A Question for Sam Pollard About His New 'MLK/FBI' Film
By: Sergio C. Muñoz
Question by Sergio at Intelatin:
Inspired by your film, I am going to create a quadrant of complexities: Communism, Racism, Sexuality & Poverty. These four complexities compete to fuel assassins to end the life of the moral leader of a merciless nation that has labeled him "the most dangerous Negro in America."
Assuming that your film was required viewing in 2021 for Latina/os from immigrant cultures. Six decades removed from characters like J Edgar Hoover & his G-Men. Individuals that have had factual history purposefully obfuscated from them by institutional white supremacy.
How would you help me entice them to be educated by a documentary film that is ultimately about staying calm and persistent when a malevolent society is conspiring to kill you?
Answer by Sam Pollard:
This film is an opportunity for young people to have a window into that history and understanding the level of complexity of America and the two-faced ideas that Americans have. On one hand that say that this is the land of the free and the home of the brave but anytime anybody comes along and challenges that notion of what they thought American democracy should be they are considered radical, subversive and they are watched and monitored.
J Edgar Hoover was simply symbolic of what America was like. Dr King was a peaceful non-violent activist that spoke out about how this country should not be segregated and after his march on Washington and his I Have a Dream Speech, for Hoover to say that Dr King is "the most dangerous Negro in America" speaks volumes about America. I remember hearing a young lady tell a reporter when she was told not to have around with gangsters like Dr King that she "could do anything she wanted because she was free, white and 21." When Hoover heard that type of language, he was frightened because people of color were on the fringes and shadows and invisible as Ralph Ellison said, when Dr King and others decided that they weren't going to be invisible anymore, it frightened the bejesus out of Hoover and his friends.
Listening to those man on the street interviews, you can hear white people saying she didn't like King because he was "uppity." What does uppity mean? That he was articulate? That he was calm? That he was intellectual? Your audience of young Latina/os need to understand that this presence is alive in America still. This notion of white people saying that if you get in our way, we will destroy you. It has happened time and time again. What happened at the Capitol a few weeks ago is not an anomaly. It's all about money and power and economics and racism are part and parcel of the DNA of America. American culture is very slick at brainwashing us all. As a young man, I bought into the notion of the melting pot. I bought into much of it. I bought into white hats and black hats. As you get older, you learn that it is much more complicated than that. You got to be able to decipher what you learn.
Sergio C. Muñoz produces awareness campaigns that live at the intersection of Media, Finance and Technology. These campaigns are tied to a unique form of business development which involves audio, video, text and illustration. You can connect with him via LinkedIn.
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