Colleen's Thoughts:Watching this documentary, I was surprised by how many famous racial American events lawyer Bill Kunstler was at the center of. He is famous for representing the Chicago Seven, being the lead negotiating counsel for the prisoners at the Attica Prison riots, and representing the American Indians at Wounded Knee. However, he is also infamous for his defense of scarier folks such as cop killer Assasta Shakur and Al Sayyid Nosair who assasinated Zionist fanatic Rabbi Meir Kahane. Clearly he is a puzzling player in American history.
This documentary does a wonderful job of showing what an extraordinary man Kunstler was. At times he did things most Americans would now be proud of, but he also took on cases that not even his daughters and wife respected. Interestingly, these daughters are behind the film. They are the co-directors of this documentary. They seem most apt to tell this story. They love and respect their father but they also recognize that he was a fame hound and took on cases that they didn't appreciate him taking on. They have memories of not being able to leave their house because of Jewish organizations protesting outside. However, they also remember how terrible their father felt after the Attica prison massacre and how he taught them about white privelege and racism in America.
As someone considering a degree in law, it was fascinating to see the power that lawyers can have in such huge political situations. Bill Kunstler is admirable in his use of his position as a lawyer to fight for the causes he believed in. We desperately need more civil rights lawyers like Bill Kunstler today.
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