FILM DISCUSSION GUIDE

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.

The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution

 HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE

The United States is home to 5% of the world’s population, but 25% of the world’s prisoners.
Think about that.
—Former President Barack Obama

Our justice system is a human rights catastrophe and one of the biggest moral crises of our time.
—Van Jones
It’s intense.
THIS GUIDE INCLUDES:
It’s emotional.
It’s mind-blowing.
About 13th
Before You Start
This guide will help you dissect what you learn, and it will
allow you to move at a pace that gives you space to process
Notes (1)
it emotionally and intellectually.
Discussion 1
Checking Your Pulse
This guide is an invitation to dialogue—not to debate. This
Just WOW
guide was created for those entering this time with an open
Group Discussion
spirit. Our hope is that it will spark conversations that lead to
others expanding their worldviews, sharing their viewpoints,
Notes (2)
and actively listening.
Discussion 2
Checking Your Pulse
There are two main ways to use this guide:
Just WOW
Group Discussion
1. Because of the intensity of the documentary, this
guide breaks the movie into three parts (approximately
Notes (3)
35 minutes per section) to allow space for viewers to
Discussion 3
process it individually and as a group.
Checking Your Pulse
Just WOW
2. If the viewer chooses to watch 13th in its entirety with
Group Discussion
no breaks, there are four questions in the Summary
Discussion section to discuss as a group.
Summary Discussion
Before I Forget
The discussion questions are meant to guide these
Action Steps
conversations rather than to direct them. Choose one
Additional Resources
question or all of them. Decide what works best for the
group . . . or feel free to create your own.
 ABOUT THE 13TH

FILM DETAILS FILM THEMES (written by influencefilmclub.com)

DIRECTOR: Ava DuVernay AFRICAN AMERICANS PORTRAYED AS CRIMINALS
Dating back to D.W. Griffith’s 1915 BIRTH OF A NATION,
RELEASED: Oct 7, 2016
African Americans have continually been portrayed as
LENGTH: 1 hour 40 minutes criminals in many forms of American media. Through this
FEATURED: Michelle Alexander, Angela Davis, Bryan lens, the public at large has come to unconsciously believe
Stevenson, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Jelani that black people are more likely to become rapists, drug
Cobb, Van Jones, Malkia Cyril, James addicts, murderers or thieves purely because of the color of
Kilgore their skin. The more one sees images and hears stories of
African Americans committing crimes, whether it is true or
not, the more likely one is to believe that African Americans
are indeed criminals.

MASS INCARCERATION AS REPLACEMENT FOR SLAVERY

As Amendment XIII 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.” Yet,
countless corporations have prisoners who have been put to
work without pay as part of their sentencing. Since the
FILM SUMMARY: abolishment of slavery, politicians have implemented
policies that feed off of the media-generated fear of black
Chronicling the history of racial inequality in the United criminals, disproportionately putting African Americans
States, the 13th examines how our country has produced behind bars where they can be used as free labor.
the highest rate of incarceration in the world, with the
majority of those imprisoned being African-American. The CORPORATE INTERESTS SHAPE PRISON POPULATION
title of DuVernay’s extraordinary and galvanizing film The American Legislative Exchange Council, better known as
refers to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. The ALEC, a coalition of corporate interests like Walmart and
progression from that second qualifying clause to the Verizon, introduces federal policies which arguably result in
horrors of mass incarceration and the prison industry in putting African Americans and immigrants behind bars in the
the U.S. is laid out by DuVernay with bracing interest of profiteering from the success of private prisons,
lucidity. DuVernay argues that a prison-industrial complex surveillance, and prison labor. One in four US legislators
which statistically imprisons black men disproportionately have ties to ALEC, some of whom have introduced bills and
and allows for their disciplinary servitude, has taken policies without even bothering to remove ALEC’s branding
advantage of America’s black population and brings into from them before dispersing them to colleagues.
question if this system ultimately acts as a form of
modern day slavery. THE DEHUMANIZATION OF AFRICAN AMERICANS
By portraying black people as criminals, depriving their
“This film was made as an answer to my own questions communities of financial resources that put them on a level
about how and why we have become the most playing field to their white compatriots, developing public
incarcerated nation in the world, how and why we regard policies that are more likely to see people of color placed
some of our citizens as innately criminal, and how and why behind bars, and creating prison systems that are meant to
good people allow this injustice to happen generation punish and break people rather than help them rehabilitate
after generation,” said DuVernay at her premier at the and reenter society, America has consciously, or
54th New York Film Festival. unconsciously, dehumanized its black population.
 BEFORE WE START

