Black Public Media is excited to celebrate this year’s trailblazer, Lillian E. Benson (ACE). The selected films will be available for streaming from April 28-May 1. Additionally, we will be honoring her at the PitchBLACK Awards Ceremony held at the Apollo Stages at the Victoria in Harlem. Click here to purchase tickets.
Join BPM as we celebrate our 2025 Trailblazer, Lillian E. Benson, with a screening of Beyond the Steps: Alvin Ailey American Theater followed by a Q&A with Lillian Benson and director Phil Bertelsen.
This unprecedented film celebrates Dr. Maya Angelou by weaving her words with rare and intimate archival photographs and videos, which paint hidden moments of her exuberant life during some of America’s most defining moments. From her upbringing in the Depression-era South to her work with Malcolm X in Ghana, the film takes us on an incredible journey through the life of a true American icon.
Follow the extraordinary dancers and renowned choreographers of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater as they do everything it takes to keep modern dance fresh and a legacy alive.
This program examines the heritage that enslaved Africans brought to North and South America via dance. From the Samba in Rio to the Lindy-hop in Harlem, cultural collisions have shaped the popular dances of today.
In the 1970s, anti-discrimination rights are put to the test. Boston whites violently resist federal school desegregation order. Atlanta’s mayor Jackson proves affirmative action can work, but Bakke decision challenges that policy.
Martin Luther King, Jr. stakes out new ground for himself and the rapidly fragmenting civil rights movement. He is assassinated in Memphis at the Lorraine Motel.
It’s 1970, Lisa, the 7-year-old gifted child of an Afrocentric mother is having a hard time fitting into an all-white school. After an altercation, Lisa’s mother decides to transfer her to the neighborhood school. The powerful lessons learned on the playground of her first school, help Lisa make a difficult choice as she tries to fit in at the neighborhood school.