Herb Boyd

From a chance meeting to a tragic fallout, Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali's extraordinary bond cracks under the weight of distrust and shifting ideals.

KENNY: THE MARXIST WHO WOULD BE MAYOR tells the story of Ken Cockrel Sr., a politician, attorney, and revolutionary who took on the police and the power structures of Detroit in some of its most tumultuous times from the 60’s through the 70’s. Through Cockrel’s battles both in and out of the courts, KENNY paints the story of a country undergoing rapid change, caught in a civil rights battle in which police officers were empowered to hunt and kill its citizens. Combining rare footage and interviews with those who knew him best, it charts the unbelievable rise to prominence of a radical Marxist and brilliant legal mind who took on Chrysler Corporation, the Detroit Police Department, and power structures of the entire city before his untimely death.

Discover how the advent of the automobile brought new mobility and freedom for African Americans but also exposed them to discrimination and deadly violence, and how that history resonates today.