Sharing Passwords Is Community Building: Here's What's Available to Watch During Black History Month 2021

Welcome to February, the Blackest month of the year! Okay, it may be the shortest month in the year (yes, even when we have a leap year, like we did last year), but there is twice the amount of Black-ass content. Of course, when you work at a Black publication such as the one you’re reading right now, this becomes an opportune time to corral all of the Black-ass shit that all of the companies have curated for this month. You know, before they forget about us again for the year. Huzzah!

This year’s Black History Month is extra special because we have more time to sit and catch up on Black-ass TV and film. Or do we…I feel like we have even more meetings and events these days. Anyway! I’ve rounded up some content to look out for this month just in case you’re tired of doomscrolling Twitter.

Netflix and Chill Your Wine Coolers

Of course, Strong Black Lead is here with its monthly offers, though the list looks shorter than usual—which is ironic, says Alanis!

This month, you can look forward to nostalgic titles such as Money Talks starring Chris Tucker and new shit such as Malcolm & Marie!

To check out Netflix’s content this month, head to netflix.com.

Me and You, Your Mama and Your Cousin’s Hulu

Disney got a big-ass family, y’all—which is pretty damn Black. Disney has a lot of cousins and play-cousins. So, whether that’s ABC (and affiliates!), Disney+ or Hulu, there’s a ton of content to check out. Some notables this month include the five-part docuseries Our America: Living While Black, Grown-ish, Black Is King and The United States vs. Billie Holiday.

Check out the ABC app, Freeform, Disney+ and Hulu for the content this month.

Amazon Prime Time to Binge Everything Black

Because of course the sequel to one of the Blackest and most-quoted films of all time is debuting in Black History Month. Yes, citizens of Zamunda, Coming 2 America is finally—um—coming this month.

For Amazon Prime Video’s entire BHM slate, head to amazon.com.

Relax and Get Into HBO Max

HBO Max is one of the streamers doing the simultaneous theatrical release/streamer thing that’s all the rage during the pandemic lockdown and it’s keeping that same energy for Judas & the Black Messiah.

Other available titles this month will include Black Art: In The Absence of Light, Charm City Kings and more.

I implore you to head to HBO.com and HBOMax.com to learn more—especially the free titles available this month.

You Can Watch Peacock On Any Block

Remember Punky Brewster in the ‘80s? Well the reboot is premiering this month and Cherie Johnson will be reprising her character!

While we know that some movies and TV shows that have licensing agreements with several platforms, there’s a bunch of Black-ass titles you can view exclusively on Peacock, such as This Christmas and I Am Legend in case you somehow haven’t seen them yet or want to revisit.

To get into Peacock’s BHM offering, head to peacocktv.com.

More Bounce to the Ounce

Of course we can’t forget a channel entirely dedicated to African Americans. This month, Bounce will be offering titles such as With Drawn Arms, a doc about U.S. Olympian Tommie Smith, the Michelle-Barack first date flick Southside With You, Lean On Me (which is a pretty timely tribute given the recent death of the real-life Joe Clark) and more.

To check out Bounce’s content for BHM, head to bouncetv.com.

TV One, Two, Three and to the Fo’

Keeping that same energy, I’m going to end on a Black-owned channel which will pay tribute to our legends by airing encore episodes of Unsung and host a “Represent Black Love” movie marathon with titles including Carmen Jones, Mahogany, Claudine and more.

The channel will also air a special broadcast of Sounder, starring the late Cicely Tyson.

Get into TV One’s BHM programming at tvone.tv.

In addition to everything above, the African American Film Critics Association and Comcast have teamed up to give us a whole “Black Experience” to air via Xfinity. Described as “a first-of-its kind destination of Black entertainment, movies, TV shows, news, and more,” Black Experience can be accessed via Xfinity X1, Flex and the Xfinity Stream app.

Have fun, y’all! And remember kids, the person who owns the lead account on the streaming apps that everyone else freeloads from should be considered a Black American Hero.