IN 1999, filmmakers Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster turned cameras on two families—including their own—as they grappled with the ups and downs of preparing their sons for academic success. At the time, they weren’t quite sure where the project would take them. But as they navigated the education system and wrestled with the same questions most new parents face, they knew that they had a story to tell. They also knew that, as black boys, their sons’ futures were riddled with extra hurdles: black boys are twice as likely as their white counterparts to be held back in school, three times as likely to be suspended and half as likely to graduate college. And both sets of parents were fiercely committed to doing everything in their power to defy those odds. Over a decade later, their story is the centerpiece of a national campaign to advance the success of black boys. The film premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, winning the US Documentary Special Jury Award. It won the Grand Jury Prize at the Full Frame Film Festival and was a Main Slate selection of the New York Film Festival. American Promise had its broadcast premiere on the Emmy Award winning PBS program POV.