Yoruba Richen

TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.

A series of standalone documentaries powered by the unparalleled journalism and insight of The New York Times, bringing viewers close to the essential stories of our time.

Pull back the curtain on music mogul Sean Combs, and the allegations of violence and abuse kept quiet for years. This chilling chronicle redefines the music mogul and business titan everyone thinks they know.

Black food is American food. Chef and writer Stephen Satterfield traces the delicious, moving throughlines from Africa to Texas in this docuseries.

Sisters-in-law and Black and Missing Foundation founders Derrica and Natalie Wilson fight an uphill battle to bring awareness to the Black missing persons cases that are marginalized by law enforcement and national media.

In 1936, Victor H. Green (1892-1960) published The Negro Motorist Green Book, a book that was both a travel guide and a survival manual, to help African-Americans navigate safe those regions of the United States where segregation and Jim Crow laws were disgracefully applied.

A chronicle of a woman’s courageous fight for survival, whose 1975 acquittal challenged injustice and inspired a nation to confront sexual violence and racism.

The film examines the ways that women directors have contributed to this genre and emphasizes the role that the media play in representation of sexuality and gender, underscoring the power that film has to shape our perceptions of one another. Visually, this documentary comes to life on screen through compelling and intimate original interviews, intercut with emotionally-charged archival footage, photographs, ephemera, inspired music, and film clips.

Barack and Michelle Obama talk with the directors of the documentary American Factory about the importance of storytelling and the impact of their film.

For one week in February 1968, Johnny Carson gave up his chair to Harry Belafonte, the first time an African-American had hosted a late night TV show for a whole week.

Tells the inspiring story of how six iconic African American female entertainers – Lena Horne, Abbey Lincoln, Nina Simone, Diahann Carroll, Cicely Tyson and Pam Grier – challenged an entertainment industry deeply complicit in perpetuating racist stereotypes, and transformed themselves and their audiences in the process.

The story of a defiant movement of women of color transforming American politics from the ground up. Filmed during the historic 2018 midterm elections, the series follows organizers and candidates as they fight on behalf of black, brown, immigrant and poor communities–long neglected by politicians and pundits alike.

Beyond her historic role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, this comprehensive dive into Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks sheds light on her extensive organizing, radical politics, and lifelong dedication to activism.

Under the neon lights in a gay-friendly neighborhood of New York City, four young African-American lesbians are violently and sexually threatened by a man on the street. They defend themselves against him and are charged and convicted in the courts and in the media as a 'Gang of Killer Lesbians'.

The little-known story of a deadly race massacre and carefully orchestrated insurrection in North Carolina’s largest city in 1898 — the only coup d’état in the history of the US. Stoking fears of 'Negro Rule', self-described white supremacists used intimidation and violence to destroy Black political and economic power and overthrow Wilmington’s democratically-elected, multi-racial government. Black residents were murdered and thousands were banished. The story of what happened in Wilmington was suppressed for decades until descendants and scholars began to investigate. Today, many of those descendants — Black and white — seek the truth about this intentionally buried history.

The decades-long debate surrounding reparations is fraught, mired in racial tension and the semantics of restorative justice. While the national conversation remains stalled due to legislative inaction, communities across the country examine their histories and take it upon themselves to arrange their own form of reparations. This detailed investigation of restitution presents accounts of everyday people confronting the past and exploring the possibilities of wealth transfer.

This inspiring documentary chronicles the extraordinary life of Ruby Duncan, an activist who fights the welfare system and becomes a White House advisor.

Meet two women fighting against race-based gerrymandering in North Carolina: Val Applewhite, a plaintiff in a landmark Supreme Court case, and Moon Duchin, a mathematician who empowers organizers to use data to advocate for fairly drawn electoral maps.

A New York Times investigation examines what happened at 3003 Springfield Drive in Louisville, Kentucky, just after midnight on March 13, 2020 when police executed a warrant that resulted in the death of Breonna Taylor.

In this feature-length documentary from FRONTLINE and Retro Report, an unsolved 1960s murder reveals an untold story of the civil rights movement and Black resistance. “American Reckoning” examines Black opposition to racist violence in Mississippi, spotlighting a little-known armed resistance group called the Deacons for Defense and Justice, woven alongside the Jackson family’s decades-long search for justice amid a federal effort to investigate civil rights era cold cases.