Celebrate Black History Month this year with a closer look at the lives of various Black Americans who have made indelible marks on history with their artistry, professional achievements, and community activism. We've compiled a list of films premiering this month, as well as programs available to stream in February.

New Documentaries to Watch

Cost of Inheritance

America ReFramed

THE COST OF INHERITANCE, an America ReFramed special, explores the complex issue of reparations in the U.S. using a thoughtful approach to history, historical injustices, systemic inequities, and critical dialogue on racial conciliation. Through personal narratives, community inquiries, and scholarly insights, it aims to inspire understanding of the scope and rationale of the reparations debate.

Racist Trees

Independent Lens

Were trees intentionally planted to exclude and segregate a Black neighborhood? Racial tensions ignite in this documentary, when a historically Black neighborhood in Palm Springs, California, fights to remove a towering wall of tamarisk trees. The trees form a barrier, believed by some to segregate the community, frustrating residents who regard them as an enduring symbol of racism.

Brief Tender Light

POV

A Ghanaian MIT alum follows four African students at his alma mater as they strive to become agents of change for their home countries Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Over an intimate, nearly decade-long journey, all must decide how much of America to absorb, how much of Africa to hold on to, and how to reconcile teenage ideals with the truths they discover about the world and themselves.

A PBS SPECIAL EVENT

Welcome to the Block Party!

PBS is celebrating Black History Month by throwing a Block Party! Throughout the month of February, stream new and beloved programs celebrating Black excellence. Whether it’s history, music, documentaries, science or genealogy, PBS is your destination. Join the party at pbs.org/blockparty

Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space

Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming A Space

Meet the influential author and key figure of the Harlem Renaissance. Also a trained anthropologist, Zora Neale Hurston collected folklore throughout the South and Caribbean — reclaiming, honoring and celebrating Black life on its own terms.

Full Length 112m 24s

Who is Carter G. Woodson?

Known as the “Father of Black History,” he was an author and historian who helped found Black History Month.

Woodson was born in 1875 near New Canton, Virginia. As a young boy he decided he would pursue a college education, even if school often came second to working on his family’s farm.

Woodson later worked as a coal miner while pursuing studies on the side. He went on to be a teacher and school principal before earning his Bachelors degree from the University of Chicago. In 1912, he received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. It was that same year when he helped form the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH).

Woodson urged civic organizations and schools to promote the achievements of Black researchers and to devote time to studying Black history. In February of 1926 he announced Negro History Week. Schools and communities answered the call with large convivial gatherings and from then on ASALH would establish an annual theme, providing study materials and information to participating organizations.

By the 1960s, the week of study Woodson had first envisioned had turned into Black History Month celebrations each February and ASALH continues to provide education and guidance for each year’s celebrations.

Learn more Black history with us on TikTok

@pbs Don’t know who Georgia Gilmore is? Here’s your chance to learn about this Civil Rights Heroine #blackhistorymonth #blackhistory #learnontiktok #pbs ♬ Hip-hop with the image of a black cat in the back alley_B(1177338) - table_1

@pbs Happy Black History Month! Tell us what you want to learn more about this month in the comments 💙 #blackhistorymonth #bhm #learnontiktok #pbs #learn ♬ Lo-fi hip hop - NAO-K