Social Justice Documentary Films

Social Justice Documentary Films

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” – Nelson Mandela

Film documentaries from the Sewickley Public Library collection.


4 Little GirlsA powerful documentary film that captures a time, a place, and a way of life that would be forever altered by the death of four little girls. A film by Spike Lee.

The Black Panthers Vanguard of the RevolutionThe first feature-length documentary to explore the Black Panther Party, its significance to the broader American culture, its cultural and political awakening for black people, and the painful lessons wrought when a movement derails.

Freedom RidersIn 1961, segregation seemed to have an overwhelming grip on American society. This inspirational documentary is about an integrated band of courageous college students, calling themselves the Freedom Riders, who risk everything and buy a tickets on a Greyhound bus bound for the Deep South.

Hidden Colors 3: The Rules of RacismThis video looks at the topic of systematic racism. It explores how institutional racism effects all areas of human activity and the rules, laws and public policies that are utilized to maintain this system.

I Am Not Your NegroFilmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished. The result is a radical examination of race in America, using Baldwin’s original words and rich archival material. A journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter.

The Rosa Parks StoryRosa Parks was raised in the Deep South at a time when it seemed that only white people were created equal. But even at an early age, she refused to believe that she was inferior to anyone. This is her story.

Slavery by Another NameChallenges one of America’s most cherished assumptions, the belief that slavery in the U.S. ended with Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, by telling the harrowing story of how, in the South, a new system of involuntary servitude took its place with shocking force.

Whose Streets?Looks at how the killing of eighteen-year-old Michael Brown inspired community activism in Ferguson, Missouri.