Search - American Revolution 2 on DVD

Check this out. This Happened in America:

Jepetto | Chicago, IL USA | 10/18/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This film just begins in the wake of violence and protest at the 1968 Democratic Convention, but it has a very different story to tell. It's set in Old Town, now a posh Chicago neighborhood, when the city is just beginning to set its sights on Old Town for a revitalization project. In 1968 a group of poor whites lived in Old Town who called themselves The Young Patriots. They had come from the Appalachian Mountains and are not shy about calling themselves "hillbillies." Like many poor white southerners they settled into flophouses and cheap apartments (they complain about rents of $140 per month) in Old Town and were often harrassed by the police. These poor whites are trying to connect with other radicalized groups to oppose the theft of their neighborhood by the rich. Some of the most amazing scenes are of meetings, the Young Patriots meeting with left-wing Christians at a Church of the Three Crosses, asking for their help to organize against the police and against capitalism. Recognizing their common plight, these middle-class white Christians and these hillbillies from Kentucky turn to who for wisdom? The Black Panthers. And the panthers, led by Robert E. Lee III, are these gorgeous, statuesque, perfectly disciplined and wonderfully articulate black men and women who are fonts of revolutionary wisdom, telling the whites that marches and demonstrations are a waste of time and that what they need to do is form strong communities that demand equality from the rich, at gunpoint if necessary. This happened in America, an America that America has forgotten, but it was not so long ago.

So the Panthers are very impressive. But then there are scenes giving voice to other black men in a South Side pool hall. These black men are saying, essentially, "We've been getting our heads busted by the cops for years but a few white boys get their heads busted and suddenly you're all down here talking about a revolution." And, "What do you care if a cop busts someone's head? I remember you when you were a kid on our street and you were busting people's heads. What do you care if a cop does the same thing?"

It's true the film lacks background information and identifications, as another reviewer complained, but that's part of its brilliance. It simply immerses you back in 1968. And then you realize how different this country was just 40 years ago. Radically different."