Black History Movies
Films that deal with African-American history.
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(Photo: CBS)
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Shaka Zulu - Shaka Zulu told the story of the great Black South African warrior, European colonialism of Africa and African resistance to it. (Photo: Harmony Gold Productions)
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Amistad - Amistad told the story of a group of Africans who rebelled against their captors on a slave ship traveling to America. Their rebellion led to an epic court case on the morality of slavery. (Photo: Dreamworks Pictures)
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Roots - The epic miniseries Roots told the story of author Alex Haley's journey in America, starting with Kunta Kinte being stolen into slavery and ending with his grandson, Chicken George, being freed after the Civil War. (Photo: Warner Bros. Television)
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Django Unchained - Jamie Foxx starred in Quentin Tarrantino's Django Unchained. The movie told the tale of a slave who becomes a bounty hunter and hunts down the men who were enslaving his wife. (Photo: Columbia Pictures)
Photo By Photo: Columbia Pictures
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Sally Hemmings - Sally Hemmings told the tale of President Thomas Jefferson's 38-year relationship with his slave, lover and mother of his children. Their story was also told in the movie Jefferson in Paris. (Photo: CBS Productions)
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Goodbye Uncle Tom - Goodbye Uncle Tom is a mock documentary about the racism, rape, harsh treatment and inhumanity of slavery. The Italian movie also detailed the rise of the Black Power movement with cameos by LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka) Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Toure) and Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver. (Photo: Blue Underground Productions)
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The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman - The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman is about a Black woman who was born a slave in 1852 and then deals with the oppression of Jim Crow until she joins the civil rights movement. (Photo: Tomorrow Entertainment)
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Glory - Glory told the story of the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts, an all-Black fighting force that dealt with racism from their own side and the other side in the Civil War. It starred Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman as slaves turned soldiers. (Photo: TriStar Pictures)
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Buffalo Soldiers - Buffalo Soldiers, starring Danny Glover, is about an all-Black troop of soldiers who were chosen to fight Native Americans on the frontier after the Civil War. The movie dealt with the racial tension that affected Native Americans and African-Americans. (Photo: Turner Pictures)
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Sounder - In Sounder, a family of Black sharecroppers struggle with poverty and racism and the absence of their father, who was arrested for stealing food to feed his family. (Photo: Radnitz/Mattel Productions)
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Rosewood - Rosewood told the story of the 1923 Rosewood massacre in Florida. In the film, a prosperous Black town is burned down after a Black man is falsely accused of raping a white woman. (Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures)
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The Color Purple - In The Color Purple, Whoopi Goldberg played Celie, a woman who had to deal with racism, poverty and physical abuse in the early 20th century. The film also starred Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover and was nominated for 11 Oscars. (Photo: Amblin Entertainment)
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Red Tails - Red Tails, produced by George Lucas, told the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African-American pilots who fought in World War II. The movie starred Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard and The Wire's Tristan Wilds. (Photo: Twentieth Century Fox)
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A Soldier's Story - Denzel Washington had his breakout role in A Soldier's Story, which told the story of a group of Black soldiers stationed at a base in the Jim Crow South and the racism and segregation they dealt with. (Photo: Columbia Pictures)
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42 - 42 tells the story of the legendary Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play Major League baseball. The film gives an accurate depiction of the evils of racism and segregation and the grace and dignity that Jackie Robinson used to deal with them. (Photo: Legendary Pictures)
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The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings - The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings deals with segregation in sports and is about a team of Black baseball players who start their own baseball team to the dismay of the white owner of a Negro League team. The movie starred Billie Dee Williams and Richard Pryor. (Photo: Universal Pictures)
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Miracle at St. Anna - Miracle at St. Anna tells the story of a group of Black soldiers in a segregated division in Italy. Michael Ealy, Laz Alonzo and Derek Luke all played soldiers. (Photo: 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks)
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To Kill a Mockingbird - To Kill a Mockingbird is about the trial of a Black man falsely accused of rape in the Jim Crow South and the family of the brave lawyer who defends him. (Photo: Universal Pictures)
Photo By Photo: Universal Pictures
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Separate but Equal - In the film Separate but Equal, Sidney Poitier played Thurgood Marshall during his epic Supreme Court case, Brown v. The Board of Education. The case would be a drastic changing point in the civil rights movement and would lead to segregation being illegal. (Photo: Republic Pictures)
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Ruby Bridges - Ruby Bridges is about and is named for the first African-American student to integrate the New Orleans school system. The racism and hatred that 10-year-old Bridges dealt with is immortalized in the Norman Rockwell painting The Problem We All Live With. (Photo: Walt Disney Television)
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A Raisin in the Sun - A Raisin in the Sun deals with the poverty and struggles of a family living on the Southside of Chicago in 1959. The original movie starred Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee and a later version starred Diddy and Phylicia Rashad. (Photo: Columbia Pictures)
Photo By Photo: Columbia Pictures
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Malcolm X - Denzel Washington starred as Malcolm X in Spike Lee's epic movie. The movie focused on Malcolm's experience with racism as a child, his short criminal career, his conversion to Islam and his rise as a civil rights leader. (Photo: 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks)
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The Five Heartbeats - The Five Heartbeats was based on the story of Motown, The Temptations and other Black music groups in the '60s. The movie showed the struggles of Black musicians and the fight to make Black music popular. (Photo: Twentieth Century Fox)
Photo By Photo: Courtesy Twentieth Century Fox Pictures
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Boycott - Boycott tells the story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which brought cvil rights leader Martin Luther King into prominence. Jeffrey Wright starred as King with Terrence Howard playing fellow civil rights activist Ralph Abernathy. (Photo: HBO Films)
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