This is a film, now on DVD, that certainly never got a lot of attention from mainstream media, or any media, that I'm aware of. Talk about what is seen between... this film really connects the dots. It explores the connection between the CIA buying huge quantities of cocaine from Nicaraguan druglords during the Reagan years to finance and support the Contras who were tying to topple the Nicaraguan government and rap music, which started around the same time. This was also known as Iran/Contragate, one of the biggest scandals of the twentieth century, now long forgotten.

So, let's connect some dots here. So, where did these huge amounts of CIA cocaine go? Well, the CIA, like the mob, didn't want white punks on dope so... gee, I wonder where it all ended up. We all know where it went. We all know where to go for crack. The black communities were flooded with it as Reagan's "Just Say No" War on Drugs was in full force. Mandatory sentences sent crack users away for twenty years for 5 grams. It took 500 grams of powder cocaine, typically used by white clubbers like powdered sugar during the go-go greed Gordon Gekko years, to get that type of sentence.

Blacks are sent to jail for drug offenses 134 times as much as white offenders. Privately owned jails are one of the fastest growing industries in our country, second only to military. And I bet you thought the prisoners were just sitting around watching TV all day. That's what I thought too, until I saw this film. I was shocked to learn how much work these prisoners are doing, for, obviously, no money. They make just about every product that can be manufactured. It is, almost literally, slave labor. Here in the twenty-first century, all over this country, without any attention from the public, private jails are making money hand over fist.

It's not only the jails. They put these jails in places where there's no town, no industry, just open, cheap space. Once they put in the jail, the towns, or should I say corporate outposts, spring up. People do go to the jails to visit the prisoners. Now, being in the middle of nowhere, the visitors need to eat... well, here comes McDonalds. They need somewhere to sleep... well, here comes Best Western. Now there are jobs and profits where once there was desert.

All of this, again, is not well publicized to white America but it's well known in the black communities and this gets us back to rap. Rap grew out of the frustration with all this. By this time, the preachers and Panthers had been shot dead, imprisoned, or otherwise silenced. But, the more vocal young survivors took on the issues through rap lyrics. Many of them were also persecuted or arrested or shot. It's still going on today. But, as their audience grew, corporate America realized money could be made. And, as with the protest music of the sixties, record company drones moved in and diluted it down by making it into a profitable commodity.

Today, hip hop rules the musical roost. Artists like 50 Cent and Ludicris top the charts. Yet, for some reason this has not translated into any type of social change, or even awareness. Whatever message existed has not gotten across to mainstream white America. The kids adopt the look, but not the desire to change society. They buy the records and make men like Jay Z and Richard Simmons moguls. Many of the artists I've mentioned were featured in this film, speaking out. But no one has seen this film or listens to the intervision.

When I listen to rap, most of it just sounds like hostility but without the facts and knowledge that would help people understand the connections between what is happening in our inner cities and the music. Outkast's homage to
Rosa Parks was so misunderstood that Rosa herself actually sued them. It's as though these rappers decided that rather than speak out in an intelligible way they would act out, like teenagers, saying essentially, "you want to call me bad... I'll show you bad.... and I'll make a million bucks doing it by showing your kids what real rebellion is all about".

I think these artists should be speaking out on this issues. Yes, Kanye West went off script and said "George Bush doesn't care about black people". But that's a drop in the bucket. They need to take more chances and use their fame and platforms better. Meanwhile, check out this film. It's the first film I've seen in months that has gotten me back into film reviews. It's not what I would call a particularly entertaining film but it was definitely an eye opener.