The screening of a powerful documentary that examines mass incarceration in the United States and the disproportionate share of African Americans being held behind bars formed the foundation for a thoughtful Q and A on February 3 night in the Muller Auditorium.
About 100 people attended the screening of Ava DuVernay’s Oscar-nominated documentary, “13th.” Afterward, a panel of four activists working to reform the criminal-justice system talked about the film and answered questions from the audience.
The documentary takes its title from the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which outlaws slavery for all people, with the exception of those convicted of a crime. The filmmaker makes a case that the explosive growth in the U.S. prison population since the 1970s is another system of racial control, and an extension of America’s history of slavery and Jim Crow laws.
“What can I do to influence this in a positive way?” one audience member asked the panel. Whiquitta Tobar, a lawyer at the Juvenile Law Center, encouraged activism that focused on preventing people being locked up in the first place.
“You can help by going to school boards, the city council and your representatives, by trying to prevent adult confinement before it happens. There are so many people, especially at this time, out in the streets. You can help by lending your support, by lending your voice.”
Panelist Jondhi Harrell, executive director of The Center for Returning Citizens, who himself had spent 25 years in prison, is active in helping former prisoners find housing and jobs as they return to society. He responded to one audience member by pointing out the advantage the questioner has had of attending a school where he can thrive intellectually and feel safe.
“Be thinking about how to be a leader, how you can continue to educate yourself and provide opportunities for those who haven’t had this. That would be extremely powerful,” Jondhi said.
Also among the panelists was AFS alum Matthew Pillischer ’96, who created “Broken on All Sides,” a documentary that also explores racial inequality in the criminal-justice system.
Speaking of DuVernay’s film, Matt said, “This is the movie I would have liked to have made.”
The screening and follow-up conversation were sponsored by the Upper School Black Student Union, which is led by students Desmond Daniels ’17, Gabrielle Ford ’17, Cierra Jenkins ’17 and Cameron Hodges ’18. Adult leaders of the group are Teachers Lisa Treadway-Kurtz, Sheila Pai and Angie Adams ’09.
