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Ted Talks, documentaries, and more. Some are long, some are short, all are worth a watch for one reason or another.

American Experience: Freedom Riders

As part of our Hoopla subscription, you can watch this documentary shows how from May until December 1961, more than 400 black and white Americans risked their lives – many endured savage beatings and imprisonment – for simply traveling together on buses as they journeyed through the Deep South.

Post-viewing discussion handout.

Thumbnail Image of Ibran Kendi's interview about antiracism for the Ted Talk YouTube channel

AntiRacism Defined

In a longish interview on the Ted YouTube Channel, Ibram Kendi, author of How to be Antiracist, explains what antiracism is.

Thumbnail Image of Baratunde Thurston's Ted Talk

How to Deconstruct Racism: One Headline at a Time

Baratunde Thurston explores the phenomenon of white Americans calling the police on black Americans who have committed the crimes of … eating, walking or generally “living while black.”

Thumbnail image for the animated short "Hair Love"

Hair Love

African American hair is often mocked. In this short animated video a father helps his young daughter love her hair.

I Am Not Your Negro

As part of our Kanopy subscription, you can watch this documentary that is a radical, up-to-the-minute examination of race in America, using Baldwin’s original words and flood of rich archival material. I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO is a journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter.

Post-viewing discussion handout.

Michelle Obama

As part of our Hoopla subscription, you can watch this documentary shows the powerful story of former First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama’s journey from the working-class South Side of Chicago.

Styliized Cityscape with a belching Smokestack front and center

Segregated by Design

Examines the forgotten history of how our federal, state and local governments unconstitutionally segregated every major metropolitan area in America through law and policy.

Graciela Mohamedi on the stage at Ted Talk Beacon Street

Screaming in Silence

It’s important that everyone gets to speak for themselves. Graciela Mohamedi explains why.

White Like Me

As part of our Kanopy subscription, you can watch this documentary that is a stunning reassessment of the American ideal of meritocracy and claims that we’ve entered a post-racial society, Wise offers a fascinating look back at the race-based white entitlement programs that built the American middle class, and argues that our failure as a society to come to terms with this legacy of white privilege continues to perpetuate racial inequality and race-driven political resentments today.

Post-viewing discussion handout

Shared Legacies Panel

This panel shares the often-forgotten story of the coalition and friendship between the Jewish and African-American communities during the Civil Rights Movement.

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