The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 a personal reflection

By Ron Gilbert

This film won the Sundance Film Festival editing award which was well earned. Watching this powerful documentary brought back some very strong memories for me because I was a college student at City College in New York in the midst of Harlem during that early period. What surprises me most of all is that it took over 30 years to present this documentary which was directed by Göran Hugo Olsson with the help of numerous Swedish journalists who  came to the US, drawn by stories of urban unrest and revolution. Filming for close to a decade, they gained the trust of many of the leaders of the black power movement – Stoakely Carmichael, Bobby Seale, Angela Davis, and Eldridge Cleaver among them – capturing them in intimate moments and remarkably unguarded interviews. One of my personal heroes Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. who was important part of my life was assassinated in 1968 during the making of this documentary and his legacy affected everyone.

So we are drawn into this vivid collection of 16mm film, covering footage of Black Panther activities and B-roll images of black America. Director Göran Olsson and producer Danny Glover bring this mesmerizing footage to light and, integrating audio interviews from prominent African- American artists and activists who were influenced by the struggle -- including Erykah Badu, Harry Belafonte, Talib Kweli, and Melvin Van Peebles which give the historical footage a fresh, contemporary resonance and makes the film an exhilarating, unprecedented account of an Americans who were influenced by the struggle.

Of course there were many white people involved in supporting this movement like Senator Bobby Kennedy and actor-activist Marlon Brando but the main focus is the members of the black community who put their own lives at risk and some were lost during their struggle.

This film is a very important film for all Americans and everyone in the world to see with music by Questlove and Om'Mas Keith

The BlackPower Mixtape: Poster