The Black Power movement remains one of the most fascinating
and influential periods of American history.
Its attitudes, slogans, and imagery have been adopted time and again by
people whose understanding doesn’t penetrate beyond those surface
elements. It largely remains a mystery
from those who could benefit the most from its lessons. The rappers and
educators who’ve tried to keep its spirit alive have been largely marginalized by
the mainstream media. Now would be an
ideal time to reintroduce that message to the American populace, seeing as how America’s
first Black presidency is currently Under Siege. Like manna from heaven, The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 appears on the scene to remind
the United States of its true heritage.
As the Black Power movement was instituting much needed
change in America’s streets, a Swedish film crew arrived to document the events
taking place. They viewed these
developments through the eyes of outsiders, which afforded them the luxury of
seeing them without the biases of their American counterparts. Director Goran Hugo Olsson’s documentary The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 makes
use of the 16mm footage they compiled. There are rare interviews with such figures as
Bobby Seale, Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichael, and Kathleen Cleaver. Conscious rapper Talib Kweli and Neo Soul
diva Erykah Badu have been included to bridge the gap between the founders of
the movement and the contemporary artists who benefitted from its message.
The Black Power
Mixtape 1967-1975 has been receiving a lot of positive attention on the
film festival circuit, and will begin screening for the general public this
September. It will open in New York on
September 9th, and gradually expand its release later on that month. It would be nice to see this film do surprisingly
well at the box office, especially seeing as how Tyler Perry’s cookie cutter
black dramadies almost always manage to turn a healthy profit. It’s interesting how his movies, along with
the likes of Precious and The Help, get so much attention from
mainstream media outlets. They clearly
feel more comfortable feeding the public images of Black servitude and
degradation rather than historical accounts of the struggle.
Special thanks to the always dependable Shadow and Act for this great scoop!
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