Yesterday I went to the movie to see the movie Detroit. And I have to say I was pretty shook by the movie.
So the movie is about the revolts in Detroit in 1967 and the police attack on the Algier’s Motel in Detroit. What makes the movie such an experience is that it is a true story. I don’t want to say too much because you should really go and see it for yourself and experience it! I just want to say it represents so well the too many police attacks on African-Americans. It is powerful, raw and so emotional, at least to me. This cause has always been close to my heart and what really saddens me most is that it is not much better today. However, at the time it was the words of a police man against an African-American man and everyone knows that even if they had their civil rights, African-Americans were still being abused by the police. Nowadays, it makes me feel even worst than what happened before, because today policemen have cameras on them that clearly shows them killing African-American people with purpose and not because of self-defense (their favorite word!) and still justice is still NOT done. That pisses me off so much!!! I’m so passionate about equality and justice that this kind of acts is unbearable for me. I would think that such a thing would not happen in France because the hate is not the same and of course we don’t share the same history. I remember one day a black man was shot dead by a French police man and he was blamed for it and justice punished him, which is only fair. I am almost sure that if it did not happen like that, the French people would have gone on the streets and strike against it. I know there are manifestations in the United-States especially with the movement Black Lives Matter, but sadly it is not supported enough especially by justice and the American people in general. It is mostly people that are directly affected by it that strike and express themselves. Once again this shows how much an individualistic society the United-States are. But of course, I think and hope that justice is getting better and people are getting involved.
Waouh, I got lost a little bit on the topic! But anyhow, you should really go see the movie, it is worth it. And yes it is the actor that is in Star Wars (I can’t wait to see the new one!!).
But when I got out of the movie theatre I thought about the police brutality problem and that’s when it reminded me my research project. Jean-Michel Basquiat was an involved artist and denounced the various problems in the United-States and police brutality was one of them. He suffered from it himself but most importantly a graffiti-artist colleague of him Micheal Stewart died from it and it deeply affected Basquiat. So he dedicated a painting to him called Defacement (Michel Stewart).
The painting is pretty clear. We can see two policemen coming to hit down a black man. But what stayed with me are the faces, the smiles, teeth and eyes of the policemen that really shows how Basquiat saw police brutality as something police enjoyed.
Then, thinking about this painting I remembered a song, NYC cops, by the rap artist Heems that denounced police violence too. Here is the link to the song, you should really listen to the lyrics more than the melody to really understand his message.
So I guess going to see this movie made me think of how many forms denouncing the police violence on African-Americans could take. So I just wanted to share a Movie, a Painting and a Song!
Random thoughts & emotions 