I Am Not Your Negro (2017)

Wonderful Movie

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

James Baldwin is a black social justice writer who passed away in 1987. Director Raoul Peck takes one of his final unfinished projects and creates a documentary about his ideas about race in America. It uses his interviews and material from the epic late 60's. It is of a time, a view, and a personal experience. The most compelling is a section where Bobby Kennedy predicts a black president some 40 years in the future and Baldwin dismaying the dismissive nature of the prediction. It's cut with Obama and we're left with wondering about Baldwin's perception. In many ways, he is of a time of his existence. So much of it is out of date but in the time of Trump, so much of it is present today. I admit that I don't know much about Baldwin. He's a lesser known name today than icons like Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. This is a message in a bottle and it's fascinating to see how things have changed but somethings never change.

Greetings from Lithuania.As the one who doesn't live in America and has nothing to do with the events shown here, i can only say that i did enjoyed this documentary "I Am Not Your Negro" (2016). There were some truly important and hardly seen documentary videos about the past in the USA, some footage showing well known people. "I Am Not Your Negro" is narrated by Samuel L. Jackson who uses his voice to tell words of James Baldwin - an activist of which i have never heard before. It also mainly focuses about his thoughts and relationships with Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr and Medgar Evers. His thoughts were insightful and interesting to hear.Overall, is a well made and important documentary, but it didn't involved me as much as i kinda expected it to have. All in all this is a definitely a not bad documentary to see it once.

I gave this documentary a slightly higher score than it might otherwise have because of it's timing. Perhaps it would be good at anytime, but it has an added poignancy because the message of American self destruction (there is even a little Trump excerpt) is the also the story that James Baldwin tells with the notes from his unprinted history of civil rights.Within the pantheon of the black movement, Baldwin was not similar to either Malcolm X or Martin Luther King; he was a transgressive wordsmith - not a fighter or a stoic example. But he is the perfect foil for this documentary that melds the 60s with today, as he understood that racial hate was a self hate that cannot easily be quenched. His important point is that American white society cannot square it's myths and dreams with reality. Samuel Jackson's narration adds to this solidly put together documentary that keeps the viewer engaged all the way.This film has a slight family superficiality sometimes, with little depth attempted with the lives of the black heroes who already have several films dedicated to them. A good knowledge of the time line is assumed, as the film jumps up and down it regularly.Many images, old and new are (still) shocking - though Baldwins diagnosis remains the bitter pill that America cannot swallow.

'I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)A critically acclaimed documentary, based on James Baldwin's unfinished manuscript 'Remember This House'. The film takes a very detailed, and thought provoking look at race relations throughout America's history. It's narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, and it was directed and co- scripted by Raoul Peck. The movie has received nearly unanimous rave reviews from critics, and it was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 2017 Academy Awards. I found it to be a very powerful, and quite moving film. Samuel L. Jackson narrates the thoughts of James Baldwin, using excerpts from his manuscript, as he reminisces on his views on racism (throughout recent history). Video and pictures accompany the narration, and fittingly powerful music as well. The movie also focuses on civil right leaders Medgar Evers, Malcom X and Martin Luther King, Jr. (through Baldwin's views on them). There's also a great deal of video of Baldwin himself.The film is very educational, and involving. It's the type of movie that I think should be shown in all high school history classes; it's that good! It teaches the viewer a lot about history, while focusing on the negative race relations (that have been persistent throughout it). I think the film is especially educational for anyone that doesn't really understand what racism is, or how it really works, this is a very important film for those people to see (and they're definitely abundant).Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D9ZNHDah5M