Entertainment

Film Review: ‘3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets’

Published

11 years ago

June 16, 2015

Oakland Post

Ron Davis and Lucia McBath, parents of Jordan Davis, at rally.

By Dwight Brown
NNPA Film Critic

Jordan Davis was born Feb 16, 1995. Contrary to his belief, he was not named after the basketball legend Michael Jordan. His mom, Lucia McBath, insists she named him after the crossing over of the Jordan River, symbolizing a new beginning.

For his mom and dad, Ron Davis, Jordan was their new beginning. Their lives were changed forever November 23, 2012, the day after Thanksgiving, when shots were fired at a gas station in Jacksonville, Florida.

Ten bullets hit a car full of teenage boys. When the violence is over, 17-year-old Jordan Davis, an African-American, has been killed by Michael David Dunn, a middle-aged White software developer in town for a wedding. The boys had been playing loud rap music; Dunn requested that they turn it down. They did for an instant, and then they turned it back up. What happened next depends on whom you talk to.

The 1950 film Rashomon, directed by the legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, depicts the accounts of the witnesses, suspects, and victims of a rape and murder. All have different viewpoints, recollections and interpretations of the same encounter. “Rashomon effect” is a term that means contradictory interpretations of the same event by different people. It’s a dynamic that pervades just about every trial, where suspects and victims recount the same experience, differently. That’s what’s on view in this so-called “loud music” trial; the surviving boys have a different recollection than Dunn.

Producer Minette Wilson initiated this project, and collaborated with documentary director/cinematographer Marc Silver (Global Protest, Who is Dayani Cristal?) and executive producer Orlando Bagwell (Eyes on the Prize). They received open access to the parents of the victim, his friends and the trial. The viewer sits around the dinner table with now divorced Lucia McBath and Ron Davis, is invited to prayer circles, hears anecdotes about Jordan from his pals (he was a mediocre basketball player, but quick on his feet) and gets to know the brassy suburban kid who was killed.

What the documentary doesn’t do is get inside the head of Michael Dunn. We don’t find out how Dunn became the adult who dared to ask a carful of teens to turn their loud music down. Nor why on a Friday night while stopping to pick up wine and chips at a convenience store, he was carrying a gun in his glove compartment. Nor what he ever expected to do with a loaded firearm. Without these details, this documentary sheds light on only one side of the tragedy.

The film calls into question stand-your-ground laws that have been drafted in many states making self-defense with a gun when a “threat” is perceived, legal. Echoes of the Trayvon Martin case are in this documentary. In fact Trayvon Martin’s dad calls Jordan’s dad and says, “I want to welcome you to a club that none of us want to be in.”

Though the film focuses on this crime in particular, it also brings into view a pattern of young Black men being devalued and murdered, which spurs many to think that this country has a chronic social/racial problem that has to be solved.

The gut-wrenching subject of the film carries the movie. Security footage from the convenience store re-plays the dramatic pop, pop, pop sounds of the gunfire. The court proceedings are riveting. Arguments for stand-your-ground and against it cause debate. Semi-private conversations between Dunn and his girlfriend are as intriguing as the conversations between Jordan’s parents. Both couples are common people who have been thrust into a media spotlight by an incident that none could have fathomed when they woke up that Friday after Thanksgiving.

What the documentary the filmmakers have assembled is educational, eye opening, often emotional, sad and galvanizing. As the 98 minutes of footage roll by, it becomes apparent that Jordan’s tragedy is a chapter within a much longer book. It is also clear that stand-your-ground laws are on trial as much as Michael Dunn was. Notes Judge Russell L. Healey, who presided over the case; “There is nothing wrong with retreating or de-escalating a situation.”

Visit NNPA Film Critic Dwight Brown at DwightBrownInk.com.

