How do Negrón-Muntaner and Ramirez expand further the previous clip?
.By representing “bodily, emotional, and psychological sensation, through various aesthetic means, including collage, repetition, improvisation, copying, scaling, designing, and color, Basquiat generated a dense sensorial archive that revised, related, and recontextualized black, Caribbean, indigenous, and other knowledges, affects, and memories. (339)
.Basquiat likewise evoked not only writing in his texts but also the erasure and repression of stories, knowledge, and histories by way of “scratching on these things”: crossing out, smudging, and painting over letters… Basquiat employed words in a similar manner as he did crowns: to move and direct the reader’s eye to consider alternative associations that disrupt knowledge that has become so naturalized that it appears as “empirical truths.” (348)
.Like Schomburg, Basquiat referenced Afro-Latino history to complicate Anglocentric narratives on blackness and viewed what he would call “Spanish American” black history as a central part of global history. (353)
How do you interpret the character of Benny Dalmau, the Puerto Rican basketball player and artist? Why are his scenes important? What is your interpretation of the ending of the film? 21:15; 52:17; 1:38:49
How does the film (directed by white filmmaker, painter, and visual artist Julian Schnabel) reproduce in its mise en scene the white gaze/frame that impacted Basquiat throughout his intense short life? (See Negrón-Munataner and Ramirez, 362)
Art critics and scholars, Frances Negron-Muntaner and Yasmin Ramirez argue that Basquiat’s use of crowns and related symbols constitute a critical vocabulary of contestation that resignifies the concept of sovereignty (self-rule) in at least three distinct, if at times overlapping, ways:
.At one level, as Basquiat mined black stereotypes and inquired into the production of racist/ colonial orders… [the goal] is to achieve sovereignty through the eradication of “stereotypes, cultural appropriation, exclusion, ignorance, irrelevance,” and the “rhetorical imperialism” embedded in U.S. (and European) law and discourse.
.Basquiat’s pursuit of a (royal) place in Western art history led to a persistent inquiry into the relationship between subjectivity (who I am), lineage (who are my ancestors), and authority for Afro-diasporic artists.
.Finally, Basquiat’s frequent deployment of crowns to honor black men is akin to Frantz Fanon’s characterization of postcolonial “true sovereignty” as the affirmation of black dignity and self-worth. (338)
Do you see these three arguments depicted somehow in Julian Schnabel’s film?
How does this painting, “50 Cent Piece” (1983), exemplify what Negrón-Muntaner and Ramirez argue?
Significantly, Basquiat writes “OPERATION BOOTST/RAP” at the same level and in proximity to “US OCCUPATION OF HAITI ENDS 1921,” linking different migratory flows originating in U.S. invasion and economic dispossession. Perhaps to underscore that the Puerto Rican exodus is a result of the invasion and not simply an immigrant phenomenon, Basquiat does not mention Luis Muñoz Marín, the Puerto Rican coarchitect of the migration policy, but his father, Luis Muñoz Rivera, who was acting as secretary of state and chief of the cabinet for the autonomist government of Puerto Rico when the United States invaded the island on July 25, 1898. (358)
Each of The Exonerated Five’s family reacted differently to their son’s imprisonment and reentry, and each of The Exonerated Five had to adjust to a world and a family that had changed while they were in juvenile detention and prison.
In Parts Three and Four of “WHEN THEY SEE US,” Raymond’s grandmother’s birthday marks a somber occasion as she carries the weight of her grandson’s incarceration. The impact of the teens’ imprisonment on their families is profound, with Antron’s mother providing comfort for his nightmares, Kevin’s family urging him to hold onto hope, and Yusef’s mother encouraging him to stay close to his faith despite their struggles. Years later, Raymond, Antron, Yusef, and Kevin return home as men, facing the challenges of reentry. Meanwhile, Korey remains in prison, enduring brutal attacks and struggling with reality. Despite being denied parole for refusing to confess to crimes he didn’t commit, the truth is revealed when another inmate confesses to the assault, leading to The Exonerated Five’s vindication in 2002 and a $41 million settlement in 2014, the largest in New York City’s history.
1. Philosopher, professor, former political prisoner, and activist Angela Davis discusses the discrepancy between the supposed increase in crime rates, particularly among youth, and the heightened portrayal of crime and violence in the media, especially on television and in movies. Davis suggests that this media representation contributes to an exaggerated fear of crime in society, diverting attention from other pressing issues like unemployment, homelessness, and environmental degradation. (40-1)
How is that fear of crime portrayed in the series, particularly in Parts III and IV?
How are other essential issues neglected due to induced crime panics?
