Documentaries on Black Men and Boys — What do they say?

Subject

Documentaries; Narratives; Black Men and Boys

Description

While everyone knows or at least wants to know about Malcolm X or the perceived high drug abuse rate among African Americans, very few know about the regular men from the Black community — they are the fathers, doctors, and even military personnel who walk around their daily lives as naturally like others, however, with one caveat, which is feeling seen and unseen at the same time. 

Documentaries like “Black Boys” try to bring the lives of Black men and boys to the forefront and talk about them in the most humane way possible. They bring into conversation men from various generations to talk about their experiences and lives of living in a modern and forward world yet has a lot of conscious and subconscious racist undertones. While films like these try to normalize the presence of Black men and women in the daily lives of Americans, they also comment on the bias they have to face. 

An incident like the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent traction to the Black Lives Matter movement has given rise to awareness and absorption of the Black history, culture, and community in the minds of non-Black persons. It has given the non-Blacks a chance to be more aware and know of the stories of their Black counterparts. Movies like “13th,” a 2016 showcase by filmmaker Ava DuVrnay, talk about how American prisons are filled disproportionately by those of the Black race and are increasingly being watched and streamed by people worldwide. The movie became one of the most-watched documentaries on Netflix after the George Floyd incident. Similarly, films like “Black Men in White Courts” talk about the systemic barriers stopping the Black men from entering the medical profession and thus comments that although capable, the Blacks, due to hundreds of years of systemic oppression, are still struggling to be “successful.” 

The most successful OTT platform Netflix has a separate section to promote movies speaking of Black stories. This shows that knowing about Black history and culture is not only the need of the hour but also gaining profit; that is, people worldwide want to know about the subject and are willing to accept these stories in their daily lives. In 2020, we saw a legendary ensemble of Black movies — documentaries and otherwise that stunned critics and garnered much love in and outside America. “Judas and the Black Messiah” and Ma Rainey’s “Black Bottom” became critically and popularly celebrated films.  

Many of these documentaries and films are spread through different time spans in history. While the above is more of a contemporary notion, movies like “Da 5 Bloods” talk about the Vietnam war and the presence of Black soldiers who, despite not being accepted by their own country, went to fight on foreign soil. Documentaries like these and the recent Oscar-winning documentary “Summer of Soul” try to retell American history, which has for long ignored the presence of the Blacks. 

While for today’s generation, these stories raise awareness and showcase the contribution of Black people in daily lives, it also gives an anchor to young Black boys to see — if Martin Luther can do it, if Barack Obama can do it, I can do it too. Hence, though they face bias right from being seven-year-old when they are looked at differently in the public pool or on a beach, they know they do not have to be different — they can achieve everything that a white person has always been achieving. They do not have to stick to basketball or jazz; they can also be doctors. They do not have to be strong abusive men on the street; they can be doting fathers, emotional men, and fearless soldiers. 

Hence, we see today, a step at a time, a change in the narrative — stories of ordinary Black men being told and spoken about through the medium of cinema. Here is a list of some must-watch documentaries and documentary series based on Black men, their lives, and cultures. 

1. High on Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America (2021) — A series talking about the impact of the African American community on today’s food choices. 
2. They’ve Gotta Have US (2018) — It is a three-part documentary series about members of the Black British artists in Hollywood by bringing in interviews of Barry Jenkins and Robert Townsend. 
3. Summer of Soul (2021) — This movie won the Academy Award for the best feature documentary and talks about the Harlem Cultural festival of 1969 and its lost stories. 
4. American Promise (2014) — A documentary spanning over 13 years follows two young men belonging to Black families and how they break out of the stereotypical mold. 
5. Black Men (2019) — A 12 minute interview-based documentary on Youtube by Andrea Lewis has black children and men talk about their understanding of the Black culture and their experiences by belonging to the Black community.

Creator

The Black Male Archives Team

Publisher

Preservation Media

File