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21st Annual Taste of Soul: California’s Largest Black Street Festival Comes Alive With Culture, Music and Connections

The 21st annual Taste of Soul Family Festival drew over 300,000 attendees to South Los Angeles for a massive celebration of Black culture, food, and music. Spanning the Crenshaw Boulevard corridor, the free event featured roughly 350 vendors, offering everything from Southern cuisine to professional health services and job recruitment opportunities. While headlining musical acts performed across three stages, the festival also served as a vital platform for small business entrepreneurs to reach a vast audience. Organizers are now addressing reports regarding several incidents that occurred during the festivities. Read more.

Published

6 hours ago

November 3, 2026

Post News Group

INSIDE Danny Bakewell Sr. (left) and Pamela Bakewell (right), longtime community leaders and organizers of the Taste of Soul Family Festival in Los Angeles.

The 21st annual Taste of Soul Family Festival brought hundreds of thousands to Crenshaw Boulevard in South Los Angeles on Oct. 17 for food, music and a celebration of Black culture. Visitors could shop with small businesses, enjoy live music performances, speak with health professionals and learn about job opportunities.

Presented by Bakewell Media and the Los Angeles Sentinel, the free festival stretched along the corridor from Stocker Street to Obama Boulevard. The Sentinel estimated attendance at more than 300,000. The day also marked founder Danny J. Bakewell Sr.’s 80th birthday.

“We call it a party with a purpose,” Pam Bakewell, the founder’s sister and a longtime festival organizer, told California Black Media (CBM).

The enticing aromas of barbecue, fried chicken and catfish filled the air as food vendors served up a tempting array of Southern favorites, including cobbler and other desserts. Vendors also offered clothing, jewelry, books and beauty products. About 350 vendors and sponsors participated, including approximately 80 food vendors, Bakewell said. Businesses came from across Southern California and as far away as Chicago and Atlanta.

“In one day, an entrepreneur has the opportunity to showcase their business to hundreds of thousands of people,” Danny J. Bakewell Jr., president of the Sentinel.

Chase offered vendors training in marketing and financial management, followed by a reception.

Experienced vendors also helped newcomers. Pam Bakewell cited Cobbler King, a longtime participant who shares lessons from his early festivals about preparing for crowds and building a business.

“We want everybody to be successful,” she said. “We can’t guarantee that, but we give you the crowd.”

Kaiser Permanente served as the festival’s main medical provider. St. John’s Community Health sponsored Children’s World, where children played games while families received preventive care and information about follow-up services.

St. John’s provided flu shots, fluoride treatments for children and clinic sign-ups for physical examinations. It also reported distributing more than 10,400 bags of diapers.

CBM hosted a booth as part of its California Black Health Journalism Project, a yearlong, solutions-oriented reporting initiative to advance health equity for Black Californians.

Dr. Deidra Beckles, who practices family and internal medicine, and Adriana Westby-Trent, Ph.D., a licensed clinical psychologist, held “Ask the Doc” conversations. Both are with Divinely Restored Health & Wellness. The booth drew steady traffic as they answered attendees’ health questions. Visitors received a “Your Wellness Matters” T-shirt.

The Sentinel promoted a developing jobs platform, inviting attendees to post resumes and connect with employers. Bakewell said about 350 people signed up along the boulevard.

Three stages offered music for different generations. The Bakewell Media Sounds of the Soul Stage featured Thelma Houston, Switch and headliner Midnight Star. Tony Cornelius, son of “Soul Train” creator Don Cornelius, introduced Midnight Star and appeared with eight veteran dancers from the television show.

The Radio Free KJLH Music Stage featured Lucky Daye, Alex Isley, Allen Stone and Terisa Griffin. On the Brenda Marsh-Mitchell Gospel Stage, MAJOR. served as host and performer. The lineup included Deitrick Haddon, local choirs and a youth performing arts ensemble.

During the festivities, ABC7 reported two stabbings and an hours long Los Angeles Police Department citywide tactical alert.

Pam Bakewell said police told organizers the incidents occurred outside the festival boundaries. She said organizers are reviewing safety measures with security personnel and police.