The political resistance seen protesting every single week since the Trump era began didn't just start on November 8th. It's been building for years and encompasses a wide variety of issues that affect the disenfranchised. Undoubtedly one of those sparks was lit on August 9th 2014 when Michael Brown was gunned down by Officer Darren Wilson in the streets of Ferguson, MO, and left to lay like road kill. In a place that had seen claims of police brutality go unanswered for too long, Brown's death sparked a call to action that woke up this country to the reality of what's really going on outside their doors. That movement, which began to coalesce into Black Lives Matter, is documented in the acclaimed Sundance documentary, Whose Streets?, which has just released a powerful debut trailer.
While the talking heads on TV sat in their comfortable chairs, air conditioned desks and tried to attribute motives to the protesters that were often unfounded, directors and civil rights activists Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis were on the ground in the thick of it. What started out as peaceful protesting was elevated to militaristic levels by the same Ferguson police department whose violent actions, and the lack of accountability they faced, was the root cause for the uprising.
If the surprising success of James Baldwin doc I Am Not Your Negro tells us anything it's that audiences recognize that racism is more a part of our culture than ever right now, and they want movies that provide a fresh take to addressing it. Whose Streets? opens August 11th.
