As we approach Martin Luther King Jr. Day, HBO has lowered its paywall to allow everyone to watch the full Between the World and Me special based on the book by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
In 2015, Coates wrote a book in the form of a letter to his teenage son, giving him "the talk" about the violent nature of systemic racism in the world beyond his adolescent understanding. Drawing on his personal history growing up in Baltimore, Coates lays out the struggles and dangers his child will face in school, on the street, and in the police force.
Kamilah Forbes originally adapted the work for the Apollo Theater stage, and last August, she directed this film adaptation that combines documentary footage with readings from the book by a cast of actors that includes Angela Bassett, Joe Morton, Oprah Winfrey, Phylicia Rashad, Mahershala Ali, and Angela Davis.
Andy Hunsaker has a head full of sitcom gags and nerd-genre lore, and can be followed @AndyHunsaker if you're into that sort of thing.
TOPICS: Between the World and Me, HBO, Angela Bassett, Angela Davis, Joe Morton, Kamilah Forbes, Mahershala Ali, Oprah Winfrey, Phylicia Rashad, Ta-Nehisi Coates