Thursday, September 24, 2009

Tulia Texas: An Account of a miscarriage of justice


Tulia Texas. [DVD-1609]. 54 min. 2008.


"Through its scrupulous investigation of a landmark case, Tulia, Texas uncovers the deep-rooted assumptions about race and crime that still permeate our society and undermines our justice system. The film convincingly shows how the 'war on drugs' has become a war on due process, waged against African Americans. Today America has the largest prison population in the world; in some states as much as 15 percent of the black male population is incarcerated. Tulia, Texas shows one reason why."--www.newsreel.org

A Dream in Doubt: America's first post-9/11 hate crime murder


A Dream in Doubt. [DVD-1608]. 54 min. 2007


Four days after the 9/11 attacks, Balbir Singh Sodhi was gunned down at his Phoenix area gas station by a man named Frank Roque. To Roque, Balbir Sodhi's beard and turban-articles of his Sikh faith-symbolized the face of America's new enemy. A DREAM IN DOUBT follows Rana Singh Sodhi, Balbir's brother, as he attempts to fight the hate threatening his family and community. But less than a year after Balbir's murder, Sukhpal Sodhi, Rana's next-eldest brother, is killed in mysterious circumstances while driving a cab in San Francisco.Wanting justice for his brothers' murders, Rana is motivated towards social action. He demands that America live up to its ideals of freedom, equality and justice for all. In A DREAM IN DOUBT, he challenges his fellow citizens to think deeply about individual responsibility in the face of bigotry and what it means to be a true patriot.