August 17, 2016 The Skanner Page 7
Arts & Entertainment
Marc Lamont Hill: The ‘Nobody’ Interview
By Kam Williams for
The Skanner News
M
arc Lamont Hill
is one of Amer-
ica’s leading in-
tellectual voices.
He is currently the host
of “BET News” and “VH1
Live,” as well as a politi-
cal contributor on CNN.
Marc has received
prestigious awards from
the National Association
of Black Journalists, the
Gay and Lesbian Alliance
against Defamation and
the International Acad-
emy of Digital Arts and
Sciences, to name a few.
He holds a Ph.D with dis-
tinction from the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania and
currently serves on the
faculty of Morehouse
College as its Distin-
guished Professor of Af-
rican-American Studies.
Here, he talks about
his new book, “Nobody:
Casualties of America’s
War on the Vulnerable,
from Ferguson to Flint
and Beyond.”
Kam
Williams:
Hi
FILM REVIEW: ‘Hell or High Water’ a
Captivating Cat-and-Mouse Crime Thriller
By Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
KW: I really enjoyed
the book. What inspired
you to write it?
MLH: It started with
the death of Michael
Brown. When I got to
Ferguson to cover the
funeral and the ater-
math of the shooting
for “BET News,” I found
more than I expected. I
realized that there was
so much more to the sto-
ry than what was being
“
T
anner (Ben Foster)
and Toby Howard
(Chris Pine) are sib-
lings but about as
diferent as night and
day. The former is im-
pulsive, reckless and so-
ciopathic, a combination
which helps explain why
he’s spent a long stretch
in prison for a violent
crime. By comparison,
his younger brother is a
relatively stable, sensitive and chival-
rous soul.
While Tanner was behind bars, di-
vorced Toby has divided his time be-
tween raising his two sons (John Paul
Howard and Christopher W. Garcia)
and caring for his terminally-ill moth-
er. So, it’s no surprise that upon his
mom’s recent demise, she cut that ne’er-
do-well black sheep of the family out
of her will entirely, leaving her sizable
estate to her only honorable ofspring.
Unfortunately, a shady loan oicer
(Richard Christie) had duped her into
taking a reverse mortgage on her cattle
ranch for a pittance. Consequently, a
predatory lending institution is hold-
ing a lien on land which Toby has just
learned is sitting atop a fortune in un-
tapped oil reserves. But unless the note
is paid of by Friday, Texas Midlands
bank will follow through on its threat
to foreclose, “Come hell or high water.”
Toby wants to save the property and
sign it over to his boys. Trouble is, he
can’t raise the cash. The dilemma has
him considering breaking the law for
the irst time in his life.
Enlisting the assistance of his just-pa-
roled brother, he hatches a plan to rob
Texas Midlands branches until they’ve
Marc, thanks for this op-
portunity to speak with
you.
Marc Lamont Hill: My
pleasure.
‘Hell or High Water’
raised the amount needed to retire the
debt. The two proceed to embark on
a spree aimed solely at the avaricious
institution that had taken advantage of
their very vulnerable mom.
However, the heists soon come to the
attention of the Texas Rangers, and the
case is assigned to Marcus Hamilton
(Jef Bridges) a wily old veteran weeks
away from retirement. It’s not long be-
fore he and his half-breed Comanche
partner (Gil Birmingham) are on the
pair’s trail.
Thus unfolds “Hell or High Water,”
a captivating, cat-and-mouse crime
thriller directed by Brit David Mack-
enzie (Starred Up). Between Taylor
Sheridan’s (Sicario) engaging, charac-
ter-driven script and a plethora of pow-
erful performances by Jef Bridges and
company, this bona ide sleeper would
be generating tons of Oscar buzz if it
hadn’t been released in the dog days of
August.
A neo-noir masterpiece not to be
missed!
Excellent HHHH
Rated R for graphic violence, perva-
sive profanity and brief sexuality
Running time: 102 minutes
was not indict-
ed for killing
Eric Garner...
Tamir Rice was
killed... Then
Freddie Gray
was killed that
spring... And
Walter Scott
was shot in
the back. And Marc Lamont Hill is the host of BET News and
Sandra Bland VH1 Live, and a political contributor on CNN.
was killed. Be-
fore I knew it,
was shot? Also, the grand
there was a whole range jury concluded that he
of stories. So, I decided never said, “Hands up,
to tell a story about state don’t shoot!” Wouldn’t it
violence and about how be better to rally around
there’s a deeper war on a more deserving victim?
the vulnerable that’s be- Whatever happened to
It was deeper than [Police Oicer] Darren
Wilson and Mike Brown. It was also about all
these other factors that made Mike Brown no-
body long before he ever walked onto Canield
Drive the day of the shooting
represented in the news.
It was deeper than [Po-
lice Oicer] Darren Wil-
son and Mike Brown. It
was also about all these
other factors that made
Mike Brown nobody long
before he ever walked
onto Canield Drive the
day of the shooting. I re-
ally just intended to tell
the story of Ferguson,
but then Daniel Pantaleo
ing prosecuted every-
where that allows the
state violence to occur in
the irst place.
KW: Do you have any
qualms about using Mike
Brown as the poster child
of the Black Lives Matter
Movement when he was
caught on tape robbing
a convenience store a
few minutes before he
Dr. King’s notion of judg-
ing not by the color of the
skin but by the content of
the character?
MLH: Black Lives Mat-
ter emerged months be-
fore Michael Brown was
ever killed. So, the move-
ment had already started.
It certainly got a lot of en-
ergy and focus ater his
See HILL on page 11