Due by 10:00 am on Wednesday, February 17th
Post the name of a mainstream film, miniseries television event, or extended narrative music video (e.g. Lemonade) that you believe successfully promotes a radical or progressive political issue.
Provide a short (2-3 sentence) summary of the plot and a brief (3-5 sentence) description of the political issue the film/series/video addresses and what about its production and/or its reception makes the film/series/video successful at promoting that issue.
Please include in your post either a link to a trailer, a clip of a scene, or a representative image still (e.g. movie poster or album cover).
The music video for Freedom opens with Black people seated in front of a stage and Beyonce is on the stage singing the song. Most of the video is in black and white with brief periods of color. The video progresses to display other black performers and then a very long table filled with Black women to presumably exemplify Black ancestors. The song Freedom by Beyonce brings to the forefront how the effects of slavery still permeate and are present in the United States today through systematic racism, racial oppression, and police brutality. It reminds us that although slavery is over, institutionalized slavery is very much alive in well in the school to prison pipeline, the killing of unarmed Black people, and the overwhelmingly disproportionate number of Black people that populate US prisons. It’s a message that institutionalized slavery will not be tolerated and Black people will continue to fight for their freedom. The video is successful at promoting the issue of racial inequality because while the video is mostly shown in black and white, there are glimpses of color to depict how slavery then isn’t much different from institutionalized slavery now. And the video also displays Black joy in times of oppression because it’s something that can never be taken away no matter the conditions. Black joy is a form of resistance and it send the message that Black people will always fight for their freedom.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4dgjgw