Melvin and Jean. An American story
Description
This video is a poignant tale of two people, the radical 60s, crime in the name of a cause, and second chances. The documentary follows Melvin and Jean McNair from revolt and exile to renewal and reconciliation. As a young couple in 1972, the McNairs made news when they hijacked a plane from Detroit to Algeria to join the international section of the Black Panthers. Simultaneously an act of political resistance to racism and the Vietnam War and an act of desperation committed by two young people who saw no other way to escape the constant state of racial oppression in the US, the controversial act continues to have long-term repercussions decades later. After serving several years in prison in France for the hijacking, the McNairs remained in France and, for 35 years, have lived as model citizens in their adopted country. Forty years after the fact, the two are still coming to terms with their crime and its lifelong consequences as they try to gain the freedom to return home without spending the rest of their lives behind bars in America.
Runtime
60 min
Subjects
Geography
Genre
Date of Publication
2012
Database
Alexander Street
Direct Link
Similar Films
Africa and Britain. First encounters. [Episode 1]
Long story short
David Hilliard And Piri Thomas Speaking Engagement. Black And Latino Coalition, Community Roundtable
Great lesson ideas. KS3 English and black history
Tony Brown's journal. 200 years of God
Sons of Benkos
32nd annual winter roundtable on cultural psychology and education
Modern times. Skin
Lesson starters. KS3 Britain's black history
Sara Gomez. An Afro-Cuban Filmmaker
Reaching teens. 19.14
Africa and Britain. Moral mission. [Episode 3]
Great lesson ideas. 'Roll of thunder'. KS3 English and black history
Reaching teens. 19.9