#FREEWAY CRACK IN THE SYSTEM DOCUMENTARY AL JAZEERA FULL#

Not until the fateful meeting between an unlikely source, Coral Baca, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gary Webb of the San Jose Mercury News, did the full story, “Dark Alliance,” come to light.

At the same time, harsh new laws sent thousands of young men to prison for years with little chance for rehabilitation. Hearings on Capitol Hill led by then-Senator John Kerry investigated the shocking connection between the CIA and the influx of cocaine during the Reagan and Bush administrations. More so, they reveal the government complicity and police corruption behind the scenes during the crack era. For the first time, we hear from a key Nicaraguan trafficker, Julio Zavala, who worked with the CIA-backed Contras and Oscar Danilo Blandón to supply Ross with tons of cocaine.įormer LA Sheriffs Deputy in the Narcotics Unit, Roberto Juarez, and top undercover DEA agent, Mike Levine, tell of the devastating spread of crack and the hunt for Freeway Rick and his crew. Throughout the film are interviews with Freeway Rick and his crew, including his mother Anne Ross, former girlfriend and drug dealer Marilyn Stubblefield, and former dealers Cornell Ward, Ollie Newell, and Norman Tillman. The subjects reveal a crack in the system that implicates the centers of power in our government, their mass incarceration policies and militarization of police, the spread of gangs and guns, and the loss of entire generations to the war on drugs.įreeway Rick - not to be confused with the Miami rapper, Rick Ross, who took the Los Angeles dealer's name and identity - built a drug empire that spread crack cocaine across the country, ruining millions of lives but profoundly influencing street culture in its wake. At the center of it all is the rise, fall and redemption of 'Freeway' Rick Ross, a street hustler who became the King of Crack, and journalist Gary Webb, who broke the story of the CIA's complicity in the drug war. Untouchable, Brick City) exposes how the infiltration of crack cocaine destroyed inner-city neighborhoods across the country. This documentary by award-winning filmmaker Marc Levin ( SLAM, Mr. More compelling than fiction, it's the real story behind America's war on drugs. FREEWAY: CRACK IN THE SYSTEM tells the story of broken dreams, drug dealers, dirty cops, and government complicity. It's not an easy watch, but it is enticing and interesting to see a man who made a lot of money and how he tries to make up for it now (cynical people may feel a bit distressed and nauseous about it).

#FREEWAY CRACK IN THE SYSTEM DOCUMENTARY AL JAZEERA MOVIE#

But more on that in the movie itself (also the rappers quite weak explanation why he started using that artist name). It's a different person (duh!), but also one that according to the criminal/drug dealer Rick(y) Ross steal his name to get famous. Now if you are into Hip Hop the name Rick Ross is probably one that will ring a bell. One of them being Ricky Ross who is very prominently shown here, with some of his associates but also reporters and more people chipping in. Now morally speaking you may wonder if and who really are victims here (I'd say the ones that got hooked on the drugs), but we also have the ones dealing (with) them. Now we get on the ground (no pun intended) and see what happened to all the drugs that came flying into America (again no pun intended). So this is a whole different take on what American Made gave us (the one with Tom Cruise as a pilot).

Freeway crack in the system documentary al jazeera