Being Black "After Trayvon"

Do young African-American men feel persecuted? Do you really need to ask?

Alex Mallis' short film After Trayvon, featured in SIFF's "Ripped from the Headlines" package, sure feels the need to answer. (The answer, by the way, is "yes.")

 

Unfortunately, a video that lays it out as bluntly as After Trayvon is needed, because too many white Americans are blinded by the safety lent them by their skin color to the reality that not everyone has it so good. While Mallis' format may be prosaic, it's to be commended for it's simplicity: it's hard (or at least asinine) to answer "I feel persecuted" with "no you don't."

It ought to be a no-brainer, but apparently it isn't, that young men with brown or black skin feel persecuted in America because they are persecuted in America. It's important, therefore, for material like After Trayvon to exist. Mallis may not be a sophisticated filmmaker, but he gets the job done.