The rise of black lead characters in Hollywood

'How To Get Away With Murder' - This hit TV show is a suspense thriller about a group of ambitious Law School students and their brilliant defense law teacher. Viola Davis's character ends up finding herself involved in a murder plot that will rock the university and change the course of their lives.

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'The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story' - One of the most critically-acclaimed shows of 2016, it is a reconstruction of the scandal surrounding convicted criminal and former American football player Orenthal James Simpson, who had been previously accused of brutally killing his ex-wife and her boyfriend in 1994.

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'The Pursuit of Happyness' - Will Smith is a family dad who is struggling financially but manages to get a spot as an intern in a big brokerage firm. His wife leaves him and he's forced to raise his five-year-old son on his own.

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'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom' - This movie starring Idris Elba tells the story of Nelson Mandela, including his childhood spent in a small village, his school years and his 27 years in jail before becoming the first democratically elected president in South Africa.

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'Luke Cage' - The Netflix show is about the Marvel superhero, who fights criminals in Harlem and racial prejudice at the same time!

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'Shaft' - Starring Samuel L. Jackson, this movie is a sequel of the 1971 classic about detective John Shaft, who has to face the return of a criminal he had once put behind bars.

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'Jackie Brown' - A flight attendant is forced to get into money trafficking by a weapon dealer. When the police offer her a deal to hand in the criminal, she decides to trick everyone involved. The 1997 Tarantino movie stars Pam Grier as Jackie Brown.

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'Precious' - An abused and overweight teenager decides to change her life by applying to a special school. Starring Gabourey Sidibe and Mariah Carey.

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'Hidden Figures' - In 1961, the US and the Soviet Union were competing in the space race at the same time as American society was dealing a deep racial division. The problem also affected NASA, where a group of brilliant black women were forced to work behind the scenes without getting recognition.

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'Scandal' - Starring Kerry Washington, the award-winning show follows Olivia Pope, a former White House aide who dedicates her life to being a crisis manager for the nation's elite, preventing huge scandals from blowing up.

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'The First Grader' - Inspired by the real story of an 84-year-old Kenyan who signs up to school and finds himself in a class of six-year-olds, learning how to read.

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'Dear White People' - A cultural war between whites and blacks at a college campus in a predominantly white institution is the basis for this Netflix series.

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'Beasts of no Nation' - Starring Idris Elba, this movie depicts the life of a boy training to become a soldier in an African country engulfed by civil war.

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'Fences' - Starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, 'Fences' tells the story of a retired baseball player who dreamed of becoming a huge sports star when he was younger, but finds himself collecting trash for a living.

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'The Dark Tower' - Gunslinger Roland Deschain (Idris Elba) goes around the world in search for the Black Tower, a magical building which is about to vanish. That quest also involves an intense chase for Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey), time travels and a blurred line between real and imaginary. It is based on the book by Stephen King.

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'Cadillac Records' - Starring Beyoncé and Adam Brody, 'Cadillac Records' reflects on the history of music from the 1940s to the 1960s, focusing on a record label based in Chicago. It featured the stories of legendary blues singers such as Etta James, Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, and Little Walter, among others.

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'The Get Down' - This two-season Netflix show follows youngsters from several minorities living on the Bronx during the emergence of the hip-hop scene and the final days of disco music.

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'Atlanta' - Donald Glover's award-winning comedy series follows two cousins living in Atlanta who struggle to break into the rap industry in order to make a living for their families.

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'Empire' -

'Empire' introduces us to Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard), a young rapper who eventually founds his own label. When he finds out he is terminally ill, he must choose one of his three sons to take over the company. What he didn't expect was that his ex-wife Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) would return from prison and try to get back everything she left behind.

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'12 Years a Slave' - The winner of the 2014 Oscar for Best Picture tells the story of Solomon Northup (played by Chiwetel Ejioforé), a free man who was kidnapped in 1841 and sold as a slave.

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'What Happened, Miss Simone?' - The documentary dwells on the tragic life of American singer and pianist Nina Simone, who performed for the likes of Malcom X, Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks.

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'The Butler' - Inspired by the life of Cecil Gaines, it tells the story of the US through the eyes of the White House butler who worked for eight presidents. Forest Whitaker plays the lead role.

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'Hotel Rwanda' - This is the story of a hotel manager, played by Don Cheadle, who saved over one thousand refugees in a war-torn country.

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'Moonlight' - The winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture last year tells the story of three big moments in the life of Chiron, a young black man who lives in a poor community in Miami.

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'Django Unchained' - Directed by Quentin Tarantino, 'Django Unchained' is about the life of an ex-slave who joins a bounty hunter in a quest to save his wife from a plantation owner.

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