In high school, my teachers had questionable taste for movies. So as I sprawled across my bed, prepping for some boring documentary I am forced to watch for one of my major English 110 assignments, I embraced myself for the worst. However, once the screen loaded and Samuel L. Jackson began narrating, I thought his deep, smooth voice combined with the existential black and white clips strung together created an eye-opening must-see film. In this honest and enlightening documentary, I Am Not Your Negro, filmmaker Raoul Peck emphasizes how the African American community suffered inhumane retaliations. 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.
The documentary incorporates several segments of white people casually enjoying life followed immediately by violent clips of the challenging lifestyles for African Americans to illustrate the naivety of white people to African Americans’ continuous struggles. In the beginning of the documentary, Peck pairs joyful music with flashes of violent acts the African American community endured throughout history. While everyone wants to believe that the “American Dream” truly exists, Peck manipulates the film’s sound effects with contrasting clips to emphasize the lingering discrimination in our country. With the clip of a beautiful sunrise and joyful music playing, Peck creates a delightful image that represents the Caucasian life in America. Then, the music abruptly stops. An announcement is made. Medgar Evers died from a gunshot in his own driveway, his wife and children witnessing the terrible event. The abrasiveness of the situation demonstrates how a black person can never peacefully relax because their life can change in an instant. With further clips of white people frolicking around a beautiful scenery, Peck creates the ideal lifestyle of a typical American citizen. Suddenly, police break out: they arrest tons of black people. The contrasting images Peck uses in his documentary emphasize the easiness white people are granted while black people face daily conflicts. Peck educates his audience about the misconstrued perception that equality exists in America; however, the reality of the situation reveals the prevalent prejudice that still lingers in our society.
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. Peck incorporates several interviews with iconic African American leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr and Malcom X. By airing the voices of historical leaders who fought for racial equality, Peck combines history’s battle of discrimination with the current issues faced today. A clip features James Baldwin where he discusses the meaning of segregation for white people; due to the dividing line between white and black people, white people will never know what is happening “on the other side of the wall.” This emphasizes how African Americans faced daily struggles that the oblivious white community will never understand. James Baldwin also recounts a story from the pages of his unpublished book about how he knew fell in love with a white girl. Instead of affectionately walking around town with her, hand in hand, she strolled the streets alone to protect herself from the dangers of associating with a black man. Because of segregation, a constant stigma surrounded black people. Peck implements the story to acknowledge the horrible truth that peaceful harmony between white and black people does not exist. The personal effect of the story raises sympathy towards the black community because they cannot express their love as openly as the rest of America can. Finally, with the death of Martin Luther King Jr, Baldwin mentions how he only remembers crying in a “hopeless rage,” but otherwise cannot recall the day. With the death of the most legendary voice for racial equality, Peck utilizes this scene to reflect the hopeless battle for African Americans versus the United States. Without present day advocates for racial equality in the United States, these legendary voices will slowly fade into distant echoes and the fight will cease to exist.
Numerous violent accounts were sprinkled throughout the documentary to emphasize the mistreatments America placed on the African American community. For one simple example, the film includes a clip from 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri, where black people riot against the police and the cops take shots in the crowd. Despite the encouragement in the United States to utilize our First Amendment rights for freedom of speech and protest, this scene displays how peaceful protests are not a luxury that black people can afford. While denying them their rights, our country further creates a distinct boundary between the supposedly insignificant African American community and the other superior U.S. citizens. I Am Not Your Negro also contains a flash of pictures with African American children, kids 17 years old or younger, who died before they had a chance to truly live. The dangers for African Americans exist not just for experienced adults, but for harmless children as well; therefore, African Americans must learn from a young age how to protect themselves in our nation, prematurely ripping away their innocence. With countless scenes of violent acts throughout our country’s history, the documentary also features the Watts protest: a riot during the Civil Rights Movement where policemen forcefully arrested black civilians, posing them at gunpoint and aggressively beating them down until they could no longer fight. Despite the fact that police should provide every American citizen with protection, this clip enforces that authoritative figures actually endanger the African American community. These hideous acts of violence displayed towards African Americans force them to constantly glance over their shoulder, worrying as they turn every corner. With no external forces protecting them, African Americans reasonably convince themselves that they can only rely on themselves for their personal safety; otherwise, a simple slip could cause grave consequences.
Once the movie ended, I silently stared as the end credits flashed across the screen. Even though I knew discrimination still existed today, I was blinded by the level of cruelty in these modern racial attacks. Although the United States’ repeated strikes toward African Americans disheartens me, I am grateful for Peck’s intricate film that beautifully conveys the seriousness of this crisis. 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 people experienced in the past and the present. Without his movie, the pages of James Baldwin’s unpublished book would remain hidden from the world. The creation of this film raises awareness for African American communities and hopefully encourages its audience to fight for their equality in modern day American society.
Lucia's Writing Progress 