Spanning several decades, the film shows that while many things have changed in our world, “The Talk” has remained a grim rite of passage for most black Americans for too many generations. The film features intimate moments where black parents of various eras and social classes attempt to prepare their sons and daughters for the difficulties and dangers of growing up black in America. It ends with a call for society as a whole to be part of a larger conversation about racial bias, in hopes that one day, black families no longer have to have “The Talk.”

The phrase “The Talk” in mass American culture usually refers to the awkward conversation parents have with their teens about sex. But in black homes, families giving the “The Talk” usually means discussing with children how being black will affect their lives, from how to deal with hearing racial slurs, to overcoming discrimination to how they should behave during interactions with the police to avoid dangerous or deadly outcomes.

Also relevant is the re-emergence of race as a point of debate in America with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement to stop police violence against unarmed black citizens as well as the overall racial and societal tensions that have surfaced after the 2016 US presidential election.