"There's a real suspicious guy. This guy looks like he's up to no good or eroticism vs sexual appetitehe's on drugs or something."
As George Zimmerman says those words in a sampling of his 911 call before he fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, actor Michael B. Jordan looks directly at the camera with his hands raised, pressed against a wall. His bold stare refuses to let you look away as the 911 dispatcher asks, "OK, and this guy -- is he white, black or Hispanic?"
Zimmerman quickly responds in the voiceover, saying, "He's a black male."
This scene is just the beginning of a harrowing new short film titled Against The Wall, which shines a light on ongoing cases of police violence aimed at the black community.
The four-minute PSA, created by directing duo Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz along with social justice nonprofit Sankofa, is an attempt to further ignite a conversation around police brutality in the U.S.
Against The Wallfeatures stars and notable activists, like Jordan, Michael K. Williams, Van Jones and Sophia Dawson, literally pressed against a wall, mimicking the position many are told to assume before arrest. While they stare unflinchingly into the camera, real recordings of 911 dispatches and national newscasts detailing the deaths of unarmed black men play in the background.
Before the end credits roll, the words "Black Is Not A Weapon" appear on the screen in white lettering. Co-director Gerard Bush said those words -- and the film itself -- point to the "weaponization" of blackness in America, challenging non-black people to confront their own racial bias and discover empathy for the black community.
"By using the faces of those we recognize -- familiar faces -- we look to re-sensitize the community to really see the problem."
“We thought it would prove powerful to place these celebrated people in the same positions that too many within the black community face -- being forced against the wall, hands up, on the ground and eventually shot dead by police," Bush said in a release. "You can see and feel the same pain, bewilderment, fear, humiliation in the faces of these celebrated people, as you could imagine would have been on the faces of the victims themselves."
The creators felt celebrity status can be an effective way to capture the public's attention on inequality.
Harry Belafonte, the actor and singer who founded Sankofa, believes harnessing the power of celebrity for social change is essential as the country becomes "desensitized" to police violence.
"By using the faces of those we recognize -- familiar faces -- we look to re-sensitize the community to really see the problem," Belafonte said in a statement. "We are shining a light and calling out to all to take a look, listen and feel within your heart to take action.
"As artists, we have an opportunity to educate and stimulate thoughts and ideas to shift narratives and not only show life as it is, but as it could be.”
These images can be triggering. If you want to talk to someone, text the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. You can find resources specific to the black community at Ourselves Black, the Black Mental Health Alliance and here for self-care tips in the wake of police shootings.
Topics Social Good Racial Justice
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