Minority youth have faced many challenges related to prejudice, discrimination, and limited economic and educational opportunity. While these forces still limit opportunity, subtler challenges to identity and development now manifest as minority youth find themselves in settings that provide opportunity while underscoring their sense of being a minority and “different”. Child and adolescent psychiatrists working with such youth, and the agencies that serve them, benefit from greater knowledge of and attunement to the types of challenges these youth face. The award winning 2013 documentary American Promise heightens awareness among child and adolescent psychiatrists of the complex issues pertaining to culture, bias, family, and identity among minority youth navigating in settings previously not available to them.