Movies About Social Injustice

Films which explore the struggles for equality.

Selma (2015) - Movies can have an incredible impact on social change. From Crash to Fruitvale Station, a dramatized version of events offers the kind of human perspective that news reports and statistics can't. With the recent tragic deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown — young, innocent Black men killed by police brutality — films about social injustice are more important than ever. Our list kicks off with this year's Best Picture nominee at the Oscars, Selma. Ava DuVernay's civil rights drama celebrated the protests of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on behalf of the voting rights act, and inspired protests among those who believe the film was snubbed for Best Director and Best Actor (David Oyelowo) noms. This Sunday, President Obama will make a speech on the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of the march, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the televised ...

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Selma (2015) - Movies can have an incredible impact on social change. From Crash to Fruitvale Station, a dramatized version of events offers the kind of human perspective that news reports and statistics can't. With the recent tragic deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown — young, innocent Black men killed by police brutality — films about social injustice are more important than ever. Our list kicks off with this year's Best Picture nominee at the Oscars, Selma. Ava DuVernay's civil rights drama celebrated the protests of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on behalf of the voting rights act, and inspired protests among those who believe the film was snubbed for Best Director and Best Actor (David Oyelowo) noms. This Sunday, President Obama will make a speech on the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of the march, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the televised ...

Do the Right Thing (1989) - Spike Lee's urban drama Do the Right Thing makes a powerful point about how little things have changed in New York from 1989 to 2014. If you compare footage of Garner's death with that of Lee's fictional character Radio Raheem, you'll see that Lee held up an uncomfortable mirror to the way society marginalizes minorities that is still relevant today. (Photo: 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks)

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Do the Right Thing (1989) - Spike Lee's urban drama Do the Right Thing makes a powerful point about how little things have changed in New York from 1989 to 2014. If you compare footage of Garner's death with that of Lee's fictional character Radio Raheem, you'll see that Lee held up an uncomfortable mirror to the way society marginalizes minorities that is still relevant today. (Photo: 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks)

Fruitvale Station (2013) - A big winner at the Sundance Film Festival, Fruitvale Station is based on the heart-wrenching story of Oscar Grant, an young, unarmed Black man who was shot by police officers at a BART station in the Bay Area. Sadly, the story bears too many resemblances to that of Michael Brown, an unarmed Black teen who was fatally shot by a police officer in Missouri last year. (Photo: The Weinstein Company)

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Fruitvale Station (2013) - A big winner at the Sundance Film Festival, Fruitvale Station is based on the heart-wrenching story of Oscar Grant, an young, unarmed Black man who was shot by police officers at a BART station in the Bay Area. Sadly, the story bears too many resemblances to that of Michael Brown, an unarmed Black teen who was fatally shot by a police officer in Missouri last year. (Photo: The Weinstein Company)

Photo By Photo: The Weinstein Company

American History X (1998) - In this drama, actor Ed Norton plays a directionless young man who gravitates toward a neo-nazi skinhead gang following the murder of his father by a Black drug dealer. While doing time in prison, Norton sees the error of his ways and wants to save his impressionable younger brother (Edward Furlong), who's also become a skinhead.  (Photo: New Line Cinema)

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American History X (1998) - In this drama, actor Ed Norton plays a directionless young man who gravitates toward a neo-nazi skinhead gang following the murder of his father by a Black drug dealer. While doing time in prison, Norton sees the error of his ways and wants to save his impressionable younger brother (Edward Furlong), who's also become a skinhead.  (Photo: New Line Cinema)

Crash (2004) - Several characters' stories interweave during two days in Los Angeles in this intense drama about the destructive nature of racial prejudice. Nominated for six Oscars, it won three, including Best Picture. The film starred Matt Dillon, Terrence Howard, Thandie Newton and Ludacris.(Photo: Lionsgate)

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Crash (2004) - Several characters' stories interweave during two days in Los Angeles in this intense drama about the destructive nature of racial prejudice. Nominated for six Oscars, it won three, including Best Picture. The film starred Matt Dillon, Terrence Howard, Thandie Newton and Ludacris.(Photo: Lionsgate)

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Sometimes in April (2005) - Idris Elba stars in this film set in the days leading up to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The story centers on two brothers — one a radio broadcaster and the other a captain in the Rwandan army — as they witness the slaughter of close to a million people over ethnicity. The political atmosphere divides the siblings as members of their own family are killed. (Photo: HBO)