Checking Your Pulse 5 minutes

Before you begin to view the film, let’s check your pulse. Take a few minutes to answer the
following questions as honestly as you can.

1. When you hear the word prisoner, what images and terms come to mind?

Some one who has done bad, and is in jail for life

2. This film addresses the injustice of mass incarceration and race – the disproportionate
incarceration of poor people of color, particularly black and brown men. Take a second to
examine where you are concerning race. Write down a couple of words describing your state (ex:
sensitive, struggling with seeing racism, angry, etc). *This will help you to understand and pay
attention to the filter you will be watching the film through.
I don't think its fair that black/brown men are in prisoned more.

3. Write down 1-2 questions you have about mass incarceration and prisoners.
How many people get parole?
Use this page to write down things that challenge you, points to remember, thoughts
you want to discuss, etc.

5% of the world's population has 25% of the prisoners

The loop hole in the constitutional clause was abused

War on drugs was a criminalizing drugs rather than helping people

 DISCUSSION 1

Checking Your Pulse 2-3 minutes

1. Notice your emotions. Write words or phrases to describe what you are feeling right now.
Horrified, discussed.

JUST WOW! 2-3 minutes

List one WOW moment or fact from the last segment:

5% of the world's population has 25% of the prisoners

Group Discussion 15 minutes – Choose one or two to discuss.

1. History is not just stuff that happens by accident. We are the products of history that our
ancestors choose, if we’re white. If we are black, we are the products of the history that our
ancestors most likely did not choose. Yet here we are all together, the products of that set
of choices. And we have to understand that in order to escape from it. — Kevin Gannon,
13th
What are your thoughts on this quote? Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not?

I completely agree, we are the product of our ancestors history. Black people's ancestors
didn't have a choices whereas our ancestors did.
 President Lyndon B. Johnson ushered in the War on Crime, Nixon began a figurative War
2. on Drugs that became a literal War on Drugs in the Reagan era. Were you surprised to
learn about the racial underpinnings of these legislative policies, and the active role of the
state in criminalizing and targeting communities of color? Discuss using the quotation
below.

The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two
enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying?
We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but
by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with
heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those
communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their
meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know
we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did. – John Ehrlichman, Nixon
Administration Advisor

Politicians are liars, they only do stuff to push their own agenda.

3. Crack vs Cocaine. Same drug (one powdered, one cooked) but used in different racial
communities and carry different sentencing. Share your thoughts on how this
contributed to mass incarceration.

Crack is refined making it more potent, which in turn makes the people who use it (mainly
blacks) more violent and less productive.
Use this page to write down things that challenge you, points to remember, thoughts you want to
discuss, etc.

Bill Clinton put into place a law that destroyed thousands of lives then said it was a bad
idea.

The violence in Alabama killed children and left people scared, there were limbs and
head strung over places

Private organizations and companies were makings laws.

 DISCUSSION 2

Checking Your Pulse 2-3 minutes

1. Notice your emotions. Write words or phrases to describe what you are feeling right now.

Private organizations shouldn't have a say in the laws, they were the ones drafting the laws.

JUST WOW! 2-3 minutes

List one WOW moment or fact from the last segment:

Bill Clinton put into place a law that destroyed thousands of lives then said it was a bad idea.

