Black Lives Matter Spotlight on Kanopy

Kanopy is shining a spotlight on the Black Lives Matter movement by curating a collection of films dealing with Social and Systemic Injustice.  The films listed below are just a sample of the excellent documentaries on Kanopy dealing with this sensitive subject.  If you're using a computer, you can click on the Black Lives Matter banner on the home screen to access this collection.  On all devices, you can simply scroll down to the Social and Systemic Injustice subject heading.  The descriptions of the documentaries are provided by Kanopy.

Policing the Police

The new FRONTLINE documentary, Policing the Police, is a provocative journey inside one police force that's been ordered to reform by the Department of Justice: the Newark Police Department in New Jersey. Take a nuanced glimpse into how topics in the national discussion about race and policing are playing out every day on the streets of Newark, in community members' homes, and in the city's police precincts.

Arresting Power: Resisting Police Violence in Oregon

Arresting Power documents the history of conflict between the Portland police and community members throughout the past fifty years. The film features personal stories of resistance told by victims of police misconduct, the families of people who were killed by police, and members of Portland's reform and abolition movements. Utilizing meditative footage taken at sites of police violence, experimental filmmaking techniques, and archival newsreel, Arresting Power creates a space for understanding the impacts of police violence and imagining a world without police.

When Justice Isn’t Just: Unarmed Police Incidents

Directed by Oscar-nominee David Massey, this dynamic documentary explores why so many unarmed people of color have been shot and killed by police officers. Police officers, legal experts, local activists all weigh in in this timely documentary, delving into ongoing charges of inequality, unfair practices, and politicized manipulations of America's judicial system. Massey, an NAACP Image Award Winner, also addresses so-called "Black on Black" violent crime.

As the Black Lives Matter movement - and citizens nationwide - question the accountability of our justice system in cases of police violence, When Justice Isn't Just is an essential and balanced addition to the ongoing discussion about violence, reform and renewal.

Broken on All Sides: Race, Mass Incarceration & New Visions for Criminal Justice in the U.S.

Today, there are more African Americans in prison or jail, on probation or parole, than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began. The prison population has exploded by 500% since the end of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. America locks up more of its racial and ethnic minorities than any other country (including South Africa at the height of apartheid). Mass incarceration has emerged as America's new caste system. How could this happen? With Philadelphia as an entry point, Broken on All Sides explores the intersection of race and poverty within the criminal justice system.