2. The expansion of the criminal justice system has given rise to a prison-industrial complex, accompanied by an ideological push to associate race with criminality, mainly targeting young Black men as the face of crime. This campaign instills fear not only in white people but also within the Black community itself. While acknowledging that some black youth commit violent acts, Davis emphasized that this should not justify the blanket criminalization of young Black and Latino men. The increasing incarceration of people of color is attributed to the prison system’s growth and its shift away from rehabilitation toward punishment and incapacitation. Super-maximum security prisons exemplify this trend, with inmates living in dehumanizing conditions, highlighting a departure from rehabilitation and the focus on punishment in the modern prison system. (38-9)
How does the series depict specific societal perceptions due to the blanket criminalization of Black-Latino men?
How do Korey’s experiences in Part IV show us the dehumanizing conditions within the prison system?
3. Davis writes: “Prisons have become an integral part of the U.S. economy, which, in turn, creates profit-based pressure for the ongoing expansion of the prison business. The process involves expanding prisons, incarcerating more people, and drawing more corporations into the punishment industry, thus creating momentum for further expansion and larger incarcerated populations.” (49)
How does Ava Duvernay’s series illustrate this cycle?
4. Angela Davis elaborates on how media and political discourses work together to create “public enemies.” What other examples Davis presents regarding this topic? (41-3)
Her critique moved us to think about the connections between the criminalization of Black Latino men and migrants from the Americas and Asia. What are Davis’s arguments concerning this connection? (46-47)
5. Davis denounces that our current society promotes forgetfulness about the “centrality of prison in our lives,” what are her points of discussion on this topic? (50-1)
Unpack the significance of the title of the film series “When They See US”
What systemic issues in media bias are uncovered in the film, and what are our roles in ensuring proper reporting on social media and by news channels?
What is happening in the world now, or in the last five years, that reflects the media bias shown in these episodes?
The series
WHEN THEY SEE US is a four-part film directed by Ava DuVernay that depicts the wrongful arrest and imprisonment of the Exonerated Five, a group of teenagers of color from Harlem, for the rape and beating of a white female jogger in Central Park in 1989.
The series explores how the teens were prejudged as guilty by a biased criminal justice system, coerced into false confessions, and wrongly persecuted by sensationalist media coverage.
It serves as a commentary on the oppressive institutions and systems in the United States that have long-lasting and far-reaching implications for vulnerable citizens and their communities. Lack of education, wealth, social capital and resources negatively impact poor people and people of color in the criminal justice system.
The Exonerated Five were fully exonerated in 2002 after DNA evidence, and a confession from the lone attacker proved their innocence. They settled with New York City for $41 million in 2014.
What is the difference between calling them “the Central Park Five” vs “the exonerated five”?
Parts I and II
Episode One of WHEN THEY SEE US depicts the events of April 19, 1989, when five teenagers from Harlem, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Korey Wise, Raymond Santana Jr., and Yusef Salaam, are arrested and coerced into confessing to the attack of Patricia Meili in Central Park. Episode Two reveals how people in power, including Donald Trump, villainize the teens, with Trump even calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty before the trial. The series underscores the need to address inequities in the US American court system, including issues with the bail system, prosecutorial and judicial offices, and access to legal representation.
1.Victor Ríos argues that in the context of mass incarceration, labeling is “a process by which agencies of social control stigmatize and mark individuals, creating a cycle of criminalization. This “labeling hype” leads to feeling outcast and shame, fostering a deviant self-concept. The spiral of punitive responses from institutions begins with minor labels like “at risk” and escalates to more serious ones like “delinquent,” impacting social mobility and perpetuating criminalization. This process not only generates criminality but also sustains criminalization. (45)
How is the process of “labeling” portrayed in the first part of When They See Us?
2.”Informal labels, negative treatment, and stigma derived from a perception of criminality are imposed on individuals who have committed a crime but also are imposed on individuals who are from a group or community perceived to be criminogenic.” (49)
Discuss how the boys are criminalized based on the communities they come from.
Unequal access to resources can result in unequal access to justice. How this issue is portrayed in parts I and II of the series? Can you think of an example of unequal access to resources in your community?
3.”All the young men in this study believed that they were inherently criminal: their interactions with the world around them had led them to internalize a foreign concept, that criminality was part of their persona. In the context of punitive social control, some marginalized boys are fostered by punishment, at every stage in their development, encountering a social world that, in their account, treats them as suspects and criminals.” (52)
How does the young men in the film internalize criminality through their contact with the police?
When arrested, individuals should be made aware of their Miranda Rights:
1. You have the right to remain silent
2. Anything you say can and will be used against you
3. The right to have an attorney
4. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you
Individuals also have the right to cease questioning if at any time a request for a lawyer is made.
How do you think the interrogations would have been different if the five teens had known their rights and asserted them? Or if adults — guardians or legal representation — had been present?
