Basin PBS presents ‘Tell Them We are Rising’

Indie Lens Pop-Up, presented by ITVS, Independent Lens, and Basin PBS BasinPBS.org, are presenting “Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities,” which explores the pivotal role historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have played during the course of 150 years in American history, culture, and identity.

The film reveals the rich history of HBCUs and the power of higher education to transform lives and advance civil rights and equality. The latest film from director Stanley Nelson (Black Panthers, Freedom Riders), brings to life the powerful story of the rise, influence, and evolution of HBCUs.

Co-directed and co-produced by Marco Williams, the film premieres on Independent Lens at 8 p.m. on Feb. 19.

A haven for Black intellectuals, artists, and revolutionaries — and a path of promise toward the American dream — HBCUs have educated the architects of freedom movements and cultivated leaders in every field while remaining unapologetically Black for more than 150 years. These institutions have nurtured some of the most influential Americans of our time, from Booker T. Washington to Martin Luther King, Jr., W.E.B. Du Bois to Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison to Oprah Winfrey, Alice Walker to Spike Lee to Common.

About the Filmmakers

Stanley Nelson has directed and produced more than 12 documentary features including Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, Freedom Summer, Freedom Riders, Jonestown: The Life and Death of People’s Temple and The Murder of Emmett Till.

Nelson has won every major award in broadcasting. In 2016, he was honored with a Lifetime Peabody Award, a Lifetime Emmy Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Documentary Association.

Nelson is co-founder of Firelight Media, a nonprofit production company dedicated to using historical film to advance contemporary social justice causes, and to mentoring, inspiring and training a new generation of diverse young filmmakers committed to advancing underrepresented stories.

Marco Williams is a filmmaker and a film educator. He is an Arts Professor at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, Undergraduate Department of Film and Television. His directing credits include The Black Fives, The Undocumented, Inside the New Black Panthers; Banished; Freedom Summer; I Sit Where I Want: The Legacy of Brown v. Board of Education; MLK Boulevard: The Concrete Dream; Two Towns of Jasper; Making Peace: Rebuilding our Communities; The Spiritual Deficit and The American Dream; In Search of Our Fathers; and From Harlem to Harvard. His awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, a George Foster Peabody Award, the Alfred I duPont Silver Baton, the Pan African Film Festival Outstanding Documentary Award, the Full Frame Documentary Festival Spectrum Award, and the National Association of Black Journalists First Place Salute to Excellence.

Marcia Smith (Writer) served as president of Firelight Media for most of its first decade.

About Indie Lens Pop-Up

Indie Lens Pop-Up is a neighborhood series that brings people together for film screenings and community-driven conversations. Featuring documentaries seen on PBS’s Independent Lens, Indie Lens Pop-Up draws local residents, leaders and organizations together to discuss what matters most, from newsworthy topics, to family and relationships. Make friends, share stories, and join the conversation. Can’t attend in person? Find Independent Lens on Facebook for information on our online Pop-Up events.