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Sometimes in April (2005) - Idris Elba stars in this film set in the days leading up to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The story centers on two brothers — one a radio broadcaster and the other a captain in the Rwandan army — as they witness the slaughter of close to a million people over ethnicity. The political atmosphere divides the siblings as members of their own family are killed. (Photo: HBO)

Photo By Photo: HBO

Higher Learning (1995) - Singleton tackled issues of class and race in this ensemble film set on a college campus. Omar Epps played a track star who relies heavily on his scholarship to pay his fees, while Michael Rapaport portrayed a white student from Idaho who is unable to make friends and gravitates toward a group of neo-Nazi skinheads. The cast included Tyra Banks, Ice Cube and Busta Rhymes.(Photo: Columbia Pictures)

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Higher Learning (1995) - For his third film, John Singleton tackled the issue of racism on a college campus as a Black track star (Omar Epps) and his crew learn the hard truths of prejudice. Plus, a white freshman (Michael Rapaport) is convinced to join a campus skinhead group. The cast also included Tyra Banks, Ice Cube and Busta Rhymes.  (Photo: Columbia Pictures)

Rosewood (1997) - Also directed by Singleton and based on historic events of the 1923 Rosewood massacre in Florida, this drama told the story of how a thriving Black town and its residents' lives were destroyed after a white woman falsely accused a Black man of raping her. Don Cheadle, Ving Rhames and Esther Rolle starred in the picture. (Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures)

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Rosewood (1997) - Also directed by Singleton and based on historic events of the 1923 Rosewood massacre in Florida, this drama told the story of how a thriving Black town and its residents' lives were destroyed after a white woman falsely accused a Black man of raping her. Don Cheadle, Ving Rhames and Esther Rolle starred in the picture. (Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures)

The Shawshank Redemption - Straight from the twisted mind of Stephen King came this…touching tale of brotherhood among prisoners. Though the novella upon which this classic 1994 film, starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, is based was a departure from King's signature genre (horror), it has become one of his most popular adaptations to date. (Photo: Castle Rock Entertainment)

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The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - Morgan Freeman played a contraband-smuggling prison inmate in the 1940s who befriends a white inmate (Tim Robbins) being used by the warden in a money-laundering scheme. After Robbins escapes, he helps a newly-paroled Freeman fulfill a life-long dream.  (Photo: Castle Rock Entertainment)

Ghosts of Mississippi (1996) - This drama was based on the the 1994 trial of Byron De La Beckwith, the white supremacist accused of the 1963 assassination of civil rights activist Medgar Evers. Whoopi Goldberg played Medgar's widow Myrlie Evers, who gets Beckwith (James Woods) tried — for his third time — and finally convicted for her husband's murder.  (Photo: Castle Rock Entertainment)

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Ghosts of Mississippi (1996) - This drama was based on the the 1994 trial of Byron De La Beckwith, the white supremacist accused of the 1963 assassination of civil rights activist Medgar Evers. Whoopi Goldberg played Medgar's widow Myrlie Evers, who gets Beckwith (James Woods) tried — for his third time — and finally convicted for her husband's murder.  (Photo: Castle Rock Entertainment)

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Free Angela and All Political Prisoners Premieres, Wednesday at 10P/9C - As apart of our Keep It Reel Wednesdays film series, we're kicking off with the documentary about a woman who defied stereotypes and odds - Angela Davis. Watch the trrailer now!(Photo: Overbrook Entertainment)

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Free Angela and All Political Prisoners (2013) - One of the biggest cause célébres of the Black Power era, Angela Davis became a global figure when she was falesly accused of providing weapons for a politically-charged kidnapping. Shola Lynch's documentary details the trial that turned Davis into an international symbol of resistance.(Photo: Overbrook Entertainment)

Red Tails - With an all-star cast and Steven Spielberg's backing, this cinematic look at the Tuskegee Airmen was a no-brainer nomination for Best Movie. (Photo: Courtesy Twentieth Century Fox)

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Red Tails (2012) - George Lucas produced this action-packed, Star Wars-esque story based on the World War II battles (in the air and in the courts) of the Tuskeegee Airman, the all-Black fighter pilot outfit of the U.S. Air Force. The cast included Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., David Oyelowo and Ne-Yo. (Photo: LucasFilm)