Critical Reflection3 Literature & Language Movie Review

Understand the Historical Context of the Black Americans
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Black Americans have a long history of their socio-cultural and political issues. To better understand the historical context of this race, documentaries and films served as evidence of their lived experiences. The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 and the film Black Girl are one of the few examples that show how black people are treated in society. Various forms of racism are being faced by Black Americans that can be traced back to centuries ago. As a movement for social change, numerous people joined campaigns advocating for Black people.
Directed by Goran Hugo Olsson, The Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975 is a documentary created for Swedish television. This 16mm footage shot shows the events of the BLACK Panthers, civil rights movements, as well as other related phenomena in chronological order. This is considered a mixtape since several footages are compiled and arranged together to tell or show a story. Moreover, this footage traced the evolution of the Black Power movement. The period in which this documentary was taken is the time wherein the Swedish shows its disgust, particularly with the U.S. This disgust is assumed to be associated with the war that took place between Vietnam and the U.S. A notable part of the documentary is when Stokely Carmicheal interviewed his mother about their difficulties and economic hardships that their family has gone through as a result of racism. Some evocative scenes of the Panthers were also captured. There is also a clip from 1972 that shows an interview with Angela Davis who, at that time, awaits her trial for criminal conspiracy, murder, and kidnapping. Numerous revolutionary rhetoric was presented in the film, which has the goal of showing how real and genuine racism is then and now. The film, through compiled footages, strived to point out the existence of racism. The bitter experience of these Black people led to the revolutionary black power movement as well as armed struggle and national liberation. Pride and defiance are illustrated in this film which also shows that the cries of these Black people were being listened to and heard. Though American society is viewed negatively in this documentary, the impression that this footage leaves its viewers is a crucial influence on the reflections of the younger generation. The discontinuities and gaps were shown, leaving the viewer in a state of confusion regarding the change that took place from Stokely Carmicheal to Barack Obama regarding the different black power that they hold (archive.org, 2011).
In another film by Ousmane Sembène, Black Girl released in 1966 depic...