13TH
MOVIE
DISCUSSION
GUIDE
Discussion Questions
Virtual Viewing
Virtual Discussion
01
FILM SUMMARY
The historical roots of African American oppression run deep, as Ava DuVernay’s documentary
13THreveals. The film looks back to the ratification of Amendment XIII, which states, “Neither
slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have
been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
DuVernay argues that a prison-industrial complex which statistically imprisons black men
disproportionately and allows for their disciplinary servitude, has taken advantage of America’s black
population and brings into question if this system ultimately acts as a form of modern day slavery.
Featuring a wide range of interviewees including civil rights activist Angela Davis, “The New Jim
Crow” author Michelle Alexander, regular New Yorker reporter and professor Jelani Cobb, social
justice author and attorney Van Jones, and many more, 13THmoves from the media-induced
criminalization of black persons to the corporate privatization of prisons with eloquence, poise, and
a cavalcade of statistics to back up its thesis on the dehumanization of black people in America.
While sobering in its historical recontextualization of race in America, DuVernay’s film remains
hopeful in acknowledging her fellow African Americans’ diligence and grace in their fight for equality
under intolerable conditions. No one knows how bright or dark the future of America will be, but as
Jones vigilantly states, “It will be.”
