Interweaving lecture, personal anecdotes, interviews, and shocking revelations, criminal defense/civil rights lawyer Jeffery Robinson draws a stark timeline of anti-Black racism in the United States, from slavery to the modern myth of a post-racial America.... (Full plot summary below)
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Interweaving lecture, personal anecdotes, interviews, and shocking revelations, criminal defense/civil rights lawyer Jeffery Robinson draws a stark timeline of anti-Black racism in the United States, from slavery to the modern myth of a post-racial America.
Leave your thoughts about Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America.
| RogerEbert.comMatt FagerholmRobinson is matter-of-fact, thoughtful and enormously compelling in illustrating hidden chapters of our shared history. |
| Washington PostMichael O'SullivanThe combined impact of these scenes, augmented with Robinson’s lecture — which, while deeply informed and informative, is anything but dull or academic — makes for a powerful one-two punch. |
| TheWrapRonda Racha PenriceArriving at a time when conversations once reserved for academics have filtered into popular culture, “Who We Are” never plays like the product of some Hollywood bandwagon effort. Instead, its existence speaks to the power of cinema to reflect the times by sparking conversations and changing minds. |
| Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternWhat this film does best is offer, sometimes playfully and sometimes not, new perspectives on the central problem of our shared history. |
| The Associated PressJocelyn NoveckIf the format of a lecture is inherently limiting, the directors do a superb job of weaving a compelling visual — and emotional — experience. |
| Austin ChronicleMichael KingThe simplest thing to say about Who We Are is that it should be part of the standard curriculum in every school in America. |
| The New York TimesBen KenigsbergIt’s a confrontational film, but never an alienating one, and so much of what’s in it is persuasive. |
| Movie NationRoger MooreRobinson’s purpose here is to cut through the lies, propaganda and rhetoric and look at what all those folks so anxious to ban and even burn books are trying to cover up. |
| Los Angeles TimesRobert DanielsWho We Are, a revelatory, albeit stiff documentary, anchored by Robinson’s personal anecdotes and footage of his 2018 lecture at New York City’s Town Hall Theater, uncovers startling research while surveying the country’s unimaginable racial crimes. |
| The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Sarah-Tai BlackWhile Robinson’s lecture is thought-provoking and his living tour of that same history is illuminating, the Kunstlers don’t add much in terms of directorial vision. Robinson is an apt orator and tour guide, but the literal translation of his lecture to screen lacks life and suffers from the inherent banality that comes with watching a recording of someone – no matter how charismatic – speaking to a live audience we are not part of. |
