GRIDLOCK D CAST SERIES
GRIDLOCK D CAST CRACK

Today’s “war on drugs” is vastly different in both the drugs we condemn and the way we treat the afflicted – especially since they now largely include White Americans.

GRIDLOCK D CAST CRACK

The crack cocaine era was pinned to Black and brown people, thus handled like a crime issue instead of a health crisis.

Campaigns like “Just Say No” used Uncle Sam’s pointer finger to scold the afflicted, segregating them from civil society before they’re tar and feathered. as a problem that landed unceremoniously on its front door - instead of as the byproduct of its own evil. A rewatch illuminates just how little progress America has made with addressing its narcotic-ridden population.Ī quarter-century ago, like African-Americans post-Civil War, those addicted to street drugs were perceived by the U.S. They may be able to cut the weeks-long wait for rehab acceptance if they take an AIDS test. The men can’t get into a rehab program without a Medicaid card, but can’t secure a card without a welfare card. Lead characters Spoon (Shakur) and Stretch (Roth) spend a day trying to escape both their habit and a local drug dealer while being given the run-around by various social service employees. Starring Tupac Shakur and Tim Roth with an ensemble cast including Thandiwe Newton, Lucy Liu, and Bokeem Woodbine, the film is a sort of Dog Day Afternoon dark adventure. All of this makes the 1997 film Gridlock’d such a worthy revisit 25 years later.ĭirected by Vondie Curtis-Hall, known most for his acting in films like Coming To America, Die Hard 2, and the more recent Harriett, Gridlock’d is an indictment on the country’s impotent treatment system. Even in creative spaces where art imitated life, the victims and this country’s inept rehabilitation systems were given little spotlight. Pregnant women who tested positive for drugs were preyed upon at their most vulnerable point, by physicians and federal prosecutors alike. The flip side saw people with substance abuse disorders – the sick – also treated and prosecuted like criminals.

Rockefeller Laws handed large swaths of minorities unjust prison sentences for sales and distribution, even just for weed infractions. Although unethical politics were the root of the country’s narcotics epidemic, poor people of color were the main recipients of blame and subsequent punishment. Īmerica would like you to believe that it won the “War On Drugs” that began in the ‘80s. What was the world like when you first considered this piece of culture, and what’s changed? Does it hold up as timeless, or is it better left to the past? Pitch us at.

GRIDLOCK D CAST SERIES

Hits Different is a new series that takes a second look at a TV show, song, album, episode, movie, scene, or clip from the past that, in our current context, just hits different.

Gridlock d cast