JUST SAYING
By Raul Hernandez
Notebookventura@gmail.com
Two Documentaries Worth Watching
It is powerful, brutal and frank.
It forces America to look deep inside its soul and thumb through years of the cruelty of its racist history. It is a painful, thoughtful and agonizing journey.
The documentary, “I am Not Your Negro” is based on a book by James Baldwin, who died in 1987. Director Raoul Peck crafts the documentary from a book that Baldwin didn’t finish writing, “Remember This House.”
The documentary, which is narrated by Actor Samuel L. Jackson, links the Civil Rights movement to Black Lives Matter. It is directed by Raoul Peck.
I had read Baldwin’s essays in high school in the book “Notes of a Native Son.” This weekend I watched the documentary, which got very high ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.
It is worth renting.
Another new documentary, this one on NetFlix, that is worth watching is “Losing Sight of Shore,” which chronicles the voyage of four women who row from the U.S. to Austrailia for two charities.
It is about courage, persistence, and determination. The incredible journey documents the problems of fighting the weather, currents, fatigue, depression, boredom and the hand blisters from hours of rowing.
This documentary is not yet rated.
Colbert’s Ratings Soared
Trump’s cult following, aka supporters, racists, and enablers, criticized and were outraged about the remarks made by late-night comedian Stephen Colbert about Trump and some demanded that he resign.
Under this headline at on the Huffington Post: “Fire Who? ‘The Late Show’ Just Scored Best Ratings Since Premiere,“ I posted the following remarks in the comments section:
I think sane Americans should fire the crude, vulgar, crass and disgusting joke who makes the nation blush and lives in the White House, part-time.
Call the White House and demand that Trump be fired
(Hopefully, an adult will pick up the phone).
Well, I got 1,000 reader approvals for my comments.
The Right to Remain Silent
I recently read a very interesting article about Attorney James Duane on VICE titled, “A Law Professor Explains Why You Should Never Talk to Police.”
In 2008, James Duane, a professor at Virginia’s Regent Law School, gave a lecture about the risks of talking to the police that was filmed and posted to YouTube.
It’s had a million views since it was posted.
One very interesting and little known 2013 Supreme Court ruling allows prosecutors to tell jurors that defendants invoked the Fifth Amendment or making use of the right to remain silent when they were arrested.
For that reason, Duane thinks that you shouldn’t even tell the police that you are refusing to talk. Your safest course, he says, is to ask in no uncertain terms for a lawyer, and keep on asking until the police stop talking to you.