Synopsis of the documentary:
Crime, drugs, HIV/AIDS, poor education, inferiority complex, low expectations, poverty, corruption, poor health, and underdevelopment plagues people of African descent globally - Why? 500 years later from the onset of slavery and subsequent colonialism, Africans are still struggling for basic freedom - Why?
Filmed in five continents, and over twenty countries, 500 Years Later engages the authentic retrospective voice, told from the African vantage point of those whose history has sought to silence by examining the collective atrocities that uprooted Africans from their culture and homeland.
I can already hear those who will tell me:"Get over it: it was 500 years ago. Move on!"
- and the abolishment of slavery only took place in the 19th century (from 1807 to 1848)...not that long ago. I can remember my great grandmother telling me stories about slavery in the West Indies. And she remembered well. And her children, and the children of her children still feel the legacy of the past.
But moving on presupposes recognition, apologies, acknowledgment. And these never happened with the enslavement of African people and nor did it happen with colonialism.
This documentary provides answers to the above questions. And puts words on something much more subtle and hidden that what we commonly refer to as racism, and which is deeply ingrained in our universal representations. Watch it! And you will understand what these are.
Don't expect a shallow blame-game documentary, as it is much richer, profound, and substancial.
Official Website of 500 Year Later