I Am Not Your Negro

 

I Am Not Your Negro 2016

• Director: Raoul Peck
• Based on the writings of James Baldwin
• Cast: It’s a documentary narrated by Samuel L Jackson
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• It’s a documentary.
• Why? The subject.
• Seen: 26 March 2023      

       James Baldwin’s written words are narrated by Samuel L Jackson and interspersed with interviews and speeches by Baldwin himself. Clips from the 50s, 60s and 70s alternate with scenes of police brutality against blacks in the 21^st century. Things are only getting worse.

       Nothing is sugar-coated. The grim truth as Baldwin presents it is that white America is terrified, ignorant, blind and unconsciously or violently racist. Not every single individual but the institutions, the structure of society and its economy.

       It could be a very important film if the white people who need to know this were to see it, understand it, accept its truth and be strong and humane enough to try to change themselves and the society that benefits them at the cost of people of colour. 

5* of 5