Curated Black History Month Film & Book List

As we celebrate Black History Month 2024 our focus is centered on African Americans and the Arts, infusing African, Caribbean, and Black American lived experiences through films and literature. The Top Films and Books list reflects actors, actresses, directors, and writers who received significant accolades and distinctions based on their artistic accomplishments and contributions.

Films

1. “Crooklyn" (1994) - Directed by Spike Lee 

2. "Watermelon Woman" (1996) - Directed by Cheryl Dunye 

3. "Love & Basketball" (2000) - Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood 

4. "Good Fences" (2003) - Directed by Ernest Dickerson

5. "Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom" (2008) - Directed by Patrick-Ian Polk

6. "Selma" (2014) - Directed by Ava DuVernay

7. "Hidden Figures" (2016) - Directed by Theodore Melfi 

8. "Moonlight" (2016) - Directed by Barry Jenkins

9. "Get Out" (2017) - Directed by Jordan Peele 

10. "Marshall" (2017) - Directed by Reginald Hudlin

11. "If Beale Street Could Talk" (2018) - Directed by Barry Jenkins

12. "Sorry to Bother You" (2018) - Directed by Boots Riley

13. "Just Mercy" (2019) - Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton

14. "One Night in Miami..." (2020) - Directed by Regina King

15. “Residue" (2020) - Directed by Merawi Gerima

16. "Miss Juneteenth" (2020) - Directed by Channing Godfrey Peoples

17. "Judas and the Black Messiah" (2021) - Directed by Shaka King

18. "The United States vs. Billie Holiday" (2021) - Directed by Lee Daniels

19. "The Underground Railroad" (TV Mini-Series, 2021) - Directed by Barry Jenkins 

20. "Inspection" (2022) - Directed by Elegance Bratton

21. "Stamped from the Beginning” (2023) - Directed by Roger Ross Williams 

22. "The Color Purple" (2023) - Directed by Blitz Bazawule

23. "American Fiction" (2023) - Directed by Cord Jefferson

24. "Origin" (2024) - Directed by Ava DuVernay 

Books 

1. "Being Brought from Africa to America" by Phillis Wheatley (1773)

2. "How It Feels to be Colored Me" by Zora Neale Hurston (1928)

3. "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston (1937)

4. "Native Son" by Richard Wright (1940)

5. "Black Boy" by Richard Wright (1945)  

6. "Giovanni’s Room" by James Baldwin (1956)

7. "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker (1982)

8. "All About Love" by Bell Hooks (1999)

9. "Love" by Toni Morrison (2002)

10. "We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity" by Bell Hooks (2003)

11. "Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America" by Ibram X. Kendi (2017)

12. "American Spy" by Lauren Wilkinson (2019)

13. "The Water Dancer" by Ta-Nehisi Coates (2019)

14. "Red at the Bone" by Jacqueline Woodson (2019)

15. "Such a Fun Age" by Kiley Reid (2019)

16. "The Yellow House" by Sarah M. Broom (2019)

17. "The Nickel Boys" by Colson Whitehead (2019)

18. "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents" by Isabel Wilkerson (2020)

19. "The Vanishing Half" by Brit Bennett (2020)

20. "Real Life" by Brandon Taylor (2020)

21. "Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot" by Mikki Kendall (2020)

22. "The Prophets" by Robert Jones Jr. (2021)

23. "Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019" edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain (2021)

24. "Invisible Generals" by Doug Melville (2023)

25. "Race Rules" by Fatimah Gilliam (2024)

Pride Beyond June

A view on the experience of Black LGBTQ+ employees in the workplace and how employee resource groups can support this micro community of diverse talent.

On July 20, 2022, The Collective hosted Pride Beyond June for our members and their respective Employee Resource Group (ERG) members. It was a lively open-door session that was educational and engaging with over 20+ represented financial institutions and partner organizations in attendance.

The event shed light on the experience of Black LGBTQ+ employees in the workplace and how ERGs can support this community. At the end we had a Call to Action with three key principles:

ACE = Active Allyship, Corporate Policies, Engagement with employees

ACE is recommended to be embedded within organizations to encourage participants to continue to be Allies, challenge corporate policies to be inclusive and engage with colleagues to ensure you are creating safe spaces to have these types of open discussions.

On Allyship...

...We should also look at evaluating our Employee Resource Groups. Some questions to consider could be "Do Members feel included and is it a safe space?...

Thank you to our cohosts, Marquis Green of London Stock Exchange Group, Sashalla Lemond of Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, Edgar Peterson of CUSIP Global Services and our audience members for their participation.

To learn more on the content discussed please download the attached deck.

The Collective - CF BERG - Pride Beyond June Deck.pdf

Download PDF • 11.37MB

For comments, questions, or suggestions please contact info@crossfirmsberg.com.

The Collective White Paper now available

We are pleased to announce that The Collective (CF BERG) have released our first edition White Paper guide for Black Employee Resource Group Leaders.

The Purpose of the White Paper is to provide best practices and ideas to help drive growth, success and positive impact for ERG leaders to effect change.

In this issue:

1. Return to Office 2. ERG Membership Engagement

3. ERG and Business Strategy 4. ERG Leaders Self-Care

We encourage you to share this with your organizations.

Thank you to all our ERG Members for contributing to this edition. For comments, questions, or suggestions please contact info@crossfirmsberg.com.

The Collective-White Paper FINAL Feb22 v8.pdf

Download PDF • 6.57MB