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Subject Media type Copyright Date

Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart 118 min.

When Lorraine Hansberry’s now classic A Raisin in the Sun premiered on Broadway in 1959, actress Ruby Dee recalls marveling how it “opened a new chapter in theater that included Black people.” The makers of this documentary combed archives worldwide and had unprecedented access to Hansberry’s personal papers, archives, home movies, and photos in order to present her complex life. Like her writing,...

Formats: Streaming Copyright Date: 2017

Agents of Change 67 min.

This documentary tells the timely and inspiring story of how successful protests for equity and inclusion led to establishing the first Black and Ethnic Studies departments at two very different universities: San Francisco State (1968) and Cornell (1969).

Formats: Streaming Copyright Date: 2016

Are We Crazy about Our Kids? 33 min.

Economists are studying the costs and benefits of high-quality early care and preschool. And they’re worried—not because we’re spending too much, but because we’re investing too little where it matters most. Are We Crazy about Our Kids? brings to life the classic studies of Perry Preschool, Abcedarian, and other initiatives conducted by Nobel Laureate James Heckman, former Federal Reserve economis...

Formats: Streaming Copyright Date: 2015

BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez 92 min.

BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez offers unprecedented access to the life, work and mesmerizing performances of renowned poet, educator and activist Sonia Sanchez who describes herself as “a woman with razor blades between my teeth.”

Formats: Streaming Copyright Date: 2015

Dirt and Deeds in Mississippi 83 min.

Ucovers the largely unknown and pivotal role played by black landowning families in the Deep South who controlled more than a million acres in the 1960s.

Formats: Streaming Copyright Date: 2015

DNA is Not Destiny: How the Outside Gets under the Skin 37 min.

Experiences, scientists have learned, can leave chemical marks called the epigenome on our DNA, especially during the early years. The epigenome acts like a dimmer switch or volume control, turning genes on or off, making them shout or whisper. In so doing, they change the way our brains and bodies function—with enduring consequences for behaviors and mental and physical health. DNA Is not Destiny...

Formats: Streaming Copyright Date: 2015

Once Upon a Time: When Childcare for All Wasn't Just a Fairy Tale 33 min.

Imagine how things might be different today if high-quality early care and education had been available to every family that wanted it for the past four decades. It almost happened! Childcare in America is a patchwork—uneven in quality, unaffordable to most, and failing many of our youngest children. But it could have been very different. In 1971, a bi-partisan Congress, still influenced by the Ci...

Formats: Streaming Copyright Date: 2015

The Raising of America 201 min.

This ambitious documentary series by the producers of Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? explores how a strong start for all our kids leads not only to better individual life course outcomes (learning, earning, and physical and mental health) but also to a healthier, safer, better-educated, and more prosperous and equitable America.

Formats: Streaming Copyright Date: 2015

The Raising of America: Signature Hour 59 min.

The U.S. is the wealthiest, most powerful country in the world. So why has our child well-being fallen to 26th? The series’ Signature Hour interweaves discoveries from neuroscience with the stories of families and communities struggling to provide the nurturing environments all babies and young children need to thrive—while too often hindered by social conditions that put their children on low-dev...

Formats: Streaming Copyright Date: 2015

Wounded Places: Confronting Childhood PTSD in America's Shell-Shocked Cities 43 min.

In neighborhoods ravaged by years of disinvestment and racial exclusion, too many children and young people like Caheri Gutíerrez, Antonio Carter, and Javier Arango wrestle with sudden rages, nightmares, inability to trust, depression, and difficulty concentrating in school. Traumatized by violence, poverty, and adversity as disturbing as some war zones, they show symptoms similar to PTSD—except t...

Formats: Streaming Copyright Date: 2015