Documentary
Traces the incredible trajectory of Brown’s life and career from a 7th grade drop-out arrested and jailed at the age of 16 for breaking into a car in the Jim Crow-era South, to an entertainment legend whose groundbreaking talent and unique perspective catapulted him to become a…


Rising from poverty and overcoming abuse in the Jim Crow South, James Brown secures a record deal, electrifies audiences, and breaks down racial barriers; propelling himself into stardom.

Aligning with the civil rights movement, James Brown becomes a cultural force by articulating community pride and political influence, ultimately hailed as the most important Black man in America.

Amidst financial pressures, record company politics, substance abuse, and personal struggles, James Brown found himself on a perilous path, colliding with the law and confronting the threat of revisiting prison.

As the godfather of a breakbeat that birthed hip-hop, James Brown's life serves as a crucial call for respect and dignity for Blackness and Black music in America.

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Self - James Brown's Wife
Self - James Brown's Daughter

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In the 1970s, Detroit was experiencing an economic boom, but the idyllic suburban life ended abruptly when four children were abducted and killed by the Oakland County Child Killer in the dead of winter. Follow writer J. Rueben Appelman, Detective Cory Williams, and families of the victims in their mission to unravel one of America’s most baffling crimes.

Myths die hard, and the history of the 20th century is no exception to this rule. Even today, we hold popular beliefs that we take for Evangelical truths. Thus, we believe that Hiroshima caused Japan to surrender, that the Marshall Plan saved Europe, that Adolf Hitler was a military genius, or that Mao Zedong was a necessary evil for China’s modernization. Of course, these judgements contain some truth; but, too broad-stroked to be accurate, they contradict the historical reality by denying its complexity. What if the truth was slightly different? Through an exploration of great national or international myths, this full archive documentary collection revisits the key moments of the 20th century with a new perspective in order to provide a new, smarter and more subtle interpretation, bringing elements to light that have been forgotten or sometimes overshadowed.

Soul music has conquered the world in the last 50 years - growing from the raw, electric rhythms of the black underclass, it is now a billion dollar industry with R&B and hip hop dominating the world's charts. It's been the soundtrack to some of the most extraordinary social, political and cultural shifts. Together with the civil rights movement, it has challenged white hegemony, helped break down segregation and encouraged the fight for racial equality. This new six-part series, made by the BBC team who produced the critically-acclaimed Lost Highway, Walk On By and Dancing In The Street series, charts the evolution of soul music - with a fascinating combination of rare archive footage and over 100 contemporary interviews. The movers and shakers from the world of soul – such as James Brown, Mary J Blige, Beyoncé and Martha Reeves, - plus some often overlooked talent, track the music that shaped our lives.

The space race, the cold war, "free love," civil rights and more: The decade of the 1960s shaped our history -- and changed the world. In collaboration with Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman and Mark Herzog, CNN explores perhaps the most transformative decade of the modern era in a 10-part documentary series and brings new insights into how those events shaped today.

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