Individual lives are increasingly “datafied” and this information is collected, warehoused, analyzed and distributed across the globe on a massive scale. As individuals become more and more “transparent,” the technology that is driving this massive transformation becomes more and more opaque. This “transparency gap” is a problem for all stakeholders in the information age.
THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE 1967-1975 mobilizes a treasure trove of 16mm material shot by Swedish journalists who came to the US drawn by stories of urban unrest and revolution. Gaining access to many of the leaders of the Black Power Movement—Stokely Carmichael, Bobby Seale, Angela Davis and Eldridge Cleaver among them—the filmmakers captured them in intimate moments and remarkably unguarded interviews. Thirty years later, this lush collection was found languishing in the basement of Swedish Television. Director Göran Olsson and co-producer Danny Glover bring this footage to light in a mosaic of images, music and narration chronicling the evolution one of our nation’s most indelible turning points, the Black Power movement. Music by Questlove and Om’Mas Keith, and commentary from prominent African-American artists and activists who were influenced by the struggle — including Erykah Badu, Harry Belafonte, Talib Kweli, and Melvin Van Peebles — give the historical footage a fresh, contemporary resonance and makes the film an exhilarating, unprecedented account of an American revolution. (Source: IFC Films)
Free!
Dr. Sunit Das was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and grew up in Detroit. He studied English Literature at the University of Michigan and Philosophy at Harvard University before obtaining an MD from Northwestern University and a PhD in Neurobiology at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, MD. He joined the faculty at St. Michael’s Hospital and University of Toronto in 2010.