Group Discussion 15 minutes—Choose one or two to discuss.

1. Super predator. Criminal. Think about the power of media and the power of words.
Discuss media and how words impact the perception and criminalization of people of
color, both in the past and the present (animalistic, violent, to be feared, threat to white
people, criminals, etc.). Give modern-day examples.
If a woman sees a black person on the street they tend to hold onto their purse tighter

2. According to the documentary, President Clinton built the infrastructure for mass
incarceration: mandatory minimums (taking the discretion away from judges),
militarization of police (SWAT teams), three-strikes law, and truth-in-sentencing laws
(must serve 85% of sentence). Discuss the role of politics and crime and how you see it
impact our communities today (both past and current administrations).

40% of the prisoners are black, this is a huge toll on the black community. People have tried to
changed it but others don't want it to change.
 PRISONERS FOR PROFIT. Were you aware of the Prison Industrial Complex and how
3. corporations are profiting from incarceration?
• Were you surprised to know about ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council—a
committee of politicians and corporations influencing laws that benefit its
corporate founders and pushing forth policies to increase the number of people in
prison and increase sentences)?
• Talk about CCA (Corrections Corporations of America, leader in private prisons that
is required to keep prison beds filled—the leading corporation responsible for the
rapid increase in criminalization) and how that impacts our communities.

I knew about prisons for profit, I just didn't expect every aspect of prison is making money.
The food provided is for profit so instead of giving them notorious diets they get fed slop
because it maximizes profits.

4. The film argues that there is a direct link between American slavery and the modern
American prison system. What is your take on this argument?

I completely agree, modern day prisons are a lot like slavery. Its not forced labor but most poisoners
get jobs to make money but its hard labor for under minimum wage.
Use this page to write down things that challenge you, points to remember, thoughts you want to
discuss, etc.
 DISCUSSION 3

Checking Your Pulse 2-3 minutes

1. Notice your emotions. Write words or phrases to describe what you are feeling right now.

JUST WOW! 2-3 minutes

List one WOW moment or fact from the last segment:

Group Discussion 15 minutes—Choose one or two to discuss.

1. “No one in the hood goes to trial.” Discuss your understanding (or what you
learned) about bail, plea bargains, and refusing to settle your case. How did the
story of Kalief Browder impact you?

2. “You immediately become numb. That’s what jail does to humans, that immediate
dehumanization, and sensory deprivation that nobody can really understand unless
they live through it.” Discuss the impact this has on those currently incarcerated and
what this could look like upon release.

People that come out of jail have no friends, money, or a job, so they feel life less. In the prisons
they are worked and made into dull humans.
 “So many aspects of the old Jim Crow are suddenly legal again once you’ve been
3. branded a felon. And so it seems that in America we haven’t so much ended racial
caste, but simply redesigned it.”
—Michelle Alexander

The impact of incarceration doesn’t end when one returns to society. As stated,
there are over 40,000 collateral consequences that follow the returning citizen.
Discuss your thoughts.

Most ex-prisoners find it hard to get a job when they re enter society, because no one wants to
hire them, and that is sad.

4. Angela Davis stated, “Efforts to create reforms, they inevitably lead to more
repression.” What does this statement mean to you? How do you see this playing
out today?

The prison system is trying to make the prisoners reformed, but the idea of money is wanting
them to take short cuts for profit.
 SUMMARY DISCUSSION

1. After watching the full documentary, how would you sum up your current emotional
state (helpless, inspired, challenged, angry, stirred to action, a combination of
feelings)?
I feel discussed that we let this go on for so long with no change, the life's of so many
are affected in a negative way.

2. Did you learn concepts that were contrary to what you initially thought or believed?
How did this film shape your understanding of the prison system? What challenged
your pre-existing view?

I had previously thought that you do nothing in prison, but prisoners do hard work for little pay.
They don't even have any windows in each cell.

