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How to Watch ‘Stockton on My Mind’ HBO Documentary Online

Mayor Michael Tubbs helping the homeless in Stockton, California.

HBO Mayor Michael Tubbs helping the homeless in Stockton, California.

The latest documentary to be released this summer is Stockton on My Mind, which chronicles the story of Michael D. Tubbs Jr., the youngest and first African-American mayor of Stockton, California. It premieres Tuesday, July 28 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.

If you don’t have cable, here’s how to watch Stockton on My Mind on your computer, phone, Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV or other streaming device:

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Amazon Prime’s HBO Channel

If you’re an Amazon Prime subscriber or you want to start a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime, you can watch all live and on-demand HBO content via the HBO Amazon Channel, which comes with a seven-day free trial:

Watch HBO on Amazon Prime

Once you’re signed up for both Amazon Prime and the HBO channel, you can then watch Stockton on My Mind either live as it airs or on-demand anytime after.

For either option, you can watch on your computer via the Amazon website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 or other streaming device via the Amazon Video app.

Watch HBO on Hulu

Whether you already have Hulu or you want to sign up for a new subscription, HBO is available as an add-on to either Hulu or Hulu with Live TV. If you’re a new subscriber, you can start a free 30-day trial of regular Hulu plus the HBO add-on:

Hulu Free Trial

Once signed up for Hulu and the HBO add-on, you can watch Stockton on My Mind live as it airs, or you can watch it on-demand anytime after.

You can watch on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 (on-demand only), Nintendo Switch, Echo Show or other streaming device via the Hulu app.


‘Stockton on My Mind’ Preview

This latest documentary from HBO is directed by Emmy winner Marc Levin (Class Divide, Thug Life in D.C.), who aims to tell a “multi-layered story” of Mayor Michael Tubbs.

The HBO press release says, “[Tubbs’] own experience growing up amid poverty and violence inspired him to create innovative change in his beleaguered hometown of Stockton, California. Born to a teenage mother and an incarcerated father, Tubbs felt society destined him for either prison or death. Defying expectations, at the age of 26 in 2016, he became one of the youngest mayors of a major American city and Stockton’s first African American mayor. The film follows Tubbs’ efforts to reverse the fortunes of a city known as one of the poorest, most violent and least literate in the nation.”

Growing up in Stockton, Tubbs felt he was “set up” for either prison or death at a young age, but he decided to forge another path for himself. After getting into Stanford on a scholarship, he returned to his hometown “with a clear mission statement: to ‘upset the setup’ and empower others to change the status quo through positive civil action.”

In 2016, the picture was bleak for Stockton. The city had been ground zero for the subprime mortgage meltdown in 2008 and had become the first major U.S. city to declare bankruptcy in the wake of the Great Recession. Drawing on his own disadvantaged upbringing to shape his vision for change, Mayor Tubbs launches some of the boldest social and economic policy experiments in the country to lift up his city of 300,000 residents. With a holistic approach to change, the city becomes an incubator, using private/public partnerships to test ways of challenging the systems that create conditions of inequality and lack of opportunity in the first place.

From the Stockton Scholars program that provides college funding for high school graduates to the SEED program, an experimental “universal basic income” payment to citizens chosen by a lottery system, to Advance Peace, an initiative to prevent violence by engaging with communities around the root causes of conflict, Stockton is at the forefront of a dynamic transformation. Yet, change is hard, and there are many headwinds to contend with, including skepticism, criticism, and even a recall effort from some of the residents.

Stockton on My Mind weaves Michael Tubbs’ story together with a wide array of people living in Stockton, some of whose stories echo Tubbs’ own, and many of whom are leaders working alongside him to reinvent the city. Subjects include:

  • Raymond Aguilar, who served over two decades in prison and now works to incentivize at-risk communities to deter violent crime
  • Jasmine Dellafosse, a community organizer and activist who seeks to dismantle the school to prison pipeline
  • Lavelle Hawkins, a Stockton native and former NFL wide receiver who now serves as an assistant football coach committed to guiding his students on the right path
  • Michael Tubbs, Sr., a Stockton native and former gang member sentenced to life in prison for armed robbery and kidnapping when Mayor Tubbs was a young child
  • Isaiah “Zay” Evans, a promising high school senior from a troubled home on house arrest and facing jail time on a burglary charge
  • Joy Almendarez, a teenage mother determined to beat the odds and make it to college
  • Rogelio “Junior” Vivero, a first-generation Latino student who messaged Mayor Tubbs on twitter and became one of the first student ambassadors of Stockton Scholars

In addition to the day-to-day challenges of running a city, Stockton on My Mind follows Michael Tubbs’ personal milestones over three years as he welcomes a son with his wife, First Partner of Stockton, Anna Malaika Nti-Asare-Tubbs, and reflects on building a deeper relationship with his own father who hopes for parole at some point in the future.

Stockton on My Mind premieres Tuesday, July 28 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.

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