Black Lives Matter
In 2013, the Black Lives Matter hashtag began trending on Twitter, and gave birth to one of the most prominent civil rights movements of the 21st century. A new documentary of the same name examines the origins, influence and evolving mission behind this grassroots phenomenon. Collectively, these elements constitute the building blocks of a revolution.
The hashtag that came to define the racial divide in modern America was originally posted by Patrisse Cullors, a Seattle-based activist and theatre director who is interviewed in the film. Immediately following the exoneration of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman who killed an unarmed teen named Trayvon Martin, Cullors expressed her aggravation and befuddlement on social media. Her simple eloquence gave voice to the frustrations of many throughout the United States and beyond. In the months that followed, the motivation to act in protest only intensified in the wake of multiple shootings involving white police officers and unarmed inner-city youths.
Cullors has chosen to channel her activist energies through her art. The filmmakers capture her in preparation for a new show which will tour across the country. Her production features a chorus of non-actors who express the realities of living in America as a person of color. Issues like racial profiling, police brutality, political stagnation and a compromised legal system are given tangible resonance when they're delivered in the guise of a personal story. The performers' accounts are harrowing, and they portray a daily existence dominated by fear, injustice, and a constant sense of endangerment from a ruthless and ever-watchful police and prison state.
People of color in America have lived under these threats for generations, but social media has finally given them an unfiltered platform from which they can share their experiences with the world. Racially motivated atrocities like the ones that recently gripped Ferguson, Baltimore, and Charlotte are broadcast and remarked upon almost instantaneously. The images they bring forth have served as a wake-up call for some, and a rallying cry for many others.
Produced by the highly acclaimed VPRO Backlight series, Black Lives Matter provides a potent overview of this ongoing crisis.
Directed by: Nirit Peled
Racism isn't as much of an issue as people make it out to be, but it's easier to be the victims instead of taking responsibility for your own life.
10 dollars says you're white....
I appreciate your anger. I am bi-racial...mostly of the Blackfoot Nation. And I spent a lot of years hating on the USA and white people. I got a chance to travel, because I didn't et it consume me. And I learned a lot of things.
If you have a real grasp of human history, you would have the insight that not only have many, many groups of white people been slaves...for much longer periods of time than blacks...but that those groups of people also care very deeply what happens to all people. But if you choose to live in a hateful world, that's what you'll get.
I suggest that if you think you hate all white people, test your theory. Get out of your box, get away from friends and "causes" that hold your mind captive.
It's also not a bad idea to read other information.
Black institutions of higher learning were given 14% MORE FEDERAL FUNDING...by President Trump, in an executive order...that means that it was solely HIS decision.
Jack Johnson, convicted in 1914 of a race crime was pardoned....by President Trump. It's late, but OBAMA didn't do that. This was also one of Trump's executive orders.
Take a look at more of what the liberals don't want you to know about conservatives. Because you are being deceived.
If you truly love ANYTHING in this world, then you need to BE SURE you are fighting the right enemy for the right reasons!
@JAyers sorry buddy, you've been fooled by a political double cross
Man, these racist just hate it when black people stand up for themselves, but I don't blame you because we are going to take all your white privilege away from you. I so glad America is collapsing.
Terrorism on american soil
rofl look at all these neo-nazis and racist turds in these comments, this comment section is a goldmine haha.
Look at all these ignorant racists thriving in the anonymous comment section. If this documentary, let alone all the other racist and racially profiling terrorist acts, hasn't taught you anything, you're the threat to this society. Black lives matter, and be ashamed of your ignorance and go educate yourself. Pay attention to the documentary and learn something.
segregation helps nobody , black lives matter is a raciest group with there own agenda . dont break the laws of the country you live in . morgan freeman said it best ''its bullsh#t" . Treat your fellow man as you would like to be treated and stop killing .
You had me until segregation helps nobody. And your last comment. But everything inbetween makes me question, did you even watch the documentary?
