Rough Draft of Documentary Analysis

  1. Introduction
    1. Thesis: In this honest and enlightening documentary, I Am Not Your Negro, filmmaker Raoul Peck emphasizes the inhumane retaliations bestowed on the African American community. Using contrasting clips of white and black societies, the inclusion of revolutionary African American heroes, and the countless violent outbreaks on black communities, Peck attempts to convince the audience that the African American community immensely struggled throughout its history and currently encounters discrimination today.
  2. Body Paragraph 1
    1. The documentary incorporates several clips of white people casually enjoying life followed immediately by violent clips of the challenging lifestyles for African Americans to emphasize the naivety of white people to the continuous struggle of African Americans.
    2. The joyful music paired with the violent acts in the beginning of the film shows how the majority of America ignores what is actually happening to the African American community
      1. They are ignoring reality + holding up the facade that America is the best country
      2. Still pretending it is “the American Dream”
    3. Evidence: Flash of several white girls joyfully running in the sun
      1. Displays how carefree life for white people was in comparison to black people
    4. Evidence: there was a clip of a sunrise with joyful music playing; then, it was promptly stopped to announce the shooting of Medgar Evers in his driveway, where his wife and children watched him collapse
      1. Shows how easily a black man’s life could go away in an instant
      2. Also displays that life is not as simple as America pretends to portray itself as
    5. More flashes of white people frolicking around, having a good time, then an abrupt switch to police violently detaining black people in the streets
      1. More emphasis that white people have it easy while black people have it rough
  3. Body Paragraph 2
    1. The film includes several clips from powerful African American heroes to pair living evidence with the movie’s claims that life in America for black people is gruesome.
    2. Evidence: Incorporates interviews with Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X, 2 iconic African American heroes
      1. Supports his claim by displaying faces with what he believed and acknowledges that he is not the only one who believes in the oppression of the black people
    3. Evidence: plays a clip from James Baldwin where he discusses the meaning of segregation for white people, how due to the dividing line between white and black people, white people will never know what is going on “on the other side of the wall.”
      1. This point emphasizes how oblivious white people are to the struggles that African Americans face
    4. Evidence: James Baldwin recounted a personal story about how he knew a white girl and how she was safer walking home alone rather than with him; they would walk alone to wherever they would try to meet (52:03)
      1. Emphasizes the horrible truth that it was nearly impossible for black and white people to intermingle with one another.
      2. Due to segregation, there was a constant stigma around black people
      3. Incorporates a personal story to make the audience feel more sympathetic towards the black community; how he can’t be with someone he loves due to the stigma that surrounds a white person interacting with a black person
    5. Evidence: With the death of Martin Luther King Jr, Baldwin only remembers crying in a “hopeless rage,” but otherwise doesn’t remember that day.
      1. Emphasizes how the continuing loss of African American leaders – since King was the last of the triple – damaged the hope for African Americans to pursue equality within the United States.
  4. Body Paragraph 3
    1. Numerous violent accounts were sprinkled throughout the documentary to emphasize the mistreatments America placed on the African American community.
    2. Evidence: In Ferguson, Missouri, 2014, black people start to riot against the police and the police starts taking shots in the crowd
      1. Shows that there is no peaceful protest where black people are concerned
    3. Evidence: Segment where multiple blacks kids, all 17 years old or younger, were killed; showing how dangerous America is for black people
      1. Displays how even youthful African Americans are in danger of the world’s cruel actions
      2. Your age doesn’t matter, as long as you are black, then you are in danger
      3. Displays how the African American community had to learn how harsh the world is for their kind at a young age, as young as 5 years old
    4. Evidence: Watts protest: policemen forcefully arresting black men, posing them at gunpoint and aggressively beating them down
      1. More evidence that the police won’t show mercy towards the black people; they will go to whatever measures to detain black people
  5. Conclusion
    1. With the incorporation of interviews, violent outbreaks, and comparisons between white and black communities, filmmaker Raoul Peck informs his audience about the unfair lifestyle the African American community experienced in the past and the present.
    2. Without his movie, the pages of James Baldwin’s unpublished book would remain hidden from the world.
    3. The creation of this film raises awareness for the African American community and hopefully encourages its audience to fight for their equality in modern day American society.

Brainstorming points:

  1. Incorporates historical context to emphasize how long the struggle for black people has been and how even though a lot of progress has been made, there’s still a long way to go
  2. “…I never really managed to hate white people. Though God knows I have often wished to murder more than one or 2”
  3. Starts showing movie clips of white “heroes”; but instead of characterizing them as heroes, he emphasizes their capability of vengeance, making them seem less hero like and villanizes them more so
    1. This reflects how the black community perceives white people
  4. Movie made up primarily of clips and pictures with a narrator’s voice
    1. Allows the narrator to fully express his opinion on the white community without the interference of other influences
  5. Something happened in Birmingham – a type of protest along with the arrest of several black people – and white people want to ignore it + pretend like nothing happened, like it’s a different part of the world that this is happening then they’re used to
  6. Segment from “Imitation of Life” where a mom went to fetch her daughter from school to go home; mom was black, child seemed white, child was embarrassed by her mom’s appearance and ran out ahead of her with her mother chasing after her (44:47)
    1. Shows the power of influence and the need for acceptance in your society can lead to the betrayal of your family
    2. Daughter was ashamed of her black mother, she didn’t want to be associated with her, despite the fact that she seemed like a caring mother who loved her child very much
  7. Segment where someone said violence is a part of America’s culture