Based on the bestselling biography by Jeanne Theoharis and executive produced by award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien, this crucial documentary on the “mother of the Civil Rights movement,” Rosa Parks, is a comprehensive telling of the icon’s lifelong dedication to activism. The film chronicles her historic role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, her work in politics alongside Congressman John Conyers in Detroit, and the many causes along the way, such as voting rights and reparations, that she fearlessly championed until her death in 2005.

Directors Yoruba Richen and Johanna Hamilton expertly weave together interviews from many great academics and activists such as Bryan Stevenson, Patrisse Cullors and Ericka Huggins, along with personal stories from her family, and remarkable footage of Mrs. Parks herself, to dispel myths and to illuminate her decades-worth of extensive organizing, strategizing, and activism in the pursuit of Black liberation. Fiercely dedicated to correcting the frequent minimizing of her accomplishments and the erasure of her radical politics, this powerful documentary recognizes that Black women’s work in the Civil Rights movement is often overlooked, and celebrates one of America’s greatest heroes to ensure that her legacy lives on.--Celeste Wong

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Johanna Hamilton and Yoruba Richen