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By Kyli Rodriguez-Cayro, Vital Strategies
Black History Month is observed every February to spotlight Black leaders whose achievements shaped society and culture in the United States. At the Vital Strategies Overdose Prevention Program, we firmly believe that health equity goals must be foundational to all of our work. While overdose rates have declined, sharp disparities remain along racial lines. Black communities continue to be disproportionately affected by overdose, and by the harmful systemic effects of a decades-long “War on Drugs.”
Despite this, Black leaders persist in their efforts to create change. Black communities persevere against failed and harmful policies, and create innovative solutions to make communities stronger, safer and healthier. Black History Month is a time to celebrate and recognize these leaders, and to reflect on lessons that can shape how we address overdose everywhere in the U.S.
In honor of Black History Month, our team has compiled a list of some of our favorite educational films, archival works, and shorts that center the voices of Black leaders and scholars. These pieces teach us about the challenges of working towards ending the overdose crisis, about innovation and leadership while facing down longstanding systemic barriers.
“Imani P. Woods on Black Leadership and Harm Reduction”
The late Imani P. Woods is recognized as a trailblazer for the harm reduction movement. She advocated for harm reduction to be rooted in compassion, community and racial equity. Woods was both the founder and executive director of Seattle’s Street Outreach Services and a founding member of the National Harm Reduction Coalition.
A candid, must-watch conversation with Woods touches on the crucial role of Black leadership in harm reduction, as well as the intersection of the criminalization of drug use and systemic racism. “You can’t talk about drugs and not talk about race, not in this country,” she says in the interview, Woods passed away in 2015, but her legacy lives on through her writings, scholarly work, archival footage, and through the very tenets of harm reduction.
“The House I Live In”
This independent PBS documentary offers an inside look into the drug war through the lens of people with firsthand experience, including those who use drugs, public health experts, families who have lost loved ones to overdose and people who are incarcerated for drug use. The 2013 documentary investigates how Black communities have experienced the brunt of the drug war and how punitive policies such as mandatory minimum sentencing drives institutionalized racism. The film also highlights evidence-backed public health solutions to the overdose crisis as alternatives to criminalization.
“Michael K. Williams and Curtis Snow Raise Awareness to ATL Harm Reduction”
Michael K. Williams–a producer and actor best known for his role on “The Wire”–visited “The Bluff,” an Atlanta neighborhood, to raise awareness about harm reduction efforts in the city. The Bluff is an underserved area that has historically been subjected to stigma, discrimination and state violence.
The archival footage shows Snow and Williams in conversation with Sister Mona, also known as Mona Bennett, a resident of the neighborhood who provides free harm reduction services to her community. This includes hepatitis C vaccinations, new syringes, HIV testing and basic necessities. Bennett is the co-founder of the Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition.
Tragically, Michael K. Williams passed away from a fatal overdose in 2021. His media work surrounding harm reduction and overdose prevention in Black communities continues to make a positive impact.
“The Opioid Trilogy: Coming Home”
“The Opioid Trilogy” is an animated PBS Independent Lens docuseries that explores the impact of the overdose crisis on three people and their families. Episode three, “Coming Home,” spotlights Vital Strategies’ partner Tahira Malik, founder of Samad’s House in Milwaukee. In this short episode, through conversations with her daughter, Tahira chronicles her journey with substance use disorder and incarceration all the way to establishing Samad’s House and empowering other women with substance use disorders. Samad’s House provides harm reduction resources, such as naloxone and fentanyl test strips, to community members across Milwaukee.
Tahira Malik is featured in the “You Have the Power to Save Lives” campaign, which launched in Milwaukee and six other cities in March 2025. This Vital Strategies, National Black Harm Reduction Network, and Elton John AIDS Foundation campaign focuses on activating stakeholders and leaders in Black communities to expand the availability and use of naloxone.
Watch “The Opioid Trilogy: Coming Home” here.
“13TH”
While the 13th amendment abolished slavery in 1865, the 2016 documentary “13TH” explores the ways in which forced labor and economic exploitation of Black communities continues in the present day through the prison-industrial complex, or detention-industrial complex. This powerful film features interviews with Black scholars, activists, and political and public figures, including Michelle Alexander, Angela Davis, Deborah Small and Van Jones. They recount the Civil Rights Movement and history of systemic racism in the United States post-Civil War. By examining racist policing, legislation and the drug war, “13TH” explains how mass incarceration and violence against Black communities is fueled in large part by the drug war and punitive approaches to drug use.
Watch “13TH” here. A paid subscription to Netflix is required to view.
“What is the Drug War? With Jay-Z & Molly Crabapple”
The Drug Policy Alliance partnered with artists Jay-Z and Molly Crabapple to narrate a four-minute explainer detailing the history of mandatory minimum sentencing laws for low-level drug-related arrests, and the crack cocaine era’s role in exploding the prison population, especially for Black people. The video also touches upon the legalization of cannabis and the lucrative industry that legalization created. While many white people have benefited from legalization, Black communities most affected by the drug war are still experiencing ongoing harms of past criminalization, often locked out of the industry due to drug-related charges.
“The Stroll”
“The Stroll,” a 2023 documentary, revisits the lives of Black, trans sex workers who worked in New York’s Meatpacking District during the 1980s and 1990s. Through archival footage and first-person accounts, the film documents how “tough on crime” policies led to disproportionate arrests of Black sex workers and the increased risk of violence experienced by these women. The women interviewed in “The Stroll” also discuss the power of building community, mutual aid and treating people with dignity.
Systemic racism, violence against sex workers, and transphobia are human rights issues that are inseparable. Black transgender women are incarcerated at rates 10 times greater than the general United States population, and nearly 50% of Black transgender people have been incarcerated.
Watch “The Stroll” here. A paid subscription to HBO is required to view.
“Daughters”
The 2024 documentary “Daughters” spans eight years, following four girls as they prepare for a “Daddy-Daughter Dance” held at a Washington, D.C. prison and how their relationships with their incarcerated fathers evolve. The film provides an intimate look into their lives and highlights the consequences of family separation. This is an issue that overwhelmingly affects Black families, who are overrepresented in prisons and jails.
Notably, pregnant and parenting people who use drugs also can face severe legal repercussions, including the involvement of child welfare agencies, which too often results in family separation. This has harmful impacts on children who are placed into foster system services. To help address the health disparities that pregnant and parenting people face, Vital Strategies supported the Camden Coalition to develop the toolkit “Creating Safe Care: Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Patients Who Use Drugs.”
Watch “Daughters” here. A paid subscription to Netflix is required to view.
Vital Strategies’ Overdose Prevention Program has published several blogs over the years in honor of Black History Month. Read our list of essential harm reduction reads, Black harm reductionists you should know, and more Black leaders that shaped harm reduction.
About Vital Strategies’ Overdose Prevention Program
Vital Strategies is a global health organization that believes every person should be protected by a strong public health system. Our overdose prevention program works to strengthen and scale evidence-based, data-driven policies and interventions to create equitable and sustainable reductions in overdose deaths in several U.S. states and local jurisdictions.