13

Early this morning I surfed my way through my private streaming service, Hulu, and Netflix until I came across a documentary title and trailer that sucked me in from the jump. The documentary title is 13, a film that's directed by Ava Duvernay, the title's origin comes from the 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution - which was supposed to be put in place to grant freedom to ALL americans, and it was released in 2016.

The film highlights the state of African Americans post civil war, the depiction of people of color post civil war- specifically Black men, the exploitation of the exceptions and loopholes of the 13th Amendment, and the big business of the prison system & the criminal justice industry. The film taps on The Birth of a Nation- a 1915 film that was directed by D.W. Griffith and how it shaped the way race plays out up to this very date by depicting the African-American male as a menace to society and a super-predator. This ultimately inspired the KKK movement and Jim Crow laws. 

The 100 minute long documentary also magnify the fact that Presidents Nixon, Reagan, and Bill Clinton also contributed to mass incarceration and dismantled homes during their presidencies. Nixon introduced America to " War on Drugs " and he called drugs public enemy number one which increased the population in American jail houses. Then The Modern War on Drugs was created by Reagan and 1982 and his wife started the " Just Say No " campaign. During his presidency, there were longer sentencing for criminals who sold crack ( cooked cocaine) vs people who sold powder cocaine, and this was simply because Crack is thought of as the poor man's drug while Cocaine is deemed as the rich man's drug. There werr mass incarceration, increase in rich people's wealth, and an increase in the poor man's poverty. As Angela Davis stated, this war on drugs was just a war on the inner city and the communities of color. 

In 1994, Bill Clinton signed a 30 billion dollar crime bill which was basically an investment in the prison system and the militancy/weaponization  of police officers. However, later on down Clinton acknowledged and admitted to the NAACP that he made a mistake by signing the bill and it was an error. He's also responsible for California's three strikes law after the murder case of Polly Klass - a twelve year old murder victim, had gained medial and national attention. 

The film also exposes ALEC  ( American Legislative Exchange Council ) and the CCA  ( Corrections Corporation of America ) and how they created and influenced bills such as Stand Your Ground  ( SB 1070 ) as well as help create laws that allowed police to arrest anyone that appears to be an immigrant. There are a number of household named companies in America that profits off of mass incarceration and prison business. There are also a number of corporations that profit from prison labor and inmate slavery.

13 exposed it all, and the director and producers did a wonderful job with the production and amazing commentary. 

Commentators: Khalil G Muhammad, Kevin Gannon, Cobb, Michelle Alexander, John Hagen, Angela Davis, James Kilgore, Marc Mauer, Malkia Cyril, Baz Dreisinger, Cory Greene, Lisa Graves, Van Jones, Glen Martin, David Keene, Cory Booker, Kyung - JI Kate Rhee, Liza Jessie Peterson, Dolores Canales and more.

Footage & Clips: Video clips/footage of Nixon, Emmit Til, Dr. King, Reagan, Charles Rangel, Hillary Clinton, Ed Koch, Donald Trump,  George Bush Sr. ( Dukakis Willie Horton tactic)  Bill Clinton & Al Gore, Polly Klass, Malcolm X, The Black Panthers & Fred Hampton, Assata Shakur, Trayvon Martin case, Kalief Browser, Ferguson and more.