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Megan Bibee

Hailie Bryant

RC-1000

September 22, 2020

Black Lives Matter: Stay Woke

The film “Stay Woke: The Black Lives Matter Movement” sheds light on the topic of

Black Lives Matter and the hardships that black americans go through. Black lives matter

movements seems to be the same in the film as they are today. The intended purpose of the film

is to help the audience understand the evolution of the movement from 2013 to 2017 when the

documentary was released. Even though these events occurred previously, the problems and

challenges labelled in the film are still relevant today because of events that have taken place

throughout the years. Injustice and police brutality has almost forced the movement to take place

because of race inequality. To show the inequality, the film began with a phone call from an

older white man to the police suggesting that a black man was the cause of the break-ins

throughout the neighborhood simply because he was black. The director used supporting

evidence to appeal to the viewers ethos, pathos, and logos.

The filmmaker’s intended audience is the people who watch the documentary, and

anyone unfamiliar with the movement and cause. The audience could also be made up of even

people who are familiar with the movement, but watch the documentary to be able to share and

repost the film and spread the message. The importance of the film is shown within it by

including tweets, videos, messages that have been posted all over social media. Tweets consisted
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of hashtags of the Black Lives Matter movement and certain regards to activists and deaths. This

proves that the movement has reached people throughout the world and they believe the same,

and want to stand against injustice.

The filmmaker’s credibility is shown through countless celebrities, local activists,

protesters, scholars, and journalists. The author/speakers are Jesse Williams, Deray McKesson,

Michaela Angela Davis, Wesley Lowery, Alicia Garza, and others. They used their platforms

and fans to connect to the movement. The authors also helped in publishing articles and

contributing to online resources about the movement. Other examples are ​LeBron James,

wearing an “I can’t breathe shirt,” the LA Rams holding their hands up in the air in the “Don’t

Shoot position” as they walk onto the field before a game, Colin Kaepernick kneeling peacefully

and John Legend using his platform to speak out. Jesse Williams stated, “The moment was

electric. Black Lives Matter was a brilliantly framed set of marching orders slash slogan, slash

plea. Americans can't pretend that they saw a movement coming out of this particular moment

but young Black people, they are plugged in. They are moving this conversation, they are driving

this conversation.”

With the help of celebrities and activists, the Black Lives Matter movement was able to

take off and raise up millions of the young generation to help support. Tweets, videos, and

pictures flooded the internet to spread awareness and gain more followers. More celebrities,

activists, journalists decided to join the movement and stand with the protestors. Nelly joined the

protest in his old home in St Louis, “It happened via social media and you're kind of looking at

things and you're like, What just happened? St Louis is home for me, and I used to live in that

apartment complex where it had happened so I had to come back for that situation.”
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The director appeals to different emotions throughout the film. Anger, sadness, grief, and

even fear is appealed to. The photos and videos exhibit the emotions listed. The speakers that

were interviewed also help show emotion through their own experiences and feelings toward the

subject. The situations shown in the film helped the emotion arise in the creators and even the

audience watching. All of these emotions are correlated with the film because of the deaths

shown and the reactions to the deaths. Anger, sadness, grief, and fear all relate back to death and

how the black people feel in their everyday lives. The film is logical and very consistent

throughout. Speakers and celebrities help gain millions of followers, which furthermore proves

that the followers know what they believe in and what they are supporting. If the film seemed to

be illogical, there would not be the supporters that there are. The directors provide countless

pieces of evidence such as their photos, videos, speakers, movement leaders, and even providing

the court decision of the cop who killed Michael Brown. The court decided the cop was not

guilty, therefore serving injustice to Michael and the family and friends of him. Including the

videos of the court’s decision incorporated the impact the injustice had on not only the closest to

Michael, but the black community as a whole.

With the use of visual elements such as the photos and videos provided, it helps the film

further their tone and message. The persuasiveness of the film is also supported by the visual

evidence. The tone of the film is very serious and factual for the matter of the video. ​I believe

that these appeals are logical and rational because they help the audience understand the point of

view and feelings of the black people and what they go through and experience. I also believe the

appeals are emotional as well. I think our generation is definitely more sensitive to the subject

and want to see more change in the world for future generations to come. The videos and
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emotion presented in the film appeals to the emotional side of the audience and helps them better

understand the feelings that come from these terrible situations. The speakers that were brought

in for interviews in the film bring the logical and rational side of evidence for the audience. They

show facts and statistics and what they have done to better the movement and help the people

around them. Through these methods, the filmmaker was not only able to build the trust and

logic of the film for the viewers, but they were also able to inform the audience of Black lives

Matter and their impacts on the world around them. Although these harsh events are still

occurring within the world, this film, with methods of persuasion, evidence, interviews, and

online sources like twitter, these events are better illuminated for the audience and even today.

The universal message of the film will forever be remembered as what the filmmaker intended,

justice must be achieved for those who have suffered the harsh effects of violence.
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Work Cited

Stay Woke: The Black Lives Matter Movement documentary (2016), Manufacturing Intellect,

10th April 2017​ ​Stay Woke: The Black Lives Matter Movement