Overview

A minute-by-minute analysis of Spike Lee's infamous film, BlacKkKlansman. Blending film criticism with creative nonfiction, each book in the Timecodes series focuses on one film, exploring it minute by minute beginning with minute one, and ending with the final minute before the closing credits. Film scholars have examined Spike Lee’s inventive visual style, didactic argumentative structure, use of music, and cinematic movement, but his film, BlacKkKlansman, is also a meditation on questions of perennial concern to political theorists: what is the meaning of freedom under social constraint? How does racism and anti-Blackness structure the parameters of conversation and belonging? Is redistribution or recognition crucial for justice? Alex Zamalin takes up these questions by examining the dynamics of race and politics as presented in the film. Through dissecting themes of law and order, white supremacy, police brutality, Black rebellion, and intersectionality, Zamalin invites readers to draw connections to the present political consciousness of the Black Lives Matter movement. The creative and thorough analysis presented in this book translates just how pressing social and cultural insights can be glimpsed through popular media.

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Reviews

In this creative project, a prominent antiracist scholar analyzes every minute of the leading antiracist filmmaker's most contemporary hit and brings readers to the nexus of art, politics, and entertainment. This is a wonderfully accessible way to explain Spike Lee's cultural criticism and the past/present that inspire it. * Justin Williams, Associate Professor of History and Director of the African American Studies Program, University of Detroit Mercy, USA * Using deft analysis and trenchant minute by minute study of the film BlacKkKlansman, Alex Zamalin brings attention both to the critical legacy of Spike Lee as a filmmaker and artist, as well as the problem of racial politics in the US today. This is an intriguing work of political theory and film criticism, one that challenges the reader to seriously consider the consequences for both individuals and the country of not adequately defending American democracy from racism. The author makes us aware of the complicated response that will be required by us as a society if we are to stop the violence and hate. This work is a must read for anyone interested in how race still matters in America. * Utz McKnight, Professor, University of Alabama, USA *

In this creative project, a prominent antiracist scholar analyzes every minute of the leading antiracist filmmaker's most contemporary hit and brings readers to the nexus of art, politics, and entertainment. This is a wonderfully accessible way to explain Spike Lee's cultural criticism and the past/present that inspire it. * Justin Williams, Associate Professor of History and Director of the African American Studies Program, University of Detroit Mercy, USA *

Author Information

Alex Zamalin is Professor of Africana Studies and Political Science at Rutgers University, USA. He is the author of 6 books, including: All is Not Lost: 20 Ways to Revolutionize Disaster (2022) and Against Civility: The Hidden Racism in Our Obsession with Civility (2021) and co-editor of American Political Thought: An Alternative View (2017). Zamalin has been a guest on NPR and MSNBC, and his work has been featured in The Guardian, ESPN's Undefeated, the Christian Science Monitor and YES! magazine.

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