13th

Image by DonkeyHotey via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

Netflix on Apr 17, 2020

Combining archival footage with testimony from activists and scholars, director Ava DuVernay’s examination of the U.S. prison system looks at how the country’s history of racial inequality drives the high rate of incarceration in America.

This piercing, Oscar-nominated film won Best Documentary at the Emmys, the BAFTAs and the NAACP Image Awards.

US Rating: TV-MA For mature audiences. May not be suitable for ages 17 and under.

See also:

13th Discussion Guide

13th: The Rise of the Mass Incarceration State By Eljeer Hawkins

“Despite its weaknesses, 13th does bring an understanding of the rise of the mass incarceration state to a wider audience, providing a visual narrative of the enormous human costs of this feature of modern American capitalism.”

From the archives:

Danny Haiphong: Malcolm X on American Exceptionalism: Where Do We Go From Here?

Chris Hedges and Glen Ford: Analysis of the George Floyd Protests

Chris Hedges: Cops Are The Primary Source Of Social Control + The Censorship Has Been Cheered On By The Left

A Long Time For Killing by Michael Parenti

Chris Hedges and Matt Taibbi: The Killing of Eric Garner and The Criminalization of Poverty and Institutional Racism

What Is COINTELPRO? by The Anti-Social Socialist

Chris Hedges: Mass Incarceration is a Form of Social Control and the Police Function as Predators in Impoverished Communities

End Prison Slavery! Prisoners Strike Across the U.S. and into Canada (Mega-post!)

Chris Hedges: The History of Oppression of African Americans

Chris Hedges: Prison State America: Corporations Use Inmates Like Slaves