On Wednesday evening, I attended a film entitled I am Not Your Negro directed by Raoul Peck, a Haitian filmmaker. The film is based upon an unfinished manuscript “Remember This House” by James Baldwin, an influential author from New York City. This piece was about three leaders/colleagues/friends of Baldwin: Malcom X, Medgar Evers and Martin Luther King Jr. All three of these leaders were murdered at a young age.

Peck juxtaposes images of violence imposed upon black protesters in the 1960s to similar imagery from today’s Black Lives Matter protests. Despite the passage of 50 years, state-sanctioned violence continues to be the norm when folks of color (in this case, black protesters) attempt to exercise what is supposed to be a first amendment right. This imagery revealed an appalling connection to brutality committed in the 1960s. Though it was difficult to watch, the message was clear.

This documentary made me think about the relationship between art and social justice. What kind of art is canonized? Who is lauded? Who received prizes? How does film subvert norms and how does it serve to reinforce them? Clearly, this film was a production that did work to challenge the belief that “we have a come a long way” on the topic of racism in the US.