Independent Lens

Tell Them We Are Rising

Though much of its history was eclipsed by the explosiveness of the 1960s, the essential role the nation’s historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) played in shaping black life, creating a black middle class and dismantling segregation cannot be overstated.

Tell Them We Are Rising - Trailer

30s

The rich history of America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) began before the end of slavery, flourished in the 20th century, and profoundly influenced the course of the nation for over 150 years — yet remains largely unknown. With Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities, the story of the rise, influence, and evolution of HBCUs comes to life.

Previews + Extras

  • Tell Them We Are Rising - Separate But Unequal - Clip: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Tell Them We Are Rising - Separate But Unequal - Clip

    S19 E11 - 3m 6s

    In this excerpt from the Independent Lens film Tell Them We Are Rising, Thurgood Marshall, after graduating Howard U. law school, takes a road trip in 1934 with dean Charles Hamilton Houston to the deep South. There they document on film the abject poverty in which African American children attend school, as proof the constitutionally accepted "separate but equal" was anything but.

  • Behind the Scenes of "Tell Them We Are Rising": asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Behind the Scenes of "Tell Them We Are Rising"

    S19 E11 - 2m

    "Tell Them We Are Rising" explores the pivotal role historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have played in shaping American history, culture and national identity. Go behind the scenes of this documentary with filmmaker Stanley Nelson, Dr. Michael Lomax, President of United Negro College Fund, and Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell, President of Spelman College.

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