“Combining archival footage with testimony from activists and scholars, director Ava DuVernay’s examination of the U.S. prison system looks at how the country’s history of racial inequality drives the high rate of incarceration in America.” (Netflix description of the film.)
This film is eye opening and incredibly informative. The film opens with a statistic as stated by Barack Obama that, “The United States is home to 5% of the world’s population, but 25% of the world’s prisoners. Think about that.”
This statistic is just about accurate from 2013 (as the Washington Post verifies,) and is likely even higher now. The film walks us through the steps that have progressed from the Nixon era up until the present, where a “Law and Order” and police system has disproportionately disadvantaged people of color. Throughout the years it has ramped up and ramped up and has gotten us to where we are today. Riots and protests have ensued when people are outraged at the free-reign of police brutality against black and brown bodies. In order to continue the progress towards fixing a broken system, we must first understand how the system has become broken: This film helps us do that.
You can watch all of the film for free on Youtube here. Or, you can watch it on Netflix. Just to be aware, there are some disturbing images of police brutality. A lot of communities see this kind of violence frequently and so we must all know what is going on.
1.) Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker. This Netflix series is fantastic! It is based on the real life of Madam C.J. Walker (played by Octavia Spencer) who is known as the first female self-made millionaire in the United States. She is powerful, driven and a complex character. The series was fascinating and a joy to watch. Below is a photo of the real Madam C.J. Walker in her car with friends. 
released under the banner of Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions. It features Judith Huemann, a powerful activist and polio survivor, who fought tirelessly to lead the campaign for basic rights and for the Americans with Disabilities Act. I was shocked by some of the things 
women fighting for the vote in the early 1900s in Britain. Starring Meryl Streep as the infamous Emmeline Pankhurst, this film was a good refresher for me to remember what our foremothers had to endure 
1.) Mission Blue: The first film on my list is a very pertinent one concerning the planet. While my other two on this list are light hearted and fun, this one is a bit heavy… but so important! We are living in a home-bound time where we might as well be aware of, not only the Coronavirus crisis, but the ocean crisis. This film is about the oceans and how one woman, Sylvia Earle, has spent her life learning about and seeking to protect the ocean blue. This documentary is beautifully filmed and very moving. It is fascinating to learn about Sylvia Earle’s life as a scientist during a time when women weren’t expected (or encouraged) to be such. And yet, her impact on the field of Marine Biology and her positive impact on ocean conservation efforts has made waves (pun intended.) Sylvia Earle leaves us with the question, “How can we use the ocean and not use it up?” Check out this film! Click 
People do not seem to bat an eyelash at the way the characters refer to women as whores, twats and cunts at every other word. Apparently, there are empowering aspects of this show where the women take control of their own lives, but I have yet to see this. I have numerous female and male feminist friends who love this show, and perhaps I’m missing something, but after only getting midway into season 2 I’ve stopped. I can’t stomach seeing women be treated so grotesquely. Maybe we can acknowledge the awful treatment of women and still watch the show? The thing is, I haven’t even gotten to season 5 where one of the characters is gratuitously and brutally raped. Millions and millions of people watch this show. What does this say about the society we live in where we are ok with watching women be treated this way? If there are empowering scenes of women, cool. But it seems these scenes are few and far between. From what I can tell, it rarely passes the 
Julia View 