusting to life as a single father, he learns that it takes a village to raise a child, and leans on the support of family, friends, and a new love interest who comes into his life at just the right time.

We know that the holidays are a few months away but why wait to celebrate? This musical fantasy film, which came out in 2020, has been hailed as an instant classic for a new generation. Stacked with beloved Black actors including Forest Whitaker, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, and so many more, "Jingle Jangle" tells the story of Jeronicus Jangle, an inventor and toymaker who an opportunistic assistant betrays.

Comedy greats Richard Pryor, Garrett Morris, and George Carlin are just some of the legends in this wild romp from the anything-goes era of the late 1970s. Set in downtown Los Angeles, this funny flick follows what happens one crazy day at a car wash, when all sorts of customers and neighborhood characters swing by for amusements and eye-popping insanity.

Forever FLOTUS Michelle Obama adapts her bestselling 2018 book for the screen in this moving 2020 documentary— a film released under Michelle and Barack Obama’s production company Higher Ground.

In the film, we get to see Mrs. Obama as she embarks on a 34-city book tour and rare glimpses of the highly disciplined, carefully scripted Flyest FLOTUS letting her guard down. This one’s a tear-jerker because it’s the ultimate reminder of the greatness inside each of us, no matter where we come from.

Film icon Diahann Carroll is outstanding alongside James Earl Jones in this moving comedy-drama, her performance winning her an NAACP Image Award and Best Actress Oscar and Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical Golden Globe nominations. In the film, she plays Claudine Price, a struggling single mother in Harlem who falls in love with a garbage collector Rupert (Jones); despite their circumstances, the pair find and make their beauty in a world designed to keep them down.

Closeout summer laughing 'til it hurts. Fans of zany, off-the-wall comedy will delight in "Sherman's Showcase," an irreverent sketch comedy show from former Jimmy Fallon writers Diallo Riddle and Bashir Salahuddin. The premise of the series is outrageously silly: modeled in the vein of "Soul Train," Sherman's Showcase is hosted by a guy named Sherman McDaniel (played by Salahuddin) who's somehow been alive—and not aged— to witness a plethora of Black music styles come and go, from disco to rap, house, R&B, gospel, and more. However, as every sketch song lampoons our most beloved forms, viewers get to see laugh-out-loud parodies of artists like Mary J. Blige and Anita Baker. There are also insanely funny original songs like "Drop It Low for Jesus" that poke fun at Black culture while celebrating it with loving humor at the same time.

Happy Labor Day!