Strong and solid first episode to what's shaping up as a very interesting series based on The 1619 Project book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Nikole Hannah-Jones (also the creator of this show).
The first episode introduces a topic of democracy so deeply rooted in freedom, ironically for black people a virtue they always had to fight for (and still do to a certain extent). An eye opener on a current state of American democracy, especially for someone who lives in Europe, the amount of laws and rules introduced very recently to actually make it harder to vote is shocking, as much as De Sanctis' fraud vote shenanigans.
It's directed well, very competently paced - good amount of historical facts and footage on American democracy mixed with current opinions and just hard to believe situations (like the one where a group of black people (some disabled) have blatantly denied their right to cast ballots due to an alleged admin mistake.
Great conversation with a member and one of the leaders of SNCC, emotional and true to the core. Also, fantastic conversation with two political scientists which really puts in perspective the current state of democracy in America. Sadly too short, I'd love to hear more from these two gentlemen.
It is a solid 7 - I feel like there are other crucial topics that have been omitted that could have contributed to this episode's theme, but Nikole chooses to focus and delve more on her family history - which is understandable and gives more of a human touch to the narrative - it's just not very beneficial to the topic of democracy in general.
Review by Jack HnatejkoBlockedParent2024-01-05T22:53:08Z
Strong and solid first episode to what's shaping up as a very interesting series based on The 1619 Project book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Nikole Hannah-Jones (also the creator of this show).
The first episode introduces a topic of democracy so deeply rooted in freedom, ironically for black people a virtue they always had to fight for (and still do to a certain extent). An eye opener on a current state of American democracy, especially for someone who lives in Europe, the amount of laws and rules introduced very recently to actually make it harder to vote is shocking, as much as De Sanctis' fraud vote shenanigans.
It's directed well, very competently paced - good amount of historical facts and footage on American democracy mixed with current opinions and just hard to believe situations (like the one where a group of black people (some disabled) have blatantly denied their right to cast ballots due to an alleged admin mistake.
Great conversation with a member and one of the leaders of SNCC, emotional and true to the core.
Also, fantastic conversation with two political scientists which really puts in perspective the current state of democracy in America. Sadly too short, I'd love to hear more from these two gentlemen.
It is a solid 7 - I feel like there are other crucial topics that have been omitted that could have contributed to this episode's theme, but Nikole chooses to focus and delve more on her family history - which is understandable and gives more of a human touch to the narrative - it's just not very beneficial to the topic of democracy in general.