Overview: Black colleges and universities are a haven for Black intellectuals, artists and revolutionaries and have educated the architects of freedom movements and cultivated leaders in every field. 'Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities' examines the impact these institutions have had on American history, culture, and national identity.

DVD Verdict: A haven for Black intellectuals, artists and revolutionaries - and path of promise toward the American dream - Black colleges and universities have educated the architects of freedom movements and cultivated leaders in every field. They have been unapologetically Black for more than 150 years. For the first time ever, their story is told.

As is made clear to us throughout, Alumni of black colleges and universities are a considerable part of the black middle class, with large numbers of the nation’s black doctors, teachers, and engineers having attended an HBCU.

The schools have served as incubators for black activism, playing prominent roles in the racial justice struggles of the past and present.

Even as roughly 300,000 students attended HBCUs in 2015, the share of black students attending HBCUs has fallen from 17 percent in 1980 to 9 percent in 2014, according to the Pew Research Center, affecting tuition rates, loan affordability, and endowments from alumni or other benefactors.

HBCUs rely heavily on federal funding, and some have sought to maintain open communication with the Trump administration over the objections of some students and alumni. But many schools weigh the conflict of working with a presidential administration that’s paid little more than lip service to these institutions while also acting at odds with racial justice advocates and communities of color in general.

Directed by award-winning documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson,'Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities' preserves history in this in-depth documentary and doesn't, for once, smear the facts and turn them into a hot topic of fake news. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs.