The newly released trailer for director Ava DuVernay‘s latest project, 13th, explores mass incarceration’s connection to American slavery.
While the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the U.S. in 1865, there is a loophole that permits it: imprisonment.
The 13th Amendment reads:
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.”
13th will dissect the role the War on Drugs, President Bill Clinton’s 1994 crime bill, and institutional racism played in the country’s mass incarceration epidemic.
The Netflix documentary will feature commentary from experts in the realm of social justice and politics including Sen. Cory Booker, former Speaker Newt Gingrich, Van Jones, Bryan Stevenson, Michelle Alexander and others.
13th will be available to stream on Oct. 7 and will have a limited theatrical release.
