The Doc Nerd’s Guide to 42 Streaming Black History Documentaries on YouTube, Amazon Prime, and More

I am what you might call self-willed. So, when I learned that Black History is being stripped from schools (Map: Where Is Black History Instruction Required) and that federal agencies are banning its recognition (Federal Agencies Bar Black History Month and other ‘special observances’), I did what I do best – fired up my streaming services to learn what I am not suppose to know.

Black history is uncomfortable (Lawmakers want to ban discomfort in schools. But Black history isn’t always comfortable).

It’s a history that rattles the conscience. It forces us to reckon with the darkest deeds men and women will do for greed and power.

Yet, no matter how uncomfortable such a truth may be, we must face it.

For nearly 350 years, America’s better angels were on holiday through

250 years of enslavement,
100 years of Jim Crow’s violent social and economic oppression and
a 30-year Civil Rights Movement to secure basic citizenship rights.

If we refuse to face this reality, history will keep repeating itself.

I have watched this country, over and over, in times of pain and fear, be lured by the siren of white supremacy and pseudo-science’s quick and painless fixes of the day’s fears, whether that be elite college admissions (The University of California Increased Diversity. Now It’s Being Sued), unmerited gain by minorities, (Trump’s Executive Orders Rolling Back DEI and Accessibility Efforts, Explained; Executive Order Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing; War on DEI: Target Sued Over Ill-Advised DEI Campaigns) or a cultural revolution (Executive Order Defending Women from Gender Ideology, Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to The Federal Government.).

And having followed the siren, we find ourselves shipped wrecked on the rocky shoals of history, divided and unable to combat

climate change (Yale Experts Explain the Politics of Climate Change),
poverty (New Statistics Tell The Sad Tale of Poverty As A Policy Choice),
mass incarceration (High Incarceration Rates May Not Help US Citizens Feel Safer),
economic inequality (Nine Charts about Wealth Inequality in America),
labor exploitation (Sharing Facts About Unions Could Revitalize The Labor Movement),
corporate greed (Democrats Are Taking On Corporate Greed And Fighting For American Families).

But we don’t have to continue to hit the rocks. Black history shows us where racism, division, discrimination, and inequality lead, and it is never to the peaceful, prosperous state promised.

It shows us that one person can make a difference, that together, we can shake the very foundation of the world, and, most importantly, how to have joy in the struggle—lessons we all need now in these uncertain and dangerous times.

So, dive in. Choose a documentary and click play.

And if you find this list helpful, drop me a comment – I’d love to hear your thoughts.