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While artistic expressions of Black life are often expressed from tragedy, they are just as full of triumph, creativity, and love for humanity. During Black History Month, each media company promotes its best and/or most popular Black stories to recognize our significant contributions to the betterment of society. However, Netflix has been the mainstream leader in showcasing Black films and shows long before every other streamer told us that “Black Stories Matter.”
Here at Decider, we tried to do the impossible and list some of the best Black history movies on Netflix for your BHM viewing pleasure. What made this such a challenging task? Beyond the revolving door of availability, media companies tend to list our “struggle stories” in their February showcases as our only tales. Though many of them are critical to understanding the Black experience, we also laugh, cry, dream and look to escape just as anyone else can for a couple of hours.
'13th' (2016)
Director: Ava DuVernay
Rating: TV-MA
In 1865, the United States abolished slavery through a Constitutional amendment, but didn’t outlaw the fundamental issue at hand: racism. 13th traces the formalized end of chattel servitude to present-day America, arguing that slavery itself lives on through state-sanctioned violence, Jim Crow laws, mass incarceration and many more injustices against African-Americans. While the equally heavy When They See Us is a standout film based on the harrowing true story of the Central Park Five, it was DuVernay’s 2016 documentary that truly brought her name into the wider consciousness.
'Fruitvale Station' (2013)
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Chad Michael Murray
Director: Ryan Coogler
Rating: TV-MA
While stories of police brutality are nothing new, the killing of Oscar Grant by BART officer Johannes Mehserle on New Year’s Day in 2009 – and the subsequent trial in 2010 – was an ember to the growing flame that has become the Black Lives Matter movement. In the directorial debut for Coogler, an Oakland native, Fruitvale Station depicts the last day of Grant’s life. This was the first of three completed collaborations between Coogler and Jordan, who portrays Grant.
'The Black Godfather' (2019)
Director: Reginald Hudlin
Rating: TV-MA
No story of Black America can be told without talking about its impact on every aspect of entertainment, regardless of genre. Though there were many power brokers behind the scenes who made their mark, very few had done so like Clarence Avant. In this reveal from Reginald Hudlin, you learn that the music executive was more than a man who signed checks, serving as a mentor to multiple artists over several decades and sitting alongside civil rights leaders to help affect social change. You know he was somebody when the subject of another documentary called him “the Black godfather.”
'Quincy' (2018)
Director: Rashida Jones
Rating: TV-MA
Quincy Jones is one of one, plain and simple. In advance of the 2018 documentary, the famed music producer made waves for some of the wildest stories we’ve ever heard. And though that colorfulness is evident throughout, for two hours we get an honest look at the events and the people who made Jones such an influential figure.
'Homecoming: A Film By Beyoncé' (2019)
Director: Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Ed Burke
Rating: TV-MA
She is the preeminent entertainer in the world today, an undeniable force whose every movement becomes an event. Homecoming is an evocation of the Black spirit during one of the typically whitest events in entertainment: Coachella. This documentary observes her 2018 performance at the event, placing a spotlight not only on Mrs. Knowles-Carter herself, but the brilliant artists who worked in lockstep with the leader of the BeyHive.
'Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom' (2020)
Cast: Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman
Director: George C. Wolfe
Rating: TV-MA
The most recent offering listed here, it’s become an unintentional time capsule as it features the final (and superb) performance of Chadwick Boseman, who died last fall. Yet, let’s not overlook the importance of the story itself. Based on the play of the same name by August Wilson, the movie shows a fictionalized version of a charged studio session for blues legend Ma Rainey (played by Viola Davis) and her band. Legendary actor Denzel Washington, who produced Black Bottom and shared the screen with Davis for the film adaptation of Fences, has made it his mission to bring more of Wilson’s plays to the screen because the late playwright’s work focused on telling stories of the overlooked Black working class.