Go back to the section Before We Begin: Checking Your Pulse. Reread what you wrote,
3. and see if you feel any different. Were your questions answered? Have the images and
terms you wrote down for the word prisoner changed at all?

I feel like the prisoners are more mistreated than I originally thought. I still think that that
prisoners are affected for life, they struggle when they get released, IF they get released at all.
 BEFORE I FORGET

MY TAKEAWAYS
List three ways this documentary has impacted you. What did you learn? What insights did it
provide? What questions do you still have?

1. I still want to know more about the labor the prisoners do. I don't this this is right, they are expositing
the prisoners for personal gain. It is basically slavery.

2. I learned that prisons for profit is is every aspect of prisons, even the phone calls, which are about $10
each, are for profit.

3. I am still shocked about the numbers, 4% of the world's population has 40% of the world's prisoners.
40% of those are black.

“People say all the time, ‘Well, I don’t understand

how people could have tolerated slavery. How
could they have made peace with that? How
could people have gone to a lynching and
participated in that? That’s so crazy. If I was living
at that time I would never have tolerated
anything like that.’ And the truth is we are living
in this time, and we are tolerating it.”
-Bryan Stevenson
 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

DOCUMENTARIES
• The House I Live In—www.TheHouseILiveIn.org
• Broken on All Sides: Race, Mass Incarceration and New Visions for Criminal Justice—www.brokenonallsides.com
• Rikers: An American Jail—rikersfilm.org
YOUTH FOCUS:
• TIME: The Kalief Browder Story—series on Netflix
• Young Kids, Hard Time (45 min.)—www.msnbc.com
• Children Behind Bars: American Youth Violence (46 min.)—www.msnbc.com
• Children in Prison: Locked Up for Life (55 min.)—www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLrlajvhUaQ
• Alone: Teens in Solitary Confinement (22 min.)—www.csgjuscecenter.org/youth/publications/alone-teens-in-solitary-
confinement
WOMEN FOCUS:
• “A Nation of Women Behind Bars” 20/20 (30 min.)—http://abc.go.com/shows/2020/listing/2015-02/27-2020-022715-a-nation-
of-women-behind-bars-a-dianesawyer-hidden-america-special
• Women Behind Bars (30 min.)—www.aljazeera.com/programmes/faultlines/2013/09/women-behind-bars-
201393010326721994.html

BOOKS
• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness—Alexander, Michelle. 2012.
• Just Mercy—Stevenson, Bryan. 2014
• Are Prisons Obsolete?—Davis, Angela Y. New York: Seven Stories, 2003.
• The Growth of Incarceration in the United States—Committee on Causes and Consequences of High Rates of Incarceration, et al.
National Academic Press, 2014.
• The Collapse of American Criminal Justice—Stuntz, William J. 2013.
• Arrested Justice Black Women, Violence, and America's Prison Nation—Richie, Beth. 2012.
• The Justice Imperative: How Hyper-incarceration Has Hijacked the American Dream: A Collaborative Examination of Connecticut's
Criminal Justice and Corrections System—Moran, Brian E, 2014.
• Building a Movement to End the New Jim Crow: An Organizing Guide—Hunter, Daniel, and Michelle Alexander, Veterans of Hope
Project, 2015.
• Monster—Myers, Walter Dean. 1999. (Juvenile Fiction novel)

WEBSITES
• Campaign for Youth Justice: www.campaignforyouthjustice.org
• The Sentencing Project: www.sentencingproject.org
• Juvenile Justice Information Exchange: www.jjie.org
• Free America (John Legend’s Org): www.letsfreeamerica.org
• Just Leadership USA: www.justleadershipusa.org
• Justice Fellowship: www.justicefellowship.org
• Justice Policy Institute: www.justicepolicy.org
• Prison Policy Initiative: www.prisonpolicy.org
• Equal Justice Initiative: www.eji.org
• Vera Institute of Justice: www.vera.org
• Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
www.ojjdp.gov