Cincinnati Goddamn is certainly relevant to the times, but could have used tighter editing to cut down the length. The film also failed to take advantage of Michelle Alexander, but Manning Marable, local activists, and the Owensby family bring the horrific stories of Cincinnati police brutality to life. Marable, by far, was the best 'academic' interviewed in the documentary, particularly for highlighting the economic conditions and neoliberal push in urban policy and development across the US.
A deeper and more critical analysis would have done a better job placing racial segregation in the city into a broader perspective, highlighted mistakes made by the attorneys representing the family of Owensby, and avoid the trap of respectability politics. I am not sure it it was intentional on the director's part, but it was disturbing that only two victims of killer cops were featured in the film, and the main victim case focused on Owensby, a military man with a daughter. What about the other young African-Americans brutalized and killed by the police? The documentary tries to highlight this, but should have done a better job including the stories of the other prominent victims given its length.
The interviews with locals, protesters, footage of the riots, commentary on the anti-black curfew laws, and Marable really made this documentary work, to me at least. Unquestionably bleak, yet prophetic of the recent turmoil in Baltimore and Ferguson. I believe the documentary should be screened to all audiences sympathetic and engaged in the Black Lives Matter movement.
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