Amid the national protests over the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and more African-American victims of police brutality, Netflix has taken another step to show its solidarity and support of Black Lives Matter. Netflix became one of the first major media companies to speak out on the issue when it released a statement on May 30. The streaming company wrote: “To be silent is to be complicit. Black lives matter. We have a platform, and we have a duty to our Black members, employees, creators and talent to speak up.”
Today, Netflix has launched a new category on its main menu: “Black Lives Matter.” Among other classifications like “New Releases,” “Comedies,” “TV Sci-Fi & Horror,” this new label currently features 47 titles, including films like Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight, Spike Lee’s School Daze and Malcolm X, Dee Rees’ Mudbound, and Liz Garbus’ What Happened Miss Simone? Ava DuVernay’s critically acclaimed Netflix originals When They See Us and documentary 13th are also included in the collection. 13th was also made available to stream for free on YouTube.
This is just the start of the “Black Lives Matter” collection. By curating films and television series created by Black storytellers under this new category, Netflix is continuing an effort to highlight media about the Black experience and story.
“When we say ‘Black Lives Matter,’ we also mean ‘Black storytelling matters,’” Netflix wrote in a statement on Twitter. “With an understanding that our commitment to true, systemic change will take time – we’re starting by highlighting powerful and complex narratives about the Black experience. When you log onto Netflix today, you will see a carefully curated list of titles that only begin to tell the complex and layered stories about racial injustice and Blackness in America.”
The collection can be found through Netflix’s homepage and at netflix.com/blacklivesmatter.
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