Positively mandatory viewing for anyone even mildly interested in American history, especially for those bemoaning the abysmal direction of the country under lame duck President Barack Obama, “The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975” is a crucible of leftist ideals candidly expressed by Black Power activists Stokely Carmichael, Bobby Seale, Angela Davis, Eldridge Cleaver, and others.
Most interesting is the archival source material’s origins, discovered in the basement of a Swedish television station and culled by a group of journalists trying to contextualize America’s oppressive climate of no-holds-barred racism that has since transmogrified into the mainstream (see, e.g., Tea Party).
Documentarian Göran Olsson edits the material in chronological order, allowing surviving subjects such as Angela Davis to provide spoken editorial commentary without switching away from the 16 mm archival material.
Olsson blends in B-roll footage indigenous to the period to provide a visual background for the insights and opinions of visionary intellectuals whose sharply defined political and social analysis of America pales next those of modern-day activists and pundits.
This is one brave documentary that clearly has its head on straight. That its ideas are as relevant today as they were 45 years ago is more than a little depressing but, as the film points out, the struggle for equality and dignity in America is a lifetime battle.
Not Rated. 100 mins.
