150 years after the formal end of chattel slavery:
WHY are millions of Black people jailed in the U.S.?
Why are Black communities under siege by law enforcement agencies?
WHY are Black people killed by law enforcement every 28 hours or more?
WHY is there such an acute job crisis as well as income and wealth inequality for Black people in the U.S.?
American Nightmare: Black Labor and Liberation is a 7-part documentary series exploring the roots of anti-Black racism and white supremacy in the United States. It is co-produced by Deep Dish TV and Cooperation Jackson and directed by Kali Akuno. The series explores ways Black communities can defend themselves against the deeply ingrained structures of racism. How can they build collective resistance and unite with people of all races, nationalities and ethnicities to root out racism, white supremacy and dismantle the economic and social structures that make them necessary?
Your support now will enable us to complete our pre-production work and move into full production. We've begun interviews, editing and online video postings and will continue our discussions across the U.S. in Town Hall meetings and screenings of excerpts from the programs.
Please donate generously to make this project a success. We cannot complete this provocative and revelatory film without you.
American Nightmare: Black Labor and Liberation challenges not only the myths of a post-racial America, but also the myth that racism is simply an attitude or behavioral problem. It documents an economic and social necessity for the demeaning and dehumanizing racism towards Black people in the U.S. It describes a racism that is systemically generated - from the first import of slaves in the 17th century to the mass incarceration and extrajudicial killing of Blacks in the 21st century.
For over 400 years Black labor created vast wealth for settler colonies that became the United States. Slavery, convict labor, Jim Crow laws, segregation and the denial of high quality education constrained the life chances for the vast majority of people. Black labor, slave or "free", was a necessary source of cheap labor to be endlessly exploited. In the 1950s and 60s the Black mass rebellion against this U.S. system of apartheid coincided with the acceleration of globalization and automation -- the drive to secure cheaper and more compliant labor and means of production. Over time, this eliminated the dependence of US corporations on Black labor making it disposable. While other communities have also been effected, the impact on Black people has been devastating.
It's not enough to fight racism. We have to understand its roots and dig them out. Join us in this project. Support us financially and help us explore answers to these critical questions. You can document and send us solutions that are being developed by grassroots organizations and many of the most dynamic minds presently at work in the country.
This is a pathbreaking documentary series and we need your support. We are pleased to offer some unique premiums from wonderful artists and activists.
"ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE" signed original full color poster by Emory Douglas, Black Panther Party Artist and Minister of Culture (1967 - 1982). High quality paper, suitable for framing - 2 sizes 12x15 and 17x21
Malcolm X by Charles (Brother Boko) Freeman, Black Panther Party organizer and artist. -- Am I Next, poster by Martin Travers created for An American Nightmare. Both on high quality paper, suitable for framing.
Chose 1 - 8x10 inch signed Black Panther Party Photographs by documentarian by Jeffrey Blankfort - Quality Paper, suitable for framing
Photos Top Left: 1st Panther protest, Oakland California 1967; Top Right: Oakland Black Panther office shot up by police 1968; Bottom Left: Brown Beret with Black Panthers, Oakland 1968; Bottom Right: Panther protest at San Quentin prison 1971
Books by Devorah Major, former San Francisco Poet Laureate - "Brown Glass Window" (novel) and "Where The River Meets the Ocean" (poetry collection).
Black Panther Party 40th Anniversary Commemorative poster by Emory Douglas.
Shocking and Awful-A Grassroots Response to War and Occupation: 3 DVD set of 12 half-hour videos and Fallujah-We Had To Destroy The City To Save It: DVD 28 min - Still the best documentary series on the Iraq war
Where Should The Birds Fly DVD (60 min) - the people of Gaza struggle to maintain hope and humanity in the wake of 2008-2009 Israeli attack; Self-Respect, Self-Defense, Self-Determination (Mabel Williams and Kathleen Cleaver) - DVD
1. "COINTELPRO 101" exposes illegal surveillance, disruption, and outright murder committed by the U.S. government (with Kathleen Cleaver and Ward Churchill, 57 min, from The Freedom Archives). 2. Cooperation Jackson T-Shirt
Black Panther Party 50th Anniversary Commemorative Tote Bag.
Black Panther Party 50th Anniversary Commemorative T-shirt.
Photos Top Left: 1st Panther protest, Oakland California 1967; Top Right: Oakland Black Panther office shot up by police 1968; Bottom Left: Brown Beret with Black Panthers, Oakland 1968; Bottom Right: Panther protest at San Quentin prison 1971
Robert F. Williams, audio documentary CD + Robert and Mabel Williams Resource Guidebook.
THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT
Risks and challenges
We are confident that we will obtain the necessary support for this film series. An immediate challenge will come from our commitment to create programs with high production values that are convincingly insightful and engaging. A bigger challenge will be the distribution of a film series that goes beyond the daily images, stories and statistics of racism in the U.S. and demystifies its economic roots, past and present. This is not a narrative that corporate media will easily embrace. But over the past 15 years Deep Dish TV along with Free Speech TV, Democracy Now! and other progressive media groups have built an alternative distribution system that can reach millions of people daily on TV and the Internet. It will take a lot of hard work. We are committed to it. With your help we will do it!
Looks like a fantastic documentary. I hope it gets fully funded. Spread the word to family and friends
