Recent films appear to be meticulously focused on the same issues that are causing an uprising of injustice movements from the Black Lives Matter movement, the the Dakota pipeline protest, to the Charlotte, St. Paul, Milwaukee and Baltimore riots.
Just this year, films like 13th, The Birth of a Nation (2016), Free State of Jones, Race, A United Kingdom, and the upcoming Hidden Figures each exhibit a great increase in the urgency of racism, fascism, and injustice in America. In the documentary, 13th, Ava DuVernay examines the prison-industrial complex and how its cause of mass incarceration is due to the 13th Amendment of the Constitution having a clause which states that it is illegal to enslave citizens, unless they are criminals.
The Birth of a Nation shows the life of Nat Turner, a slave in the early 19th century remembered for leading the largest slave revolt in U.S. history. Free State of Jones novels Newton Knight’s life during the Civil War, a native of Jones County, Miss. who deserted the Confederate army in 1862 to later lead and free slaves who fought against the South from within. These issues are fed and provoked by Donald Trump’s radical and racist views towards minorities and the deaths of young men like Trayvon Martin, Oscar Grant, Troy Davis, Sean Bell, James C. Anderson, Brandon McClelland and Amadou Diallo.
Over time, we began to disregard social issues, like bigotry. Although we may be aware of their existence, we are blind to its extremity. We push to believe that this nation has grown out of its foundation of vital physical killings and mental lynching. The truth remains, that minorities (especially people of color) are killed. People are robbed of their freedom by the labeling of “criminals,” and the pitiful idea of prejudice breaths and it continues to cost people’s lives.
These movies are presented to us as a reminder of strength within unity, the undistorted truth, and the actualization of violence not being the solution. In The Birth of a Nation, Nat Turner leads a rebellion in 1831 that results in the lynching of more than 50 slaveholders and his own execution, as well as that of more than 50 slaves and conspirators. This is a gleaming example of how violent revolt leads to disaster and destruction.
Recently, we have seen that nothing has changed. The Baltimore riots express the dreadfully emotional reaction to violence, with violence. Consequently, the riots caused nothing but hate-filled destruction of the city. There was, and still has not been, any actual solution to the problems. With police brutality, the laws are still the same, officers are still employed, and the process of police training has not been altered.
We must recognize the realness and relevance of pernicious prevalence that remains in people. We must use comprehend the necessity of understanding the past so that it doesn’t repeat. We must be a light that erases the corruption in the minds of our brothers and sisters. The problem will not decease without the love that glistens within every human being on this campus, in this nation, and around the world.
This article has been featured in the 12.09.16 issue of The Owl Newspaper.
Arthur M. Powell II 