Skip to Main Content

Monday M&Ms: 13TH

Monday Meaningful Movies

                                                       Monday Meaningful Movies Marquee Logo                                                                                         

13TH

About the Documentary

"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

- 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

 

While the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, passed on January 31, 1865, is thought to have ended slavery in the United States, Ava DuVernay's documentary, 13TH, clearly demonstrates that this is not true. A major exception was included in the amendment which allowed slavery to continue within the criminal justice system under the guise of incarceration. The documentary utilizes startling statistics and interviews with activists, authors, and leading scholars in a variety of subjects to clearly show the connection between the 13th Amendment's failure to completely abolish slavery and the current prison industrial complex in the United States. DuVernay explores the history of the criminal justice system in the U.S. since 1865 and analyzes policies like the "war on drugs" which unfairly targeted communities of color and facilitated mass incarceration.

13th Trailer

Monday M&M Flyer: 13th

Pilgrim Library:   
  419-783-2481     
  library@defiance.edu     
  Click the purple "Ask Us" side tab above