Residents of the St. Paul-Minneapolis area had the chance for three Sundays in June to watch three documentaries for free that were chosen as blueprints for effecting change.

A partnership between the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Magnolia Pictures made these documentaries available for free in cities where Knight-Ridder owned newspapers: “I Am Not Your Negro,” “Whose Streets? and “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am.”

The films were chosen because “they speak powerfully to systemic inequality and serve as blueprints for effecting change,” the Ascension Catholic Church bulletin said. Ascension was one of many communities that held virtual discussions online following the free screenings. Community organizations in Akron, Charlotte, Detroit, Macon, Miami, Philadelphia, St. Paul and San Jose helped make the film event possible. 

“I Am Not Your Negro” features interviews with James Baldwin about his friends Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. “Whose Streets?” is a documentary about the Ferguson uprisings after the killing of Michael Brown as told through interviews with many people who were involved. The Toni Morrison documentary recounts the story of the writer's life through pictures and interviews.