'3½ Minutes' highlights that racism, not ‘loud music,’ was at the center of Dunn Trial
Jacksonville, FL – Duval County became the center of international attention following the murder of 17-year-old African American youth Jordan Davis by a racist vigilante in 2012. Jordan, along with three friends, was shot in a parked SUV at a gas station by Michael Dunn, a white 46-year-old man. After state prosecutors failed to win a guilty verdict for the first-degree murder charge of killing Jordan, Dunn was retried and eventually convicted in 2014, receiving a sentence of 90-plus years in prison.
Fort Lauderdale, FL – 20 anti-war activists gathered here, April 19, to watch and discuss Citizenfour, the critically acclaimed documentary. The movie tells the story of courageous National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden. In 2013, Snowden went into hiding and then revealed the shocking extent to which the U.S. government spies on people. Snowden also revealed the U.S. government is using illegal spying methods for the purpose of political repression.
Chicago, IL – The movie Selma is a dramatic portrayal of how history was made by African American men, women and children and their white allies in Alabama, the cradle of the confederacy. It’s about people who decided to take a stand and make the ultimate sacrifice. The opening scene is in Birmingham where the KKK blew up more Black churches than anywhere in the U.S. Thus right away we are thrust into the thick of things, the real dirt and blood of battle of the Civil Rights Movement in the mid-1960s with all the emotional and physical pain one can bear. Through the eye of the camera we are immediately swept into the graphically violent acts of KKK terror.
Los Angeles, CA – The movie Cesar Chavez by Mexican actor/producer Diego Luna again puts the public eye on the injustices and harsh working conditions of the mostly Mexicano farm workers in the U.S. It also covers the early history of the United Farm Workers Union (UFW) and its first strike and the successful grape boycott against the growers. The movie was funded by mostly Mexican investors and shot entirely in Sonora, Mexico, as it was not a priority for U.S. film makers.
Russian war epic holds lessons for U.S. audiences on modern day crisis in Ukraine
Last year, I might have thought of Stalingrad as an interesting history lesson. But when I sat down in the theater to watch the new Russian war epic last weekend, all I could think about was the crisis in Ukraine.
About 160 years ago, Karl Marx wrote that history repeats itself, “the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.” And speaking to his statement in 2012, it’s hard to think of any modern example better than the remake of the 1984 film, Red Dawn.
