Oscar-Nominated Film "13th" to be shown at United Parish

United Parish is watching "13th" on Sunday, March 12, in the Parlor after the worship service. A light lunch will be offered followed by this acclaimed new documentary film by the director of “Selma.” An opportunity to share impressions will follow the film.

The film’s title evokes the Thirteen Amendment that abolished slavery after the Civil War – or did it? Learn how we moved from the shackles of slavery to today’s prison bars on a whirlwind tour – Reconstruction > court-sanctioned segregation > “Birth of a Nation” > prison labor > Jim Crow > civil rights movement > War on Drugs > mass incarceration.

“Powerful, infuriating and at times overwhelming” the film 13TH “shakes you up, but it also challenges your ideas about the intersection of race, justice and mass incarceration in the United States.” N.Y. Times (9/29/16).

The film makes us ask if the United States will remain the nation that now holds 25% of the world’s prisoners even though it has only 5% of the world’s population? Is Massachusetts content to remain the #8 ranked carceral “nation” in the world – the best among the worst?

For more information, email endmassincarceration@upbrookline.org.