Many people know the name Huey Newton, but when asked, many wouldn’t know why. The co-founder of the Black Panther Party gained national attention in 1967 when a short shootout during a traffic stop in Oakland resulted in his hospitalization and the death of a police officer. The Black Panthers sought expert defense for their co-founder, finding a willing ally in the already controversial lawyer Charles R. Garry. He and Newton knew this trial would be political, as the situation leading up to Newton’s was originally instigated by police political and racial bias.
This became even clearer when charges were brought forward: First-degree murder, felonious assault, and kidnapping. All for defending himself after getting shot at a traffic stop gone wrong. The dramatic trial and many key players in the justice system and the Black Panthers are interviewed in this outstanding short documentary. American Justice on Trial asks a question we still find ourselves asking today: Can a black revolutionary in America get fair treatment under the law?
With a forty-minute runtime, American Justice on Trial is a perfect choice for college classrooms. The breakdown of racial injustice in America going back to the colonial period and the early years of the Black Panthers are skillfully broken down in a PBS-style documentary before the traffic stop and trial are examined. This gives viewers a basic but important background of systemic racism in America before addressing the trial that brought Huey Newton to national fame.
Honest interviews and a surprising amount of detail make American Justice on Trial a fantastic documentary for both educational and recreational use. Those studying police brutality, the justice system, or the social movements of the 1960s will be most interested in this title. American Justice on Trial would be an excellent choice for filling out racial justice and law documentary shelves. Highly recommended.
Where does this title belong on public library shelves?
American Justice on Trial belongs on law, race, history, and biography shelves.
What kind of college instructor could use this title?
Instructors of American History, Law, and African-American studies will find the most classroom use in American Justice on Trial.