American Violet: docu-drama about racism and the drug-war
John Gilmore sez,American Violet exposes the racism of the drug war (Thanks, John!)I just saw a pre-screening of "American Violet", which opens across the US starting tomorrow. "American Violet", is based on true stories of rampant rural-Texas racism fed and empowered by Federal drug war money -- the kind that Obama just gave two BILLION more dollars to as part of his stimulus. The more convictions your "anti-drug task force" gets, the more money you get. Busting random poor people and offering them lose-lose plea bargains (90+% of drug cases are resolved with a plea bargain) is the fast route to local power and federal riches. Before we try to fix it, come see up close how it works, and what the victims face if they ever step up to fight it. The movie opens April 17 across the US. It's a horror movie that's a little too close to home to leave you unaffected.
I know the real-life ACLU lawyer who's portrayed, I've talked with him and read the book about the first Texas town they cleaned up (Tulia); this movie is about the second (Hearne), though all the names are changed to protect the guilty. My donations funded some of ACLU's Texas work.
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Cory Doctorow
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