SO cafe to screen film on race and crime

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Addressing the sensitive but significant topics of how race and class contribute to the American criminal justice system may be difficult, but it is exactly what filmmakers Hafiz Farid and Shelley Grodner Seidenstein intend to do when the screen “The Presumption of Guilt: Race, Class, and Crime in America” at Inkosi Cafe, 251 Irvington Ave. in South Orange, on Saturday, July 29, at 8 p.m.

The award-winning documentary will be shown at the cafe in partnership with owners Mitch and Barbara Burgess’ ongoing film series that aims to create dialogue and bring about positive community interactions.

The film is based on the book “The Presumption of Guilt: The Arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Race, Class, and Crime in America,” by Harvard University law professor Charles Ogletree. The book examines the 2009 incident involving the unwarranted arrest of fellow Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. while trying to enter his own home in Cambridge, Mass.; police mistakenly believed Gates was trying to break into the home, an assumption that allegedly originated because Gates is black. Ogletree’s book also serves to examine the relationships between law enforcement and civilians, racism and classism in modern times.

The film features interviews with some of the most illustrious figures in academia and politics, including Ogletree, Maya Angelou, Alan Dershowitz, Terrie M. Williams, Anita Hill, Tim Wise, Michelle Alexander, Lawrence Watson, Richard L. Taylor, Rev. Reginald Jackson, Larry Hamm and Rev. Eugene Rivers.

For Farid, the film’s director, there was no question that the increasingly unbalanced justice system deserved a more critical look through the lens of his documentary.

“What inspired the creation of this film is just the obvious reality of living in America and being a person of color. At a very early age, you become aware that you are presumed guilty, not innocent as the Constitution assures or says to us, and that has been a reality since African-Americans have been here, and it’s a foreboding reality that we live with every day,” he said in a recent phone interview with the News-Record.

“Charles Ogletree is a renowned lawyer and professor of law who taught both Barack and Michelle Obama. He decided to write a book about the intersection of race and class that came to head in revealing that even a Harvard professor can be accosted and arrested in his own home the same way that a teenager can be harassed on the street,” Farid said.

“Professor Ogletree is a friend of mine, so I approached him about the idea of turning the book into a film, so that we could expand the audience on this conversation. Everyone isn’t going to want to read a book about law, but people will go see a film,” he continued. “For those that have trouble accepting the idea that these kinds of things are happening in America, we hope that this film will highlight some truths for them, and that people who couldn’t connect the dots before will be able to do so after seeing it.”

Though the foundation of the book and the subsequent documentary examine the mistaken arrest of Gates and the ramifications of the incident, Farid said that the goal of the film goes far beyond that.

“We’re not just focusing on a professor being arrested but also the many other cases where people never make it home — they die right on the scene. That reality is that we are supposedly presumed innocent but in most cases people of color are presumed guilty,” he said. “What we hope people take away is that this threatens the democracy of America because it keeps us polarized and every one of us has a responsibility. We can’t all do everything, but we all can do something. Our way to fight injustices is to make films that are powerful and uplifting and also to have conversations that tackle the uncomfortable subjects with the hopes of finding some common ground.”

Seidenstein, who served as executive producer and co-writer for the documentary, is hopeful the film will serve as a catalyst for both reflection and action for viewers.

“Unfortunately we know that things take time to change and it doesn’t happen overnight. Families pass down their own feelings about things, so it’s wonderful to look at a documentary like this and see what other people have been through. We know we can’t change the world, but we can change ourselves by reaching out to the community,” she said in a recent phone interview with the News-Record.

“We really need to find the tools to rise above and give people a sense of belonging. We want to be able to distribute these films and put them out there. Hopefully they will be internalized as an educational tool, perhaps you will internalize it and it will invoke something in you that you haven’t even thought about. It opens up dialogue, and one of the things that we tend to skirt is dialogue.”

One of the key differences between the book and the documentary is the inclusion of several notable women expounding on the ideas of race and class in America, and how it affects them.

“In the book, Charles had 100 black men who were profiled and when we realized that there was a place for this to be transposed into a movie, we also realized there was a lack of women and we knew we were going to expand and include women,” Seidenstein said. “What was so pleasurable was having full reins and trusting on everyone’s part that we did a service to Ogletree’s book. Additionally, on an education front, when you see a film and talk about it afterwards, what buttons does it hit for you? That’s what we want to explore.”

Building community relations and creating an atmosphere where individuals feel comfortable having the sometimes difficult conversations is precisely what Mitch and Barbara Burgess envisioned when they opened Inkosi Cafe five years ago.

Longtime South Orange resident and business owner Mitch Burgess believes that the current political and social climate is ripe for discussions on how to address the issues of race, class and law enforcement involvement in local communities.

“I’m excited about the event because of some of the racial tension we are experiencing right here in Maplewood and South Orange. I’ve lived here for 25 years and raised my children here and I know most of the members of SOPD and they know me. But they don’t know my sons, and though they are respectful, they are young black men and that means something,” Burgess said in a recent interview with the News-Record. “I always try to look at those who are fair and decent, I want to always bring some positivity to the table.”

Despite his optimistic outlook, Burgess, too, has been the victim of unwarranted involvement with the local law enforcement and knows all too well that it might not always end in his favor.

“Not too long after we moved to the area, I was out for a run early one morning and I went past one of my businesses and noticed that the windows looked dirty, so I went inside to clean them. Next thing I know, the SOPD are surrounding me and asking me to turn around and put my hands against the wall, and I kept asking them what the problem was,” he said. “They told me that the woman across the street had been robbed two weeks earlier and when she saw me she swore I was the perpetrator and called the police. I eventually got it straightened out, but I never forgot that incident.”

Constantly looking for ways to foster greater understanding among neighbors, Burgess said that a few weeks ago when Inkosi Cafe showed another film by Farid and Seidenstein, a documentary based on the life and perspectives of noted activist, author and poet Maya Angelou, he knew that they were onto something.

“You could hear a pin drop after the Maya Angelou event, and I knew that we needed to do another showing,” he said.

Following the presentation of “The Presumption of Guilt: Race, Class, and Crime in America,” there will be a discussion with filmmakers Seidenstein and Farid. The event is free and open to the public. Reservations are strongly recommended by emailing Inkosi Cafe at [email protected] or calling 973-327-4851.

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