New Hulu documentary highlights students at historic Black boarding school

LOS ANGELES -- A new documentary is shining a spotlight on one of America's oldest Black boarding schools.

"Sacred Soil: The Piney Woods School Story" tells the story of the students and faculty of Piney Woods, located in Mississippi.

On The Red Carpet spoke to director J.J. Anderson.

"This film really, I believe, honors and observes what is required to be young, Black and educated in America," Anderson said. "We're thinking about this from a mental standpoint, a physical standpoint, a scholastic standpoint and it really puts the camera in the hands of the students."

The documentary shows students as they go through life at school trying to navigate their education, friends, teenage things and real world issues. They were open about race, stereotypes, family struggles and finding their places in the world.

"They have this adult-like mindset where they're exchanging empathy and accountability constantly in a way that a lot of adults don't know how to do," Anderson revealed.

"One of the things we try and remind our young people, almost on a daily basis, is that wherever they come from, whatever experience they may have had before coming here, that this is now their space," Piney Woods School President, Dr. Will Crossley said. "This very space was built with them in mind."

Crossley is not only the President of the school, he's an alumni.

"I'm able to do this work because people invested in Piney Woods 35-40 years ago when I was a student. So to be able to do this work now, it's just the right thing for me to do in life," Crossley explained. "And it's the right example for all of us to have in investing in our communities."

"Sacred Soil: The Piney Woods School Story" is streaming now on Hulu.

Disney is the parent company of Hulu and this ABC station.