'What Happened, Miss Simone?' (2015)
Director: Liz Garbus
Rating: Not Rated
Nina Simone’s voice was an incomparable tool in speaking truth to power as both a singer and activist. Though a controversial biopic and a dueling documentary were released around the same time, this Netflix account may have been the closest in setting the record straight on who she was and her lasting impact. With her daughter, Lisa Simone Kelly as an executive producer, Miss Simone featured never-released footage and audio on the iconic singer.
'The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind' (2019)
Cast: Chiwetel Ejofor, Maxwell Simba, Lilly Banda
Director: Chiwetel Ejofor
Rating: PG
Ejofor’s directorial debut is based on the memoir of William Kamkwamba, who at the time of the story is a mere teenager in Malawi with unlimited ingenuity. Despite meager means, William (with the help of his father, who is played by Ejofor) built a wind turbine that helped save his village from severe drought and famine.
'I Am Not Your Negro' (2017)
Director: Raoul Peck
Rating: PG-13
Witty and exacting in his commentary, James Baldwin is one of the most important American writers in history. His finished works sit in the heart of the Black experience: pain with some afforded pleasures and an understanding of how to traverse in a hostile world. Peck took an unfinished Baldwin tome – an examination of racism through the eyes of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Medgar Evers – and brought it to life through a compilation that is well narrated by Samuel L. Jackson.
'Moonlight' (2016)
Cast: Trevante Rhodes, André Holland, Naomie Harris, Jharell Jerome, Mahershala Ali
Director: Barry Jenkins
Rating: TV-MA
Based on a semi-autobiographical play from Tarell Alvin McCraney, Moonlight follows the three life stages of Chiron as a young boy, a teenager, and an adult as he grapples with his sexuality and an upbringing at the hands of an abusive mother. This movie broke new barriers for Black filmmaking in terms of accolades and subject matter. Not only is Moonlight the first film with an all-Black cast to win an Oscar for Best Picture with an all-Black cast, but it’s also the first LGBTQ-themed film to win as well. Ali made history of his own by becoming the first Muslim to take home an Oscar (Supporting Actor).
'Richard Pryor: Live in Concert' (1979)
Cast: Richard Pryor
Director: Jeff Margolis
Rating: TV-MA
Among Black comics, Richard Pryor is the father to just about everyone’s style. Considered by many to be the greatest comic to ever grace the stage, Pryor may have been at his peak during this late 70s performance. Jokes about race, sex, and his own life were on full display in this 78-minute opus that has become the stylistic staple of every stand-up special since its release in 1979.
'Loving' (2016)
Cast: Ruth Negga, Joel Edgerton, Michael Shannon
Director: Jeff Nichols
Rating: PG-13
Another film based on a true story, Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton play Mildred and Richard Loving, a couple in Virginia whose marriage would challenge laws that banned interracial marriage. Their case was taken to the Supreme Court in 1967. Negga, the Ethiopian-Irish actress, was nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars and the Golden Globes for her portrayal of Mildred Loving.
'Uppity' (2020)
Director: Nate Adams, Adam Carolla
Rating: TV-MA
Willy T. Ribbs is one of the most unappreciated trailblazers in sports history. A star-crossed race car driver with a determination as deep as his personality was bold, Ribbs dominated ProAm circuits in the 1970s and 1980s. He would become known as the first Black man to race in the Indianapolis 500 as well as test drive in Formula 1. As previously reviewed here, Uppity is part of a stacked library of auto racing movies and shows on Netflix.
'Becoming' (2020)
Director: Nadia Hallgren
Rating: PG
Michelle Obama. Enough said, right? But in all seriousness, the beloved former First Lady tells the story about her upbringing, her relationship with an equally popular fellow named Barack, and a reluctant life in politics. This documentary was filmed while she as on her incredibly popular tour of her memoir, which was released in 2019. (The book understandably provides much more depth.)
Jason Clinkscales is the managing editor for The Sports Fan Journal, editor at Yardbarker and contributing writer for Awful Announcing. A New York City native, he is also a former media research analyst in both television networks and advertising agencies.
