Blindspotting is a Bold, Unapologetic Hip Hop Look at Racism in America

Unarmed men of color being shot and killed for no reason has become an epidemic in this country.  It happens with such frequency that many have become deaf and blind to the impact it is having on our culture and the world.  Fortunately, Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal are plugged in and completely aware as young men of the millennial hip-hop generation that is introducing bold filmmakers coming out of Oakland, California.

Blindspotting is a in your face examination of how a friendship is re-evaluated and navigated after Collin (Daveedd Diggs) witnesses a young, unarmed black man get shot in cold blood while he waits at an intersection for a light change. Collin also comes to grips with the fact that even though he doesn’t look at the world through color, this event grossly reminds him that at the end of the day he is still black man in America and that comes with a label that is not warranted or deserved for any human being.

The film begins with Collin’s last day of parole which provides poignant moments like having Miles’ young son (Sean ‘Ziggy’ Jones) throw up his little hands while yelling ‘Don’t Shoot’, or the moment Sean finds and plays with a gun in the house and the anxiety that comes along with talking him out of not pulling the trigger.  Collin finally learns that consequences to one’s actions and bad life choices are always harder for a POC than for his temperamental best friend Miles (Rafael Casal) whose consistent bad life choices never put him in danger simply because he’s white.

The most emotionally charged, heart-stopping moment is when Collin encounters the cop he saw shoot the young man at the intersection.  With a mixture of spinning rhymes and raw emotion, Daveed Diggs reminds us why he is one of the freshest voices to hit the cinematic scene along with Boots Riley, Jordan Peele, Ava DuVernay and his partner in crime Rafael Casal.

Blindspotting will not resonate with everyone and will resurrect anger in others, but it will remind the audience that change is sorely needed when it comes to incarcerated felons, black men and race relations in America.  The soundtrack is being released in three parts and will absolutely blow your mind and stir up some emotions, as will Blindspotting, which hits theaters on July 20th.