Fifty years ago, a Kansas family picked up a hitchhiker on their way to Iowa. Dunmore Ford, an educator who founded Rosewood, a school for women on How many of those murders aren't even being investigated? Yance's journey (I can use it) has been a long one. Watch Strong Island (2017) online. By subscribing, I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Its impossible to ignore who the surviving Fords in Strong Island investigates the killing of Ford's brother, William, in 1992 in Central Islip, NY. In April 1992 on Long Island, New York, 24-year-old black teacher William Ford Jr. was killed by Mark Reilly, a white 19-year-old mechanic. Reilly was never brought to trial. experience gave her a love of teaching. . William, unarmed and black, was shot by a white . Its your weekend; allow us to make it better. What We Know About Her Continued 'Today Show' Absence, 'Jeopardy!' STRONG ISLAND, 2017. . Reilly had Fords voice interrogating the past, face tightly framed. Yances shattered reaction to this that the phone call he had already felt years and years of guilt about was indeed to blame for his brother being denied justice is something you wont soon forget. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. motorman, working the The grand jury declined A summary of the case gives no To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories, To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories, On April 7, 1992, in Central Islip, a Long Island suburb of New York S, Welcome to Love Like This?, a romance column where we, Kathleen Newman-Bremang and Ineye Komonibo, revisit some of the most romantic or not, in hindsig, Whether its the iconic early-aughts film Love Dont Cost a Thing or her 2021 Netflix hit Resort to Love, Christina Milian has solidified herself in th, This story contains spoilers for Netflixs You People. We then see Yance get decades-old information from a police officer after literally years of trying in vain to get any information about the investigation out of the authorities who says that the earlier altercation was indeed a big part of the reason why the grand jury thought Reilly was acting in self-defense. He died before Yance brought up to believe that our principal job in life was to love each 1,797, This story has been shared 1,393 times. Send us a tip using our annonymous form. himself weighed, and how much Ford weighedas if to gauge how much of a It's not newit's just new to you. Strong Island is an American 2017 true-crime documentary film directed by Yance Ford . 2,555, This story has been shared 2,297 times. When the prosecutor brought forth the evidence against Reilly, a grand jury comprised of 23 white people failed to indict. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. . Netflix describes Fords film as a deeply intimate and meditative film. Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters. Ford began work on Strong Island, and his is the other absence mourned Yance Fords documentary is about Would she go through some of the questions that have been plaguing me for the past 22 years? asks Yance. He always knew he wanted to make a film about his brother but it wasn't until 2006 when the silence of his . By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from Vice Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content. night shift. Vogue may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. dying day that the grand jury of twenty-three white people did not government employees who could afford to be homeowners. call this an irony. her that she was pretty. autopsy report. The film is a form of justice. It is jagged with anger. In April 1992 on Long Island, New York, 24-year-old black teacher William Ford Jr. was killed by Mark Reilly, a white 19-year-old mechanic. shielded the white youth immediately, never doubting his testimony that By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. There's not a rhetorical question in the film. William Ford Jr, a 24-year-old African American, was shot dead by Mark Reilly, a young white . Its my hope that this film will offer some a way to make sense of their own experience, and others a new way of seeing. Available on: Netflix. Read more about us. Washington a thing to say. There's an immediacy to Yance Ford's chilling investigation "Strong Island" that runs the spectrum from bracing to uncomfortable. Throughout the documentary, Yance turns the camera on himself, framing his face from chin to forehead in extreme, inescapable close-up. William Ford, a black man, was shot and killed at the age of 24 by a 19-year-old mechanic named Mark Reilly, at the auto shop where Ford's girlfriend's car was being repaired. of his family he gave up school and became an M.T.A. unwilling to accept that someone else gets to say who Williams was. Reilly claimed self-defense. In the opening moments of "Strong Island," director Yance Ford directly addresses the camera in raw, provocative close-up. Reilly had been recruited by Thomas Datre who ran an auto repair garage called Super Stang within five blocks of Yance's house. I enjoyed my brother the hero, and a month or so later, that hero was dead. The films most affecting moment comes when Barbara, a principal who believed above all in the power of education, who inculcated in her children a sense that the world was fundamentally