13th Film Zoom Panel Discussion

Join the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center as we host a plática to discuss 13th a documentary by Ava Duvernay and the intersection between Racism and Criminal Justice. Panelists will include Kimiya Denise, Jonathan-Davis Jones, and Jasmine Williams. This event will be live streamed on Facebook and YouTube on Friday, June 19 at 7PM CST. Watch the film for FREE at this link: https://linkr.in/esperanzafilms #BlackLivesMatter

In the years prior to the release of 13th, with the help of the Black Lives Matter movement and social media, there was significant rise in awareness around the amount of prejudice African Americans continue to face in the 21st century. The historical roots of this oppression run deep, as Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13TH reveals. The film looks back to the ratification of Amendment XIII, which states, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” DuVernay argues that a prison-industrial complex which statistically imprisons black men disproportionately and allows for their disciplinary servitude, has taken advantage of America’s black population and brings into question if this system ultimately acts as a form of modern day slavery.

Featuring a wide range of interviewees including civil rights activist Angela Davis, “The New Jim Crow” author, Michelle Alexander, regular New Yorker reporter and professor Jelani Cobb, social justice author and attorney Van Jones, and many more. 13TH moves from the media-induced criminalization of black persons to the corporate privatization of prisons with eloquence, poise, and a cavalcade of statistics to back up its thesis on the dehumanization of black people in America.

While sobering in its historical re-contextualization of race in America, DuVernay’s film remains hopeful in acknowledging her fellow African Americans’ diligence and grace in their fight for equality under intolerable conditions.