I hope you love my group that I have been funding to begin the division and take down of America. I mean Ha! Its what I do, I have done it to many countries, well hell its how I make my $$, and I am not shy about it either. in your faces,lol.
hello dust up
you wouldnt know a socialist if one jumped up and bit you
nor a communist for that matter
Malcolm X and Martin Luther King both learned one thing, Malcolm X much later in life, and were killed for it (killed by whom is uncertain probably agreement by both black and white powers that be in their own realm, because they BOTH profit from racial tension): Liberation for all, rather than the separate, "we only care about ourselves, ehf you." That isn't love. No true religion or philosophy is about "only our group", it is about humanity as a whole. This is something that the jihadis have yet to learn; that they are manipulated puppets used as a tool to profit the puppet masters.
Unfortunately the clueless tell the clued in they need to educate themselves by reading socialist-communist garbage-in = garbage-out by clueless socialist-communist "peer reviewed" professors.
You are still falling for the puppet masters propaganda, the opposite of the solution, if you believe full Socialism is the answer or would be better.
If you are going to get out a book or read something, get out anything by Thomas Jefferson or more current, Mark Levin. Socialism IS the disease which is far more CORRUPT, Cronyistic, and Intolerant than Capitalism ever could be. Corporatism is NOT Capitalism, is it Fascism. Capitalism is the only unique system designed for the free to trade among each other without interference.
The main tenet of Socialism is to get rid of the competition. Hence they must get rid of guns, dissenters who speak the truth about and point out the inherent aspects of Socialism that fosters corruption.
If you hate Capitalism, it is the amount of the govt that has converted to Socialism that you truly hate. For it is the part that has created all the problems and divisions, deciding the winners and losers. Who is the party of slavery? Democrats, a historical fact. They tried desperately to prevent freeing of the slaves. Who is the party of Socialism? Democrat. Who is the party of intolerance, wanting to end freedom of speech of conservative radio which exposes democrat corruption and lies, freedom to protect yourself? Democrat. In essence, to end freedom altogether; which in fact IS the purpose of Socialism. Who freed the slaves? Christians and Republicans. The very people the Democrats still hate. Why are most blacks Democrat? They have been fooled by their leaders who profit from them being in mental chains; the very same leaders would be nothing, irrelevant, if the majority of blacks got a clue. Whites are falling victim to the same propaganda like never before.
Like all Democrats, Socialists, Communists, Progressives et. al. Collectivists you avoid looking in the mirror ...and blame Capitalism for what YOU/increased Socialism causes. Everything beyond providing for a National Defense (not offense) is Socialism. Jobs escape to overseas countries to avoid YOU/Socialism: Govt high taxes and unions trying to steal what they didn't build. Yet the Japanese can operate here and pay a decent wage without unions saying, "You owe me more for doing less! Pay us more until you get fed up and leave the country! If we don't like how you treat us, we're too chicken to risk capital to compete, so we'll just try to extort."
Socialism is about getting rid of the competition. Only the foolish claim Sweden is Socialist and works fine. Sweden has private companies just like the usa so it is not full Socialism. These foolish never point to the old Soviet Socialist Republic as their utopia, which was in fact full Socialism-Communism.
What is the difference between Socialism and Communism? Socialism is where you are able to fool the masses into voting for it via lying to them. Communism is simply implemented by force. The end result is central control, where you are the ant in the ant farm and you don't matter and don't count for squat, just a number told to wait in line, (certainly not a valued customer), the desire of the European Union which the Brits got a nasty taste of and Exited... Despite their tilt towards it to a lesser degree than Brussels desired, on their own island.
If there is any educating to be done do a true comparison of the history and progress of the usa and of the soviet empire and the ruination of each. You will find Socialism at the root of their downfalls.
If you fear doing such homework, please move to some other country you consider Socialist rather than trying to mess up this one worse than it already is. Why are you so intolerant of people who want to be free of YOU and your meddling kind? We don't need you.
Blacks take note. Solve 83.1416% of you problems by dumping the Socialist-Communist party keeping you down. Get your piece of the pie is only a realization away. The party of america haters, freedom haters, of success for you haters IS the Democrats. Are the Republicans perfect? Certainly not, we need to weed out the Socialists and Progressives (another word for a similar thing) from our midst in order to be free at last.
Govt IS the problem, not the solution.
