Okay, guys, let’s talk about what I did today. I got up, did my usual morning stuff, and then I decided to watch this documentary I’d heard about called “13th” on Netflix. I saw it mentioned online a few times and figured I’d give it a shot. The whole process was pretty straightforward, you know? I just opened up Netflix on my TV, typed in “13th” in the search bar, and there it was.
So I started watching it, and man, it was a lot to take in. This thing is about how African Americans have been treated by the justice system in the U.S., and how it connects to the huge number of people in prison. It wasn’t exactly light viewing, but it felt important, you know? It’s one of those things that makes you think and really look at things differently.
I spent a good chunk of my afternoon watching it. The documentary is about 1 hour and 40 minutes long. I didn’t really do much else while it was on, just kind of let it all sink in. After it was over, I did some reading online, just to see what others were saying about it. Turns out, it won a bunch of awards, which makes sense. It’s a powerful film, no doubt about it.
Here is what I took notes while watching it:
- First Point: The documentary starts by laying out the history, going back to the end of slavery and how the 13th Amendment has this loophole that’s been used to control Black people.
- Second Point: It then moves on to how the whole “war on crime” and “war on drugs” really targeted Black communities. Seeing all those old news clips and political ads was kind of shocking, to be honest.
- Third Point: They talked a lot about how laws were made that sent people to prison for a really long time, even for small things, and how that mostly affected Black people.
- Fourth Point: There was this whole section about how private companies make money from prisons, which was a real eye-opener. I mean, I knew prisons were bad, but this was something else.
- Fifth Point: The film ends with a call to action, you know? Like, we can’t just let this stuff keep happening. We have to do something about it.
After I finished the documentary and did a bit of reading, I just kind of sat there for a while, thinking. It’s definitely a film that stays with you. I ended up talking about it with my roommate later that evening, and we had a pretty long conversation about everything. It’s not the kind of thing you just forget about, you know?
It’s not always easy to watch things like “13th.” But, I’m glad I did. It’s good to be informed, even if it’s heavy stuff. I hope some of you guys will watch it too and maybe share your thoughts.
