The feature documentary film, "The Last Word," delves into critical themes such as criminal justice reform, individual and generational trauma, white supremacy, and colonialism. As we closely examine mass incarceration and uncover the falsehoods and manipulations that facilitated its rise, along with its economic beneficiaries, it becomes increasingly challenging to ignore the moral decay and inhumanity inherent in profiting from African slave labor. These practices ultimately laid the foundation for an American society rooted in white supremacy. This dark chapter persisted until the late twentieth century, when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 finally abolished the "separate but equal" doctrine of Jim Crow laws. However, this era's transformation was short-lived, as the year following Martin Luther King's assassination marked the beginning of the War on Drugs—a period that ushered in the era of mass incarceration.

In the words of a Nixon advisor, John Ehrlichman, in a 1996 Harper magazine interview, "The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I'm saying? We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did."

The #citethelife community action campaign, brings together individuals whose lives have been shattered by mass incarceration or who have suffered from aggressive, militarized policing targeting black and brown neighborhoods. In this initiative, they engage in dialogues with the police, service providers, and city leaders to discuss justice reform and to share and document their personal stories.

It is indisputable that there is a profound lack of compassion and empathy at the heart of the continued mistreatment of Black people, at least from the perspective of Black American citizens, who have endured a long history of dehumanization and disenfranchisement. The pressing question now is how individuals benefiting from a white supremacist society can foster the compassion and empathy required to transcend a morally corrupt system of power and control. 

It's worth acknowledging that moral corruption often permeates systems of power and control. If preventing the self-determination and agency of an individual is considered abuse, then what can we say about preventing the self-determination and agency of entire populations? When the very definition and establishment of "democracy" are influenced by individuals involved in slavery, it should come as no surprise if the substance behind the facade is lacking. Do America's "founding fathers" reveal a different face when we lift the veil on their history?

The idea of exposing our "fathers" for who they were may provoke existential fear in white America. However, can the unifying and healing power of love, a strength in those historically dehumanized, ignite the empathy needed for meaningful change? In the end, "The Last Word" is a testament to the love that transcends barriers and nurtures compassion, serving as a catalyst for change. It embodies what philosopher Dr. Cornel West calls "deep democracy."

Could putting an end to the legacy of a white supremacist system and mass incarceration be the true rebirth of our nation?