I saw this in a UK arts centre with a friend from the US who had left High School in 66 or 67 and graduated from college in 70. On her own admission here was another America she has never experienced or known about. What struck me about this is the pacing, the editing allows the protagonists time and space to speak and articulate themselves. There's a section when Angela Davis speaks eloquently and movingly and the camera holds on her for several minutes. This film is essential viewing for any younger people involved in the 'Occupy'or anti globalisation / anti capitalist movements. The issues that the Black Power movement were addressing are still with us. The film has a wonderful soundtrack and music score complementing the footage perfectly. The footage is both evocative and informative, carefully selected. There's shots of everyday street scenes, interviews and dramatic footage of rioting and disturbances. Yes BPMT is short on analysis, but for this viewer the beauty of this film is that I felt an empathy as a fellow human being with these angry, militant people and felt inspired to learn more about the Black Power movement and quietly, calmly, start to listen. I don t feel I have to apologise for being white after watching this or start going all PC simply that I have a better understanding now of where some people were or are coming from. Finally, it's fascinating this film emerges from Sweden. Often held to be a model of 'responsible' capitalism, a proper social democracy where entrepreneur ism and business can live happily alongside social provision and an excellent welfare state. However unlike other European countries such as Britain or France, Sweden never had to address the legacy of a colonial empire and immigration from former colonies. It's very safe for a country, a society where everyone looks the same and speaks the same language to be open, liberal and tolerant. I'm very intrigued as to what the fascination and interest was for the Swedish in the Black Power movement, a question this film doesn't address. Maybe the Black Power activists in this film are being positioned as 'exotic' in the same way that countless documentaries always position Africans as exotic, closer to nature, primitive and so on. Just a thought...
Review of The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
