My daughter Katie suggested that we watch a movie each week so we could talk about it when we Facebook PORTAL each Sunday. Since Katie came up with the idea, we decided she should make the first choice. Katie selected a Netflix documentary, 13TH (2016).
Director Ava Duvernay’s documentary explores the affects of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution on American society. Diane and I were shocked by the political strategy that used the 13th Amendment to cause mass incarceration of African-Americans to produce, in effect, slave labor.
Duvernay tells this story through a mixture of video news footage and commentary. Here’s the list of participants:
Cast | Credit |
---|---|
Angela Davis | Herself – Interviewee |
Baz Dreisinger | Herself – Interviewee |
Bryan Stevenson | Himself |
Cory Booker | Himself – Interviewee |
Cory Greene | Himself – Interviewee |
Craig DeRoche | Himself – Interviewee |
Dan Rather | Himself |
David Dinkins | Himself – Interviewee |
David Keene | Himself |
Dolores Canales | Herself – Interviewee |
Gina Clayton | Herself – Interviewee |
Glenn E. Martin | Himself – Interviewee |
Harry Reasoner | Himself |
Henry Louis Gates | Himself – Interviewee |
James Kilgore | Himself |
Jelani Cobb | Himself – Interviewee |
John Hagan | Himself |
Kevin Gannon | Himself – Interviewee |
Lisa Graves | Herself – Interviewee |
Lyndon B. Johnson | Himself |
Malkia Cyril | Herself – Interviewee |
Marie Gottschalk | Herself – Interviewee |
Melina Abdullah | Herself – Interviewee |
Michael Hough | Himself |
Michelle Alexander | Herself – Interviewee |
Newt Gingrich | Himself – Interviewee |
Nicholas Turner | Himself |
Peter Jennings | Himself |
Van Jones | Himself – Interviewee |
Walter Cronkite | Himself |
Netflix reports that viewership of 13TH has gone up 4000% in recent weeks. It’s a powerful documentary that explains why we’re in the social mess we’re in. Highly recommended! GRADE: A