Amazing Grace: The American Spiritual
Movies, Documentaries, & Videos
The Amazing Grace experience doesn’t end with the performance. We have curated a selection of movies, documentaries, and videos about race in Maine and America to complement the concert and enrich your understanding.
Documentaries
Anchor of the Soul
An introduction to Black history in Maine from the Maine Memory Network, free on YouTube.
13TH
Award-winning director Ava DuVernay digs into the "intersection of race, justice, and mass incarceration in the United States” using archival footage and interviews with scholars. Free on YouTube, educational resources available.
John Lewis: Good Trouble
This inspiring film takes viewers through the life and legacy of U.S. Representative John Lewis, a mentee of Martin Luther King, Jr., who led an extraordinary life of activism.
Movies: Fiction
the hate u give – drama, PG-13, available on Amazon Prime
Based on the #1 New York Times bestselling novel in which Starr Carter, a Black teenager who witnesses the death of her friend at the hands of police, is forced to make a decision about how to tell that story.
Black Panther – action/sci-fi, PG-13, available on Disney+
This Oscar-winning film chronicles the heir to the kingdom of Wakanda as he is forced to step up and lead his people into the future.
Get Out – horror, R, available on Hulu
Chris assumes that his girlfriend’s parents are just trying to grapple with their daughter dating a Black man when they meet for the first time, but their innocent weekend getaway soon turns dark.
Moonlight – drama, R, available on Netflix
A young Black man wrestles with his identity and sexuality while going through the day-to-day struggles of growing up.
Videos
A poignant video by Aaliyah Givens, Jesse Ramsdell, Donkell Bolton, and Adan Abdi from Maine Inside Out.
Perspectives on “Freedom, A Fable” with Daniel Minter
Amazing Grace featured artist Daniel Minter discusses an exhibition at the Portland Museum of Art, which explores how institutions can use art to challenge their prejudices.
Rising Voices
A new interview series from Chorus America about improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in the choral field.
Freedom’s Woods: The African American Community of Peterborough in Warren, Maine
Dr. Kate McMahon of the Smithsonian presents her research on the African American residents of Peterborough in the 1700s, who can help us understand the lives of Mainers of color in their times.
re.past.malaga
Myron Beasley showcases a forgotten chapter of Maine history via a performative dinner honoring Malaga Island and its former residents.
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man
White people and their families get the opportunity to ask a Black man, host Emmanuel Acho, about privilege, racial profiling, and all the questions they were too nervous to ask about race.