5+ Perfect Movies, Docu-Series To Stream This Juneteenth Weekend

June 19, 2022, will be the first official Juneteenth that’s recognized as a national holiday. The Black independence day marks the event when General Granger announced the end of slavery to Texas enslaved people. This was over two years after the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation (which only applied to Confederate-controlled areas). Texas became the 33rd state to ratify the 13th Amendment in 1870 (5 years later). Though it was celebrated by the Black community (especially in Texas, Mexico, and northern U.S. cities most affected by The Great Migration) and was a state holiday for half the U.S. before, the work of Opal Lee and other grassroots organizers made this possible at the federal level.

In honor of this day, I’ve put together some necessary watches for the holiday made up of food documentaries and more. This list was made with Black people in mind first, meaning that you won’t find a white savior story or a list half made up of stories about slavery. While we need more good (key word, people) and diverse films that encapsulate the pre-emancipation part of Black history, this isn’t that list. This list makes up the somber and celebratory elements of Juneteenth that can be enjoyed by everyone regardless of background or geography.

High on the Hog

This four-part documentary (now getting a season two!) features the food histories of Black Americans. Starting in West Africa, the latter episodes travel across the U.S. in places like Virginia and Texas. Hosted by Stephen Saterfield, High on the Hog is a good balance of a food show and a food history show. Anyone casually interested in African American food history will see familiar stories like that of Hercules and historians like Michael Twitty. While there is no specific Juneteenth episode that talks about the historical significance of the various red foods and celebratory staples, it’s a great primer on Black cuisine.

Juneteenth Jamboree

So this is a series of clips kind of documenting the celebration from the PBS Austin station (KLRU-TV) since the year 2008. It’s not a single film but a collection of mini-stories that, when watched together, show how central Texans have celebrated this day. When you click on each year, there’s a 1–20-minute main video and supplementary videos on specific subjects and performances to explore.

13TH

Directed by one of the most important Black filmmakers ever (Ava DuVernay), this is the heaviest pick on this list but one of the most important. While Juneteenth represents the end of chattel slavery, slavery quickly readjusted within U.S. borders through the selective language of the 13th amendment and became mass incarceration, and physical plantations were repurposed into prisons (emphasis mine):

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Netflix made this movie, and the series Amend, available for free in full on YouTube.

Miss Juneteenth

One of the many traditions of Juneteenth celebrations is the Miss Juneteenth Pageant. Like other pageants, this show offers young women an opportunity to gain status and scholarship money for college. Starring Nicole Hearie (42 and Black Mirror) and Alexis Chikaeze, this film follows a former pageant star and single mother (Hearie) getting her daughter (Chikaeze) ready to compete. For a full review of this movie, please check out TMS’s Princess Weekes’ take on this must-watch movie.

Juneteenth: 1865-2021

This mini-doc features historians and Black leaders around Harris (the Houston area) and Galveston County, Texas. While this isn’t something on one particular streaming service and was made after 2020, it’s still important to have stories that value geography. Juneteenth is celebrated and acknowledged by Black people across the U.S. because we moved for economic opportunity and to flee violence. However, some people, historical spaces, and more are still here. These documentaries aren’t just important for archiving and saving stories but can help against gentrification happening in the Black and brown neighborhoods today.

I’ve been to some of these places multiple times for leisure and education and still learned things from this video. And not just the mural that was revealed in 2021.

Honorable Mentions

There were more stories of Black joy and celebration of southern Black culture worth watching this weekend and year-round. Though they didn’t quite fit as a Juneteenth movie, these are great options to watch in addition to the movies and documentaries above.

• The Watermelon Woman (1996)
• Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé, Netflix (2019)
• Juneteenth: Freedom and the Fine Print, PBS YouTube (2021)
• A Buffet of Black Food History, Intelexual Media YouTube (2021)
• Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021)

(featured image: Netflix)

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