Michael_Elliott I Am Not Your Negro (2016) *** 1/2 (out of 4) James Baldwin was writing a book about the deaths of Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers and Malcolm X as he also covered the history of blacks in America. This book was never completed but Raoul Peck updates it and brings it into current times.Samuel L. Jackson turns in one of the greatest performances of his career as he works as the narrator and the voice of Baldwin. I was really amazed at how terrific Jackson was as he really got into the role and delivered an emotional and raw performance even though he's just using his voice. There's been a lot said about this movie and I'd agree with most that it's an important film and one that should be shown to young people. Lets face it, a lot of young people simply don't care about any sort of history but this film gives it in a unique way that anyone can enjoy.We get the stories of King, Evers and Malcolm X told and I really loved the delivery. Of course, all three were murdered and the way this is told is extremely moving and even though you know the fate of the three, the documentary is so well-made that you can't help but "feel" their deaths as if you were hearing about them for the first time. The words of Baldwin are quite sharp and he makes some very interesting comments about not only the three men but also Hollywood going back to the films of the 30s with Joan Crawford right up to the work of Sidney Poitier.I'm not going to sit here and lie. Whenever you're dealing with a political subject you might not agree with everything in a film. I personally don't care too much for the whole BlackLivesMatter movement so when the film mixed that in I wasn't all that interested. Still, there's no question that this is a very education and wonderfully made film that everyone should see.

Natalie Rosen This documentary is without a doubt one of the greatest documentaries regarding the black (and white) experience in America. I was glued. You if you have not seen it I say it is a MUST SEE.I was riveted to it and cried through it because I remember the times of which it spoke and it spoke to me. In the end Baldwin says "Not everything that is faced can be changed but nothing can be changed that is not faced." I believe if one sees it it should speak to you. It should especially in this hour of Trump be required viewing in this nation in every school of this nation. I was so moved! This must see is profoundly brilliant. White supremacists and Trump SHOULD see it but I am sure will not. If they do it should make him and them feel profoundly guilty for the racist divide they are helping perpetuate. United we stand but divided we surely will fall. Those who view this piece of artistic excellence should heed what it has to say.

maurice yacowar The key line is Baldwin's "History is not about the past. It's about the present. We carry our history."This combination of Samuel Jackson reading Baldwin's unfinished narrative about three black American martyrs with documentary footage of the times zaps to the heart of the current tragedy of America. What Baldwin perceived in 1960s America continues in spades today. He describes America's two founding races as two blocs ignorant of each other, unable to speak to or to understand each other, locked in a mutual fear — portending war. That summarizes our current warring snarl of Republicans and Non-Republicans, the Trumps and their threatened opposition. Here is one of Baldwin's key perceptions: "What white people have to do, is try and find out in their own hearts why it was necessary to have a (n-word)in the first place. Because I'm not a (n-word); I'm a man. But if you think I'm a (n-word), it means you need it." That is, why do Americans need to conjure an enemy within?In post-Obama neo-racist America, that remains the crux. Add one refinement. The paranoid murderous oppressive class is the same. But add the Latino, Muslim and ever-reliable scapegoat Jew to the Negro as the monster of the white man's imagination. Baldwin looked beyond race for the crux of America's continuing nightmare. He saw mainstream America as pursuing an unsatisfying set of values. Consumerism, materialism and deluded pretences to freedom and democracy have failed to provide the profound contentment and self-acceptance they crave. Feeling victimized, insecure, empty, they seek out an enemy among themselves on whom to blame the inadequacy of their lives. The film is as shocking and terrifying as any horror. The1950s savagery that we thought we had outgrown is back. Trump's looming voucher system for schools will revive the vampire segregation, to perpetuate the underclass's disadvantages. The economy, the climate, the water, national health and safety will all be sacrificed to increase the white power's profits. The fear and hatred of the Other, whether in hue or national origin, has already been trickling down from Trump's diatribes to the playgrounds and besieged borders, synagogues and mosques. And here is the most frightening point. All this destruction, all this inhumanity to man, is facilitated if not actually initiated and inflicted by America's institutions of government. To see the Republican congressmen smiling and nodding at Trump's empty anodynes and lies in his State of the Union address is to realize how the government majority in both houses supports and advances his prejudice and hatred. We still have an attorney general who was disqualified from lower justice appointments because of his racism — and has since been exposed as a perjurer to boot. The oppressive government holds as strangling a grip on America's persecuted citizens now as it had in Jim Crow. Worse still: even had everyone in America watched this film the Electoral College's final verdict would have been the same. Trump's so-called presidency is the symptom of a national disease — eloquently diagnosed by the prescient as well as perceptive James Baldwin.

Hellmant 'I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)A critically acclaimed documentary, based on James Baldwin's unfinished manuscript 'Remember This House'. The film takes a very detailed, and thought provoking look at race relations throughout America's history. It's narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, and it was directed and co- scripted by Raoul Peck. The movie has received nearly unanimous rave reviews from critics, and it was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 2017 Academy Awards. I found it to be a very powerful, and quite moving film. Samuel L. Jackson narrates the thoughts of James Baldwin, using excerpts from his manuscript, as he reminisces on his views on racism (throughout recent history). Video and pictures accompany the narration, and fittingly powerful music as well. The movie also focuses on civil right leaders Medgar Evers, Malcom X and Martin Luther King, Jr. (through Baldwin's views on them). There's also a great deal of video of Baldwin himself.The film is very educational, and involving. It's the type of movie that I think should be shown in all high school history classes; it's that good! It teaches the viewer a lot about history, while focusing on the negative race relations (that have been persistent throughout it). I think the film is especially educational for anyone that doesn't really understand what racism is, or how it really works, this is a very important film for those people to see (and they're definitely abundant).Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D9ZNHDah5M