13th (2016), Director: Ava DuVernay, rated TV-MA

FROM SLAVE TO CRIMINAL WITH ONE AMENDMENT

Starring: (Interviews:) Ava DuVernay, Angela Davis, Bryan Stevenson, Michelle Alexander, Jelani Cobb, Van Jones, Newt Gingrich, Cory Booker, Marie Gottschalk, Henry Louis Gates Jr.

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"The Bureau of Justice reported that one in three young black males is expected to go to jail or prison during his lifetime, which is an unbelievably shocking statistic." - Bryan Stevenson

Why watch this? Will they ever really be free?

Plot Summary: This pointed documentary explores the legislation and actions post-Civil War that keep America's black populations under the heel. After the war, the South economically needed to replace slave labor. A process was implemented whereby black men were arrested for minor crimes, then forced to work when they could not pay the fines (called convict leasing). There were also Jim Crow laws. And ongoing lynchings. Even after passing the Civil Rights legislation in the 1960s, there were new ways found to target and incarcerate black men. Our government called it the War on Drugs.

Dad's Preview: Some, particularly today's radical Republican MAGA movement, don't want these stories told, documented, and even remembered... seemingly under the impression that erasing it will make it go away. However, as one who values our nation's history - both the good and the bad, we can never "move on" until these events are acknowledged, discussed, and to some degree, resolved, between our multi-racial populations, and the white folks who determined the status quo in our country's early years. Until then, slavery will remain an open wound instead of a scar of learning.

Kandoo Films; Netflix