When We Rise

2017 • ABC
4.9
26 reviews
TV-14
Rating
Eligible
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Season 1 episodes (8)

1 Night I Part I
2/27/17
A young peace activist escapes his repressive life in Phoenix and heads to San Francisco, hoping to find refuge and community, but finds that the struggle for survival is just as difficult as it was back home.
2 Night I Part II
2/27/17
Roma is a dedicated member of the women's movement who has not come to terms with her sexuality. When NOW purges lesbians from its ranks, Roma moves to San Francisco and dedicates herself to opening the first women's center in the country by women, for women.
3 Night II Part I
3/1/17
Ken, Cleve, and Roma fight an initiative that would ban gays from working in California public schools, while Cleve works on the campaign to elect Harvey Milk as San Francisco City Supervisor.
4 Night II Part II
3/1/17
In 1981, a disease dubbed "gay cancer" starts killing gay men all over the country. Cleve, Ken, Roma, and Diane struggle to educate a terrified community with what little information they have, and Cleve is inspired to create the AIDS Memorial Quilt.
5 Night III Part I
3/2/17
AIDS continues to ravage the gay community in the early 1990s. Ken enters a VA hospital to receive treatment and is closeted in the midst of "Don't Ask Don't Tell." When Diane's daughter Annie begins asking about her father, Roma and Diane hunt down the biological father.
6 Night III Part II
3/2/17
An out of touch Cleve moves to Palm Springs in the late 1990s for his health, and finds happiness while caring for his drug-addicted neighbor's baby. Diane's daughter struggles with her identity as the child of a lesbian couple and a gay man.
7 Night IV Part I
3/3/17
In 2008, an energized Cleve inspires a group of activists to organize a march in Washington to demand full LGBTQ civil rights, while Ken struggles to reconcile his sexual orientation with his membership in a
conservative church.
8 Night IV Part II
3/3/17
Cleve joins a group attempting to overturn California's discriminatory proposition banning gay marriage, which makes its way to the Supreme Court. Ken finds salvation by joining an inclusive church and becoming a minister. Cleve, Ken, and Roma come together at Roma's wedding to Diane, and are struck by the victory they helped achieve.

About this show

This mini-series event chronicles the real-life personal and political struggles, set-backs and triumphs of a diverse family of LGBT men and women who helped pioneer one of the last legs of the U.S. Civil Rights movement from its turbulent infancy in the 20th century to the once unfathomable successes of today.

Ratings and reviews

4.9
26 reviews
Linda Rogacion
November 11, 2017
WOW!!! BORN AND RAISED IN SF.. WHEN WR RISE HIT HOME FOR ME WHEN THE AOD CRISIS HIT. IT BROUGHT BACK THE MEMORIES OF MY DEAREST FRIENDS AND FAMILY WHO HAD LIST THIER LUVES. IT ALSO MADE ME REMEMBER THE GROWING PAINS WITH THE AIDS VIRUS AND HOW FAR WE'VE COME. WE ATE STILL NOT DONE. #POWER TO THE PEOPLE THE STRUGGLE, AND TO ALL THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE WHO HAVE I SAY.. RISE
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FolaShade Thompkins
November 20, 2018
This miniseries was dynamic and it truly showed how many years the LGBTQ+ community has strived for equal rights. It also is a reminder that there's much more work to be done.
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Guy Peters
March 27, 2017
It is such a important story to be seen by all. Under rated and a must see. I loved this so much I bought the show. At $10 for all episodes it is worth owning a piece of generation defining history.
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