I, Too

I, Too embarks on a journey with a different kind of patriot; one in search of truth as a tool to fix a fundamentally broken country. Dr. Carol Anderson, The New York Times best-selling author of White Rage and The Second, and professor at Emory University, has spent a lifetime challenging the conventional wisdom that has defined the U.S. Beginning with her childhood in the crucible of the civil rights movement, Carol lived the obvious contradictions between what America aspires to be and what it actually is. Growing up in a military family, seeing her father decorated as a WWII veteran and her brother volunteering to risk his life in Vietnam, there lingered a constant dilemma inherent in loving a country that never loved her back.

The film interweaves Carol's personal story of trial and triumph into a broader narrative about how history and fear have shaped a deeply divided country. With detailed examinations of historical case studies of political motivated mob violence against Black communities and individuals, I, Too highlights the ways in which such events are not deviations, but rather deeply entrenched into the history and development of America and its citizenry. Wilmington 1898 saw the only successful coup in U.S. history, while Hamburg, South Carolina was razed by a White supremacist mob on the Fourth of July, and Black voters were attacked to keep their ballots from being counted in Ocoee, Florida in 1920.  From the "shot heard round the world" at the Battle of Lexington and Concord to the storming of the Capitol, I, Too will shine a new light on how we got here, and how a new understanding of patriotism will determine where we go next.

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FILMMAKER'S STATEMENT: "The film is about patriotism and who is fighting for democracy. The folks who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 had a very narrow vision of democracy. They were trying to wipe out 81 million votes.

All the talk of the election being 'stolen' centered on Atlanta, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Detroit -- cities with sizable Black populations. Those with that mindset were intentionally linking theft and criminality with urban areas. When I think about the Black citizens of this country, I see a group of people who have always fought for American democracy, even when it has not fought for them. So, my hope was to shine an honest light on this battle about American citizenship and democracy."