Product Details

• Actors: Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichael, Bobby Seale
• Directors: Goran Olsson
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO
• DVD Release Date: December 13, 2011
• Run Time: 96 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B005NHZAHS
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,645 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

During the rise of The Black Power Movement in the 60 s and 70 s, Swedish Television journalists documented the unfolding cultural revolution for their audience back home, having been granted unprecedented access to prominent leaders such as Angela Davis, the SNCC's Stokely Carmichael, and Black Panthers founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale.  Now, after more than 30 years in storage, this never-before-seen footage spanning nearly a decade of Black Power is finally available. Director Goran Hugo Olsson presents this mixtape, highlighting the key figures and events in the movement, as seen in a light completely different than the narrative of the American media at the time.  Talib Kweli, Erykah Badu, Abiodun Oyewole, John Forte, and Robin Kelley are among the many important voices providing narration and commentary, adding modern perspective to this essential time capsule of African-American history.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 75 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-See "Mixtape" For the People November 12, 2011

By Life&Debt

Format:DVD

Compiled from the forgotten footage of Swedish television journalists, Goran Hugo Olsson's "The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975" is just what its title says: a mixtape -- no more, no less. The film samples very powerful voices from the 1960s and 1970s and injects contemporary commentary from older people who were involved with the movement and younger people (including Erykah Badu, Talib Kweli, and Questlove (Amir Khalib Thompson) from The Roots) whose lives were changed by it.

The Swedish journalists' footage is nothing short of electrifying. A great deal of the footage in the first half of the film captures the rise of the Black Panther Party, which was not simply composed of gun-toting militant people, as the media so carelessly (or perhaps deliberately) portrayed. In fact, BPP members like Ericka Huggins were running community schools and trying to better the education available to Black communities; BPP initiatives like the Free Breakfast for Children programs sought to meet basic needs for Black communities. Self-defense was simply another initiative to serve the people and protect them from unwarranted brutality and violence.

Moreover, the personal interviews are astounding. A personal interview with Angela Davis as she sits in prison shows her speaking fiercely about the historical legacy of violence in Black communities. In another clip, Stokely Carmichael gently interviews his own mother as she talks about their family's dealings with racism. The intimacy and candor of these interviews and speeches grant a sense of immediacy to names that we only read about in books or hear about in class (that is, if we get the opportunity to learn about people like Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichael, and Huey Newton beyond a cursory overview).

Again and again, the voices in the film echo a general feeling of frustration in the Black Power movement--a frustration with the ineffectiveness of nonviolence, a frustration with the continuing brutality and violence in their communities, a frustration with the status quo that they wanted desperately to change. In one notable instance, this frustration manifests when Stokely Carmichael explains to an audience in Stockholm that "Dr. King's policy was if you are nonviolent--if you suffer--your opponent will see your suffering and will be moved to change his heart. That's very good. He only made one fallacious assumption: in order for nonviolence to work, your opponent must have a conscience. The United States has none."

As the Black Power movement wanes, the Swedish journalists look to other subject matter. We see some footage of neo-Garveyite Lewis Michaux ("the Professor") and his Harlem-based National Memorial African Bookstore, which served as a hub for writers, artists, and leaders of the time. There's a moving interview with a young woman who recounts how she resorted to prostitution to feed her heroin addiction. In another clip (one that lasts longer than it should), Louis Farrakhan talks about his revamped iteration of the Nation of Islam in the 1970s; historian and scholar Robin Kelley contextualizes the rising prominence of the discipline-centric NOI in Black communities that were falling victim to the chaos of increasing drug addition and violence.

Rather than offer an extensive didactic lecture on the Black liberation movement, "The Black Power Mixtape" prefers to let the footage speak for itself. The footage crafts a powerful narrative that captures not only the leading voices of the movement but also the voices of day-to-day life in Black communities. Insofar as this documentary is a mixtape, it cannot be comprehensive. But it certainly offers powerful footage and provoking commentary that reminds viewers that the movement is not over. There remains much change to be effected in contemporary society. This film provides some much-needed inspiration.

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The MUST see documentary of 2011! November 22, 2011

By MPATL

Format:DVD

I traveled 80 miles to see this film because it was not showing in my home city. I was not disappointed. This film is excellent and it wasn't at all what I was expecting. I am beyond thrilled it is available for purchase. I believe it is an important documentary for my children and my children's children to see in the interest of American history and the truth. This is a must see people. Add it to your private DVD collection & purchase more as gifts for your family and friends.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb November 26, 2011

By SoulSister29

Format:DVD

Must See Doc....I absolutely loved it. The archived footage is full of history and the dialogue is very compelling. I found out about the Doc thru twitter I follow Talib Kweli and a few others and they were constantly talking about it so I had to check it out.