Racism is real. Neo-nazis and white supremacists are well organized online and polluting minds with their uncritical, cynical garbage. What is happening in America with cops killing blacks with only the slightest of provocations is sick, systematically unjust, and making our nation look barbaric on the world stage. If you are trolling to spread the false ideology of the alt-right, white nationalists or manosphere, check yourself before wreck all. Instead, answer this: how will we address the systemic racism plaguing our country?
Phillip Harding. You are the WORST kind of person in our current era. You hide behind false self-righteousness with the current buzzwords of the neo-liberal, which unfortunately do have the ability to stir-up dischord...and even hatred. I suggest you scroll-up.. reread ChrisW*s first comment...soak it up .. because he IS 100% correct. You may be able to fudge your way around, but you will NEVER be anything more than a phony, with your hack of a fascist attitude, and weak attempt at starting a witch hunt on a comments thread. You SUCK !
BlackLivesMatters is a terrorist organization
They need to be labelled as one
@J.R. best comment on this thread my brother.
@whitey there are more 'white on white' crimes than any other category. There are also more white people in poverty. The problem is the disproportions for certain variables, stemming from economic (and social) conditions and (racist) institutions that give rise to such occurrences. I recommend to all those reading these comments to pick up a social science textbook - there are plenty of free only textbooks in social problems, sociology, and free online courses as well. Use peer-reviewed, scholarly academic databases at your local library or college to find more accurate and reliable information. You've all been fooled into the us-them ideology of the ruling class. Divisions in society across race, sex, fill-in-the-blank. Corporate rulers love racism, sexism, and other form of division. We must unite together against the impending corporate dictatorship as capitalism's social contradictions manifest. 'Divide and conquer,' right? Seems to be working. Nice job, obedient consumer sheep-people.
Black Lives Matter is a just another racist organization funded by biased media coverage.
Black lives are just like every other life... they arent special and they arent endangered.
the movement also fails to acknowledge the real cause of the majority of unnatural black deaths.. other black people. police, or more specifically white on black homicide, makes up the smallest percentage of black deaths statistically speaking...
so until black lives matter to other black lives, why are they asking for white america to pay attention and correct the system? just stop killing each other and 75% of the homicides will be solved...
I hope the director added a scene that explains this dialogue:
Person1: "I'm black."
Stranger1: "You must be a color genius because I don't know what the hell you mean by what you just now said."
There are some real InfoWars wet dreams in the comments. For those who actually know the people involved and have some understanding the movement, it's an interesting/informative documentary.
Soros is the current right-wing's boogieman to counter the Koch brothers and other billionaires on the other side (who I'm assuming some of us on the left saw as the only reason we had the teaparty). We can all overplay those connections for our own convenience, but Black Lives Matter formed because of an absence of political agency in society.
@bungabunga, correct me if i'm wrong but your quote was a hoax no? there was never an israel cohen in the first place...
this is from wikipedia:
"A Racial Program for the Twentieth Century (occasionally A Radical Program for the Twentieth Century) was a hoax that first gained public notoriety on June 7, 1957, during a debate on the Civil Rights Act of 1957, when Rep."
You are spot on ChrisW. Black lives matter is the same as Trump rioters, all funded by George Soro's.
@philip I cannot follow your story. invite a black person for a drink and have a personal chat. If you believe everybody is equal.
have a look somewhere else for the stuff you want to see, not TD as you wish. I am white. White is also a color.
Having said that (yes, indeed do look up racist crazy Dinesh D'Souza), listening to Patrisse Cullors I realize, 'great- another disgusting racist- but she's black.' I do this because I love white people...I love my white baby. OOPS- she said, black, not white. It's the KKK guy who says he loves white people, but that he's 'not racist.' What is the difference? It sounds like Patrisse Cullors is on the verge of willful segregation herself.
We need better leaders, we need better participation, we need better law. Patrisse Cullors describes the white racist who won't take the black hand even though he's drowning but doesn't she do the same thing herself by refusing to take the mantle of leadership (or at least pass it on) and get our rights legislated into a constitutional amendment? To get reform of law enforcement and weapons regulations? To hold police accountable for the homicides they commit? White, black, or green- we must fight for change. Together. Don't tell me I'm a white supremacist just because I'm white. That I can't escape my white racism no matter what my passion for all human beings may be. That I'm a racist hiding behind 'liberalism.' Don't shut us down. We're all in this together.
