THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE 1967-1975 (Göran Hugo Olsson, Sweden). 93 minutes. Some subtitles. Rating: NNNN
This excellent pic puts the “document” in documentary, uncovering spectacular footage of black activists shot by Swedish journalists in the late 60s and early 70s.
In these archives, Stokely Carmichael interviews his mother, Malcolm X works the crowd, and Angela Davis speaks her mind about how the racists, not the activists, are the violent ones. Scenes show the Black Panthers mobilizing communities, launching free breakfast programs and teaching kids. Then, what some call a conspiracy to dump drugs into black communities sapped all that political energy.
To give the film some shape, contemporary artists including Erykah Badu and a super-articulate Talib Kweli express their debt to the period. But it’s the archival footage that matters here.
Warning: subtitles for the Swedish voice-over, thanks to light backgrounds, are hard to read.