Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

ManiakJiggy This is How Movies Should Be Made

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Brooklynn There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

jimi99 This is an essential documentary at the right time, introducing the great writer and cultural activist, who had fallen into semi-obscurity, to many new minds. The footage of James Baldwin's public speaking is riveting and as timely as can be. Hopefully it will send many fans of this highly-acclaimed documentary to his brilliantnovels, plays, and essays. The big problem I had with the movie is the choice of Samuel Jackson as narrator, speaking Baldwin's words in a croaky, raspy voice that was as far from Baldwin's precise diction as can be imagined. Maybe that was the point, but it grated on me every time I heard it.

Karl Self First of, you have to hand it to Samuel Jackson. He could make my tax statement sound captivating. Next, director Raoul Peck manages to back him up with a stunning visual collage of archive footage.So "I Am Not Your Negro" is a surprisingly easy watch, despite the fact that it is based on an unfinished script by James Baldwin So why is this movie called "I Am Not Your Negro"? I don't know. And in any case, I don't want "you" to be my negro. Baldwin's text is called, equally obliquely, but less catchily, "Remember This House".What I got from this movie was that James Baldwin was a trained preacher, who tried to be an acolyte to far more charismatic civil rights activists (in the case case of Malcolm X, black racist) Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., who were murdered before they were 40 years old (and in Malcolm's case, by black henchmen of his own cult). The film has to pussyfoot around the fact that two other protagonists of the era, the Kennedy brothers, were also murdered, despite the fact that they were not downtrodden and as white as the cliffs of Dover.Baldwin is seen trying to convince liberal white Americans, who were all for civil rights in the first place, that fighting racism was somehow not an act of altruism but somehow would contribute to their own betterment.And also that the white sheriff in "In The Heat Of The Night" and "Mr. Tibbs" have an erotic tension going on between them.

Jon Parks Firstly, Sam Jackson; WOW I didn't even recognize your voice-over work.As a child NOT living in the US during this horrible historic times, I was saddened and shocked with some of the realities that many beautiful innocent African Americans were force to face.I didn't know James Baldwin going into this viewing, but WOW, what a great orator, thinking and philosopher. His analysis and opinions should be standard reading. Partly because of his 'message' but mostly because he deserve the attention and respect of ALL peoples. His message is both historic, and current. I am sure a subjugate individual in any situation could substitute their current condition into Mr.Baldwins ideas...So, as I said I am not African American, and in fact didn't grow up in the US. In my country, we just weren't raised seeing color. And so when I watch/listen so such eloquent, beautiful and powerful commentary that doesn't stir a "one side or the other side" emotion, I end up just being "emotional", because of the content spoken, not ties to one side or the other.I would really recommend that other White people watch this document. Not because of White-guilt, as I don't believe I have done anything wrong... But I do BELIEVE that I needed to LEARN the REAL truth as it relates to historical relations with African American community.My HEART bleeds and PRAYS that the US has moved slightly forward. Barack Obama HAS TO REPRESENT at least slight progress.I do agree with a previous Reviewer that complete and utter lack of ANY sort of positivity or hope. (or at least I missed it).But again... James Baldwin is truly an American Hero in my mind.All my heart hopes things work out better over the next 5-10-15-20-25 yrs.

David Eastman I gave this documentary a slightly higher score than it might otherwise have because of it's timing. Perhaps it would be good at anytime, but it has an added poignancy because the message of American self destruction (there is even a little Trump excerpt) is the also the story that James Baldwin tells with the notes from his unprinted history of civil rights.Within the pantheon of the black movement, Baldwin was not similar to either Malcolm X or Martin Luther King; he was a transgressive wordsmith - not a fighter or a stoic example. But he is the perfect foil for this documentary that melds the 60s with today, as he understood that racial hate was a self hate that cannot easily be quenched. His important point is that American white society cannot square it's myths and dreams with reality. Samuel Jackson's narration adds to this solidly put together documentary that keeps the viewer engaged all the way.This film has a slight family superficiality sometimes, with little depth attempted with the lives of the black heroes who already have several films dedicated to them. A good knowledge of the time line is assumed, as the film jumps up and down it regularly.Many images, old and new are (still) shocking - though Baldwins diagnosis remains the bitter pill that America cannot swallow.