The problem with the black civil rights movement since 1970 is it's tendency for exclusivity. The black problem, it's insisted, can only be discussed from the perspective of those who are black- it is a discussion that excludes universal love and empathy. Love me not because I'm white, or Asian or black, but because I too have suffered, and allow me to love you.
If black lives matter, then don't commit crimes, don't point guns at police officers, contribute something to society.
Great comments, except for the one demanding a moderator remove comments.
I do think all lives matter. I wouldn't down play police violence on blacks but I have experienced black on black violence. Overall respect for human beings seems to be lost
Black lives DONT matter!! just my life matters
@bungabunga wel said!
@Philip Harding. Go away. You will not be missed. This is a place for people who want to learn about the world. Not a place for people who want to be disinformed and to shill for the establishment's [false/fabricated] narrative. The only insult I can find anywhere here is you calling people "NAZI" (a derogatory term created by jews to smear a movement which emancipated the german people from their banking slavemasters.
Your ignorance is immense, and your assertion that the internet should not contain anything that you don't like or hurts your feelings is as laughable as the whiny tenor of your comment.
Like all sh!t disturbing, argumentum ad hominem agent provocateurs, your comment does not deal with the fact that everything ChrisW wrote is true. You chose to make a passive aggressive personal attack disguised as a victim's statement.
Shill elsewhere, most of the people who come here to watch documentaries are not dumb enough to fall for your crap.
I commend SeeUat Videos for not cratering to your whiny communist request for safe space.
Guess what, Phil: freedom of speech is not only for people whose opinions you agree with. In fact, if everyone agreed on everything, we wouldn't need freedom of speech at all - would we? Get a clue, snowflake.
Let me show you a quote from a prominent Zionist, Isræl Cohen.
"We must realize that our party's most powerful weapon is racial tensions. By propounding into the consciousness of the dark races that for centuries they have been oppressed by whites, we can mold them to the program of the Communist Party. In America we will aim for subtle victory. While inflaming the Negro minority against the whites, we will endeavor to instill in the whites a guilt complex for their exploitation of the Negros. We will aid the Negroes to rise in prominence in every walk of life, in the professions and in the world of sports and entertainment. With this prestige, the Negro will be able to intermarry with the whites and begin a process which will deliver America to our cause."
-Israel Cohen, A Racial Program for the Twentieth Century, 1912. Also in the Congressional Record, Vol. 103, p. 8559, June 7, 1957
Gee, that kind of sounds exactly like what's going on, doesn't it?
Then consider the fact that Zionists own and or control the vast majority of the world's mass media. Think how many HOLLYWOOD movies adhere to Mr. Cohen's plan.
Wake up and think for yourself. Everything you see in mass media is a lie designed to lead you to a pre-conceived 'conclusion'.
I think this documentary shows what black lives matter really is. Not a civil rights movement, but a minority in problems who feel the need to blame somebody else for their problems.
Moderators- Unless you remove the alt right (their cute name for NAZIs) comments, and keep them off, I for one will never watch Top Docs ever again.
"Utter tosh"- what a sick individual. You have his email.
I urge others to echo my protests.
@Philip Harding,
There's no insult nor personal attack in this person's comment. He just states his personal opinion about the movement which is allowed, don't you think?
So much hatred within this so called movement
Great documentary, that is really informing.
We can tell this movie is utter tosh just from the description. Black Lives Matter is not a spontaneous grass roots movement but a well funded Soros globalist front designed to sow violent revolution in the US in order to destroy white Christian civilization. The genuine grievances of black people in the US are being exploited by the people claiming to be the defenders of their rights. The primary vehicle of the exploiters is the Democratic Party which has sought to keep American blacks in slavery from the beginning. See Dinesh D'Souza's brillliant expose of this fact in his book and film 'Hillary's America'.
A powerful documentry !! To the wonderful people who took part Thank You all for sharing your experiences with us . It has opened my eyes to the struggle you live with on a daily base. Black Lives Matter is a movement to be respected and embraced by all who thirst for Justice.