A documentary film about the mothers of Black and Latino youth killed by New York City police officers will be the focus of the next Conversations on Race and Policing, hosted by Cal State San Bernardino, at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 19, on Zoom.

The film, “Profiled: The Mothers of Murdered Black and Latino Youth,” will be followed by a discussion. The program can be accessed from a PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android at https://csusb.zoom.us/j/97960458784.

“Profiled,” directed by Kathleen Foster, winner of the 2018 Paul Robeson Award at the Newark Black Film Festival, “knits the stories of mothers of black and Latino youth murdered by the NYPD into a powerful indictment of racial profiling and police brutality, and places them within a historical context of the roots of racism in the U.S.,” the film’s website says. “Some of the victims – Eric Garner, Michael Brown – are now familiar the world over. Others, like Shantel Davis and Kimani Gray, are remembered mostly by family and friends in their New York neighborhoods.”

Robin D.G. Kelley, Distinguished Professor of History & Gary B. Nash Endowed Chair in U.S. History at UCLA and a panelist in the Conversations on Race and Policing’s third program, said of “Profiled,” “Unlike the dozens of films out there documenting the most recent wave of racist state violence, Kathleen Foster’s ‘Profiled’ is neither tragedy nor spectacle. It is inspirational. The mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, teachers, students, artists, neighbors, and organizers who tell their stories share a single message: mourn and organize, unite and fight. This stops today.”

A trailer of the film can be viewed at “PROFILED | Women Make Movies | Trailer.”

The ongoing Conversations on Race and Policing series, now in its 12th week, is hosted by CSUSB students Marlo Brooks and Yvette Relles-Powell.

The series is organized by CSUSB faculty members Marc Robinson (history), Mary Texeira (sociology) and Jeremy Murray (history), and Robie Madrigal, public affairs/communication specialist for the CSUSB John M. Pfau Library.

Conversations on Race and Policing began in the aftermath of the May 25 death of George Floyd while in the custody of four Minneapolis, Minn., police officers. A video of the incident posted on social media has led to widespread protests, the firing of four police officers, the arrest of one officer on a second-degree murder charge, the other three on charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder – and a spotlight worldwide on race and policing.

Previous forums also are posted online (more recordings will soon be available for viewing):

On June 16 the College of Arts and Letters presented “Structural Racism, Civil Disobedience, and the Road to Racial Justice in the Age of COVID-19,” which is also posted on YouTube.

The university’s June 9 memorial for Floyd also focused on the Black Lives Matter movement.

And, related to the university’s conversations series, Netflix is making the 2016 Ava DuVernay film, “13th,” available for free on its YouTube channel. Combining archival footage with testimony from activists and scholars, director Ava DuVernay’s examination of the U.S. prison system looks at how the country’s history of racial inequality drives the high rate of incarceration in America.

For more information, contact Robie Madrigal at rmadriga@csusb.edu or Jeremy Murray at jmurray@csusb.edu.

"Profiled" web flier