Yoruba Richen is a prolific Peabody award-winning documentary filmmaker whose body of work illuminates issues of race, space, and power and elevates the voices and stories that have historically been marginalized. Her films have been featured on multiple outlets, including Netflix, MSNBC, FX/Hulu, HBO, Peacock, and PBS. She is Founder of the production company, Promised Land Film, and is the Founding Director of the Documentary Program at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. 

This Body of Work will showcase two evenings highlighting Yoruba’s films elevating Black women’s stories and one evening of work that uncovers and brings to light stories that have been intentionally buried featuring white descendants engaging with their legacy of racism and terror.

Wednesday, May 7, 7:00 PM

How It Feels To Be Free (USA, 2021, 113 minutes)

How it Feels to Be Free tells the story of how six iconic African American women entertainers – Lena Horne, Abbey Lincoln, Nina Simone, Diahann Carroll, Cicely Tyson and Pam Grier – challenged an entertainment industry deeply complicit in perpetuating racist stereotypes, and transformed themselves and their audiences in the process.  Broadcast on PBS in the American Masters series and nominated for an Emmy.

Thursday, May 8, 7:00 PM

The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks (USA, 2022, 101 minutes)

The first feature length documentary about the iconic activist, this film tells the unexpected story of Parks and her life beyond the historic bus boycott, revealing the intent behind her activism, her lifelong radical politics and her courage. Winner of the Peabody and Gracie Awards and honored by the Television Academy.  We will also present a 3 minute clip from Yoruba’s new project on Joan Little whose 1975 murder trial galvanized a support movement.

Friday, May, 9, 7:00 PM

The Cost of Inheritance (USA, 2024, 60 minutes)

The Cost of Inheritance explores the complex issue of reparations in the United States and takes a personal approach to understanding our history, systemic injustices, and inequities. We follow descendants of enslavers and the enslaved as they are reckoning with their past and trying to find a just way forward.  We will also show very brief excerpts from American Coup: Wilmington (2024) on the white supremacist insurrection in North Carolina in 1898 and American Reckoning (2022) on the unsolved 1967 murder of a Mississippi Civil Rights activist and organized Black armed self-defense.