This past spring while sitting at home I was scrolling through my social media accounts, bored and not sure what the do the rest of that day. When while scrolling past the endless sea of selfies and targeted advertisements, the singer of one of my favorite punk bands who is also a high school history teacher in the Boston area made a post saying that he had just watched a new documentary series on HBO that was a must watch. That series was Raoul Peck's Exterminate All the Brutes.
The film is based on three books. Exterminate All the Brutes by Sven Lindqvist, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History by Michel-Rolph Trouillot and An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. Raoul Peck has taken all the key ideas from these books and put them into this 4 part documentary series totaling in about 4 hours of watch time.
One of the key themes in this film is colonization. And specifically, the colonization of the "New World" that began with Christopher Columbus. It is because of this that I felt it important to share this film with you all as we approach Columbus Day this year. Most today see Columbus Day as a celebration of the "discovery" of what would become the United States and all the great things have come of it. But whatever greatness that has come since 1492, has come at an insurmountable cost. This film helps fill in the gaps of knowledge that many may have in what that cost has been. Often times what we learn in school is not the full story and often times it is only one perspective. Now is your chance to see another perspective.
Below are two videos to watch. One is Raoul Peck's statement of intent where he explains why he made this film and its importance. The other is the trailer for the series. If you wish to see the series you can do so by watching it on HBO here - https://www.hbo.com/exterminate-all-the-brutes
Raoul Peck's Statement of Intent
Exterminate All the Brutes - Trailer