Letter to the President
by Gibson (III), Thomas
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Chuck D., Common, David Banner, Snoop Dogg, Wyclef JeanDirector: Gibson (III), Thomas
Brand: IMAGE ENT.
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-06-28
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product features:
- This feature-length documentary showcases hip-hop's close-knit ties to America's social and political policies in the last thirty years. Even before hip-hop, black musical artists of the past have been at the forefront of civil rights and black power movements of the late '60s and '70s. See how those movements were destroyed by the FBI and J. Edgar Hoover, and witness rap's bir
Movie Reviews of Letter to the President
Movie Review: surprising documentary
Summary: 4 Stars
As it is narrated by Snoop Dogg who I never have seen as particularly socially conscious, I was expecting a documentary with a lot of samples of hip hop music and then the artist or others using many swear words to explain what the music was really saying. To my surprise and pleasure, this was much more. The artists who are mainly speaking about subjects of the economy of the late 70s and into the 80s, the crack epidemic, how automatic guns get into the inner city, up to the current war are KRS-ONE, Chuck D, and others usually seen as socially conscious. They talk about how rap became socially conscious, how gangsta rap was often socially conscious, and how the big record companies are now suppressing socially conscious hip hop. This is more of a history-timeline type documentary and is very good. They never touch upon the 'does music simply reflect society or does it affect society' issue but it is definitely one that I would suggest for a library of good documentaries. If you are looking for a lot of music and entertainment, this isn't it, but it flows well and keeps you engaged.
Summary of Letter to the President
This feature-length documentary showcases hip-hop's close-knit ties to America's social and political policies in the last thirty years. Even before hip-hop, black musical artists of the past have been at the forefront of civil rights and black power movements of the late '60s and '70s. See how those movements were destroyed by the FBI and J. Edgar Hoover, and witness rap's birth from those movements and its own progression from being music heard at weekend block parties to its lyrics being debated in the halls of Congress. Letter to the President delves deeply into President Ronald Reagan's policies that negatively affected minority communities and inspired pioneer rap artists such as Grandmaster Melle Mel and Run DMC to tell the whole world about it in song. Then in the "glamorous" '80s, as some people prospered and many minority communities suffered, artists such as Russell Simmons struggled to get laws overturned that targeted those minorities.Action & Adventure DVD Video
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