FAIR’s Summer Film Series: Four Documentaries. One Summer. The Conversation We Need Now.
Four films. Four conversations. One invitation to rethink how we discuss race, identity, free expression, and the American story.
Dear Friends of FAIR,
This summer, FAIR is launching a four-film series exploring how Americans have debated and constructed racial identity, belonging, and the nation itself. These documentaries ask urgent questions about what we owe one another across differences and how we talk about it.
The series launches July 1st with How Jack Became Black, a documentary that traces the invention of Blackness as a racial category in America. The film examines the roots of colorblindness, the hope that we might one day see people as individuals rather than group members, and shows how that promise collides with lived experience. It’s a fitting opener for a series running alongside the nation’s 250th anniversary, a moment when we’re reckoning with what America is, who belongs to it, and what we’ve promised ourselves about equality and freedom. Monica Harris, FAIR’s Executive Director, will host the discussion with Eli Steele.
July 15th, we screen What Killed Michael Brown?, a sharp, unflinching look at the facts, rhetoric, and storytelling that followed the shooting in Ferguson. The film eschews easy narratives and instead asks viewers to sit with an uncomfortable complexity: the difference between what happened and how it was told.
July 29th, we move to Killing America, a documentary that wades into the historical and contemporary tensions between individual rights and group identity. The film traces how America has wrestled with inclusion, exclusion, and the meaning of membership.
We close our summer series on August 12th with 15 Days, directed by Natalya Murakhver, a New York City mother who sued to reopen schools during the COVID pandemic. The film investigates why America’s closures lasted longer than nearly every other nation and examines the science, policy decisions, and human costs ignored along the way.
Each screening will be followed by a discussion with subject matter experts and scholars who can help audiences think carefully about what these films reveal.
FAIR believes that civil discourse across genuine disagreement is foundational to a free and equal society. The COVID pandemic was one of the most traumatic moments in American history, and race and racial identity remain among the most contested topics in our society. We struggle to discuss these issues clearly. We retreat into defensive positions. We mistake agreement for understanding. We assume bad faith instead of engaging with hard questions.
FAIR believes these topics cannot be discussed and debated on the fringes. They shape education policy, civil rights enforcement, hiring practices, and how young people understand themselves and their country. These films don’t promote a single perspective or conclusion. They present evidence, arguments, and human stories that require viewers to think. They are an invitation to think carefully, together, across lines of difference.
These screenings are open to FAIR newsletter subscribers and community members. Whether you work in education, media, or civil rights advocacy, or simply want to engage with evidence-based analysis and diverse expert perspectives on some of the nation’s most contested questions, this series is for you. Stay tuned for details in our newsletter or follow us on social media for registration information and screening times.
This summer, as we celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, our country is reckoning with its founding promises of equal protection, free expression, and belonging. These four films tackle that question from different angles. They model what it looks like to engage seriously, to resist easy narratives, to think together across genuine disagreement. That’s the conversation America needs now.
Join us.
With gratitude,
Monica Harris
Executive Director, FAIR
As America approaches its 250th anniversary, the nation is still wrestling with some of its oldest questions: Who belongs? What does equality require? How should we understand our differences?
This summer, FAIR’s Film Series will explore these questions through four compelling documentaries produced by Eli Steele and discussions with filmmakers, scholars, and thought leaders.
Join us for this can’t-miss lineup:
🎬 How Jack Became Black — July 1
🎬 What Killed Michael Brown? — July 15
🎬 Killing America — July 29
🎬 15 Days — August 12
The Canadian Free Speech Crisis with Lisa Bildy
Canada shares our values, our language, and our legal traditions — yet free speech there is under pressure in ways that would have been unimaginable a decade ago. FAIR Advisor Lisa Bildy of the Free Speech Union of Canada will walk us through the landscape: who’s being silenced, who’s pushing back, and the cultural pressures that are reshaping expression north of the border. Join us for a candid look at what’s happening in Canada and why it matters for all of us.
FAIR in Conversation is Back!
FAIR in Conversation has relaunched with a new monthly format built for this moment. We’re leaning away from books and into the issues themselves: the debates, decisions, and developments that are defining what fairness, free speech, and equal dignity mean in America, and beyond, right now.
Each session will center on a pressing topic of the day, drawing on a curated mix of articles, book summaries, short essays, podcasts, films, and other multimedia resources to ground the conversation before opening the floor for discussion.
Sessions will be virtual, open to all FAIR members, and designed to be as accessible as they are substantive. You don’t need to have read anything in advance. Just bring your curiosity, your willingness to listen, and your commitment to engage in good faith.
These are exactly the conversations America needs now, and we are committed to modeling them. Sessions will run monthly through September 23rd. We hope you’ll join us!
FAIR Educators Alliance 2025-2026
Join the FAIR Educators Alliance for the 2025–2026 school year to equip PK–12 educators with the knowledge, strategies, and community support they need to foster schools that are more enriching and free from bias for students and educators.
Each monthly gathering will open with updates and presentations from FAIR staff, fellows, Chapter Leaders, and occasional guest speakers. Together, we’ll explore strategies to support educators, communities, and local chapters—and to advance positive change at the local, regional, and national levels.
Following the presentations, participants will have space for open-forum discussions to connect, seek advice, and coordinate on pressing issues in their schools. Breakout rooms will be divided into PK-6 and 7-12 grade levels with experienced teachers facilitating those conversations.
Meetings: First Thursday of each month at 7 PM ET via Zoom Duration: 1 hour
Note to readers: We have paused the FAIR News podcast. If you prefer listening, rather than reading these newsletters, an audio version is available directly on the Substack app. Thank you for tuning in!