# When We Rise (2017)

> A four-part miniseries following a diverse circle of LGBT activists from the 1969 Stonewall Riots through decades of the gay rights fight.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/59756

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 4
- Episode runtime: 43 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, history
- Created by: Dustin Lance Black
- Network: ABC
- Cast: Austin P. McKenzie, Emily Skeggs, Jonathan Majors, Fiona Dourif, Rachel Griffiths, Mary-Louise Parker, Guy Pearce, Michael Kenneth Williams
- TMDB rating: 7.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5292622/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: mild
- Tone: earnest, emotional, intimate, hopeful, bittersweet

## Synopsis

When We Rise (2017) is a four-episode American limited series created by Dustin Lance Black for ABC. Following a diverse family of LGBT men and women, it traces the personal and political struggles of activists who helped shape the late stage of the American civil rights movement. Guy Pearce and Mary-Louise Parker play the older Cleve Jones and Roma Guy, while Austin P. McKenzie and Emily Skeggs portray their younger selves, and Michael Kenneth Williams and Rachel Griffiths anchor the Ken and Diane Jones storyline. The engine of the story is the grind of organizing: petitions, protests, hospital bedsides, and the hard choices activists make between private lives and public battles. Each episode moves through the decades in a parallel structure, linking youth and adulthood so the movement feels both intimate and sweeping. Set in 1960s and 1970s San Francisco and beyond, the series opens at the Stonewall Riots and carries forward through later decades of political fights. The tone is earnest and emotionally direct, with moments of warmth, anger and grief. Fans of Angels in America, It's a Sin and Milk will find resonance in its blend of historical scope and intimate character drama, offering a heartfelt portrait of community built under pressure.

## Shows like When We Rise

- [Proud (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/68209)
- [Queer As Folk (2000)](https://ember.film/tv/2760)
- [Tales of the City (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/74495)
- [Hollywood (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/73940)
- [Mrs. America (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/71310)
- [Tales of the City (1993)](https://ember.film/tv/17350)
- [Waco: The Aftermath (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/124171)
- [Angels in America (2003)](https://ember.film/tv/10471)
- [Looking (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/51717)
- [Small Axe (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/76871)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt