The main goal of a documentary is to inform, and that is exactly what My Name is Pauli Murray does. This is a person that deserves more recognition for everything that they did.

| Original Score: A- | Mar 1, 2024

Cohen, PBS producer Talleah Bridges McMahon and editor Cinque Northern wrote this feature that frames Murray’s rightful place as an American founding parent who made significant contributions to human rights.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 16, 2023

An effective portrait of an undersung political hero.

| Nov 1, 2022

Pauli Murray was a path-breaking individual so far ahead of their times that history does not yet reflect their contribution to race and gender equity...a must-see, a revelatory portrait of a heroic person.

| Aug 23, 2022

A good documentary...Conveying the complexity of Murray’s. Will leave you talking about Murray and how to honor her legacy.

| May 19, 2022

We also get a sense of the pain they felt, which feels especially raw at times, thanks to the direct access to their feelings via their own words, samples of which appear constantly.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Apr 17, 2022

The film seems to know its limitations as a single documentary, and its wide breadth of subjects both personally and professionally associated with Murray provide a grounded, complex foundation.

| Feb 8, 2022

The film gives Murray due recognition, but it goes further in elucidating the struggles that she fought against both then and now - racism, sexism, homophobia - and examining how far things have come and how much further they have to go...

| Dec 29, 2021

The film's unimaginative aesthetic language diminishes Murray and straitjackets her complexity.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Oct 28, 2021

In a relatively swift 91 minutes, I'm glad I got to know this American icon who championed race and gender equity. Cohen and West's direction paints a beautiful, moving portrait of an unsung heroine who was well ahead of her time.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 12, 2021

It does a terrific job of making amends, helped by a wealth of archival footage drawn from Murray's public and personal life.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 7, 2021

The film, by Julie Cohen and Betsy West, is an enlightening and engaging affair from start to finish.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 4, 2021

This documentary by Julie Cohen and Betsy West may not be adventurous in its style, but it has a good story to tell and proves Murray should be better known than she is.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 3, 2021

Despite the film's obvious shortcomings, this remains an informative, important and very timely watch.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 2, 2021

Learning about Pauli Murray is like discovering that Neil Armstrong wasn't the first person to walk on the Moon.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 1, 2021

Told largely through Murray's own words, My Name is Pauli Murray is a breathtaking work of historical journalism, aiming to bring Murray's influence back into the public eye.

| Oct 1, 2021

Though she's been dead over 35 years, Murray's intelligence and generosity come through vividly in this inspiring film, which draws largely on voluminous journals and letters to let her tell her own story.

| Sep 28, 2021

My Name Is Pauli Murray sharply illuminates its subject's heroic lifelong fight for human rights.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 27, 2021

A dynamic history lesson, and an introduction to a hero for civil rights for whom recognition is long overdue.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 21, 2021

This is a good but somewhat dry documentary about a little-known civil rights figure who shaped national law pertaining to gender and race.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 20, 2021