The Randomness of Me

The Black Power Mixtape

I was talking to some people about my novel and they mentioned this doc as a good one to watch to get background on the era. They were slightly off because my book takes place earlier in The Movement but I watched the film anyway and  now want to use it in the text of social justice class I’m teaching this fall. Unfortunately, though,  can’t find a way to fit it in unless I cut something else.

I’m intrigued by the fact that this film was done by a Swedish director,  Göran Hugo Olsson. It has some great footage of the time and really gives you perspective on the oft maligned Black Panther Party.

I remember the trial in New Haven back in 1973 and have a vague recollection of my family’s phone being tapped because my dad was considered a “subversive element” due to his connections with the party and some of its members who he’d grown up with and worked with in our neighborhood.  

(Source: blackpowermixtape.com)