After watching Black August, I felt like I'd sat through one of the key speeches by the late, great Martin Luther King. This is a very angry film, mostly raging against outrages committed on blacks by corrupt whites in power at a time when racial segregation and profiling was still commonplace... the 60's and 70's. But unlike the noted pacifist Mr King, the central character here George Lester believes the only solution is through force.
A member of the notorious Black Panthers, he is stuck behind bars on trumped up charges... but still manages to correspond with his armed gang, even encouraging his younger brother to participate in their violence. He is also a very eloquent scribe, and wants a lot of material he's written to be published to help spread the word of 'the cause'. To this end, he enlists the help of a slightly nerdish white book publisher, and the two regularly meet at visiting time exchanging stories. But certain people, i.e every law official in the USA, doesn't want his scrawlings to hit the market... afraid that it may implicate any number of them...
And it's no surprise, as virtually every Caucasian police officer here is depicted as either being a heartless racist, or a brainless redneck. This being entirely financed for an ethnic minority audience, I guess a little imbalance was going to creep in, but this feels slightly too artificial in construction. Still, at least it guarantees we cheer for all the right people... and the tale is an engrossing one, 'based on real events' apparently. In addition, it was funny seeing all the fashions of the era on display, from oversized Afros to giant Elton John-esque specs.
So yea, I'm not really one for protesting in such a large scale way... mainly because I think it hardly ever does any good. But this was an enjoyable experience for the most part, even if 'certain facts have been changed to suit the injured party's agenda'... 6/10
A member of the notorious Black Panthers, he is stuck behind bars on trumped up charges... but still manages to correspond with his armed gang, even encouraging his younger brother to participate in their violence. He is also a very eloquent scribe, and wants a lot of material he's written to be published to help spread the word of 'the cause'. To this end, he enlists the help of a slightly nerdish white book publisher, and the two regularly meet at visiting time exchanging stories. But certain people, i.e every law official in the USA, doesn't want his scrawlings to hit the market... afraid that it may implicate any number of them...
And it's no surprise, as virtually every Caucasian police officer here is depicted as either being a heartless racist, or a brainless redneck. This being entirely financed for an ethnic minority audience, I guess a little imbalance was going to creep in, but this feels slightly too artificial in construction. Still, at least it guarantees we cheer for all the right people... and the tale is an engrossing one, 'based on real events' apparently. In addition, it was funny seeing all the fashions of the era on display, from oversized Afros to giant Elton John-esque specs.
So yea, I'm not really one for protesting in such a large scale way... mainly because I think it hardly ever does any good. But this was an enjoyable experience for the most part, even if 'certain facts have been changed to suit the injured party's agenda'... 6/10