Political Media Review

As I watched Sacco and Vanzetti, an 80-minute-long documentary by Peter Miller, it drew me to the point of grabbing my pen, and paper and rewinding the film over and over again so not to miss an important fact, interview, or scene about one of the most famous political trials in U.S. history.

If you’ve ever stood in the grocery store holding two apples in your hand, one organic and one not, and wondered which one to buy, then watching Jocelyn Demers’ documentary, Gardens of Destiny, will no doubt help make up your mind.

“The DA’s pen has replaced the lynching noose” -Mumia Abu Jamal

Barely noticed In the midst of the hullabaloo and media hype over the death of Michael Jackson, a notorious case of racial injustice against six working-class African-American youths came to a quiet conclusion in the LaSalle Parish courthouse on June 25, 2009, in the parish (county) seat of Jena, state of Louisiana.

Letter to the President: The Streets Get Political, produced by Russell Simmons, directed by Thomas Gibson, composed by Quincy Jones, and narrated by Snoop Dogg, is a wake-up call to the world that hip-hop and rap does not mean money, ignorance, and violence, but a voice from a imprisoned, oppressed, and repressed community. This is an excellent film on the history of hip-hop and rap in the U.S. in relation to race, class, and sexism.

In the US mainstream, Hugo Chavez is generally seen as a “communist” (a la North Korea, Cuba, or China), tyrant, or both-often vilified by US news media and politicians. Further, the Chavez administration is often painted as illegitimate, particularly in comparison to those elected in dominant Western “democratic” models-such as the US or much of the EU. However, Venezuela: Revolution from the Inside Out provides a more nuanced perspective on Venezuela and a thorough investigation of modern socialism as now manifested in Central and South America.

It is no secret that the United States does not hesitate to incarcerate. While the US only represents 5% of the global population, it cages nearly 25% of the world’s prisoners-approximately 2.3 million people. Of these 2.3 million people, approximately half are African American (13% of US population). Of course, the vastly disproportionate caging and state coercion of African Americans in the US has a long and brutal history. This bloody legacy is made manifest in prisons like Angola, named for the country from which many southern plantation slaves were abducted.

Tribe of Heart’s documentary, Peaceable Kingdom, asks viewers how current factory farm practices can be justified given that the treatment of farm animals, while perfectly legal, is so undeniably cruel. This film advocates a reawakening of both human conscience and compassion. It suggests that this can be achieved through reconnecting to the innate affection most people have for animals (not just pets) which is often stifled or discouraged in a modern consumer society.