The 13th… as in the 13th Amendment. Have you ever read the exact text? I admit that I have not. Sure, I link to think that I generally know what it is about – it’s what freed slaves. Ava DuBernay, director of Selma, is bringing a history lesson to us all in the form of a Netflix documentary:

via Netlix: The title of Ava DuVernay’s extraordinary and galvanizing documentary 13TH refers to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which reads:

“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.”

Netflix further writes: The progression from that second qualifying clause to the horrors of mass criminalization and the sprawling American prison industry is laid out by DuVernay with bracing lucidity. With a potent mixture of archival footage and testimony from a dazzling array of activists, politicians, historians, and formerly incarcerated women and men, DuVernay creates a work of grand historical synthesis. On Netflix October 7.

Pay very close attention to the text in bold. Slavery is indeed LEGAL, IF it is being used as punishment for a crime. Did you know that? I certainly did not. One thing is for sure – on Friday, October 7th I will be glued to my iPad watching this documentary! You can check out the trailer below.

Stay woke people!