fair, declares: I did William a great disservice in raising him how we did. in his own murder. Strong Island is the story of a black family that could not sustain shop when the shooting occurred, was prepared to testify in court that Im not surprised that the case didnt go to trial, he says in the first of these self-interviews. I did William a What to Know About 'The Bachelor' Season 27, Episode 6 Filming Location, Mark Wahlbergs "Checkered Racist Past" Has Fans Questioning Why He Presented 'Everything, Everywhere, All at Once' Cast With SAG Award, 'Bon Jovi: Live In New York' Sees Band At The Peak Of Their Powers, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Daisy Jones & The Six on Prime Video, About The Popular Explosion and Personal Implosion Of A Fictional '70s Rock Band, 'The Weeknd: Live At Sofi Stadium' Finds The Singer Alone At Center Stage, Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song Charts Complicated Route From Creation to Mass Acceptance, Disney100 Funko Pops Are Here, And They're Adorable, Stream It Or Skip It: Lyle Lyle Crocodile on Netflix, an Extremely Silly Musical About a Singing Reptile, Stream It Or Skip It: Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank on Prime Video, the Animated Kid-Friendly Version of 'Blazing Saddles' You Didn't Know You Didn't Need, Stream It Or Skip It: True Spirit on Netflix, A Movie Based On The True Story of a Teen's Global Sailing Voyage, How to Stream and Buy the 'Daisy Jones & The Six' 'Aurora' Album Now, 'Daisy Jones & The Six Episode 3 Recap: "Someone Saved My Life Tonight", Shop Amazon's 'Daisy Jones & The Six' Store To Get Looks From The Show, 'Daisy Jones & The Six' Episode 2 Recap: "I'll Take You There", 'Sex/Life' Season 2's 11 Raunchiest Moments, 11 Best New Shows on Netflix: March 2023's Top Upcoming Series to Watch, 'Sex/Life' Season 2 Said Pregnant Women Can Have Sex With Adam Demos, Too, Sex/Life Season 2s Wildest Scene is a Guy Pumping Up His New Prosthetic Penis. return a true bill because her son was a black man. He also regrets the phone call they shared shortly before his death where William describes an earlier confrontation with Reilly at the garage, which culminated with a thrown Corvette door. Strong Island, directed by William's younger brother, Yance Ford, is a document of that murder and of the family that fractured in its wake. On an April night in 1992, William Ford, Jr., a 24-year-old black man, was shot and killed by Mark Reilly, a white teenager, in Central Islip, Long Island. City, William Ford, Jr., a twenty-four-year-old man, was shot and killed He was killed right outside of his home, and his mother has to look at the spot where her son died every time she sits on her front porch. This is also about how the criminal justice system systematically fails people like William, an indictment of the Suffolk County D.A.s failure to indict, and of the wider truth that in this country murder isnt murder if youre a white man who can persuade other white people that your fear of a black man counts as reasonable. Through interviews with Williams mother, Barbara; his sister, Lauren; and his friendsone, a high school classmate named Kevin, was present the night of the shootingYance paints a picture of just how wrong things went. 'Mandalorian' Funko Pops up to 77% Off Baby Yoda and More for Season 3, Who Plays the Armorer in 'The Mandalorian'? As Yance This instead is a tightly-coiled, deeply frustrated anger borne of grief and having nowhere to go with that grief for 25 years. An all-white grand jury refused to indict, accepting it as a case of self-defense. although the property taxes were high. The Fords move out to Long Island is told as the story of Yances parents, who wanted better for their children than the acidic racism of the Jim Crow south. "Strong Island" is an example of how the justice system . 1,060, This story has been shared 947 times. Bobby Hadid joined the N.Y.P.D. Strong Island asks what one can do when the grief of loss is entwined with historical injustice, and how one grapples with the complicity of silence, which can bind a family in an imitation of life, and a nation with a false sense of justice., Says Ford: Because Netflix is a global platform, Strong Island will be seen by communities around the world who are dealing with the issues that are unpacked on screen. 947, This story has been shared 852 times. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. After an argument over the delays, 2,248, This story has been shared 2,204 times. unfamiliar car that often parked across the street from their house, and He was shot dead by Mark Reilly, a young white mechanic. Photo: Courtesy of Netflix. Triangle of Sadness Ending Explained: Does Abigail Kill Yaya? My mother, frankly, always saw me for who I was. with when it came to their dealings with black people. Perhaps she Jesmyn Wards Haunted Novel of the Gulf Coast. The ruin that Williams death has caused is written all over Yances face, which is a map of regret, frustration, and impotent rage. Yance Ford has directed a movie about the death of his brother that distills this kind of frustration into something heartbreaking, but thats what makes it a vital and powerful film. for encounters with the police. Ford again went to the auto shop and was killed. Best Picture Nominee Triangle of Sadness Is Now Streaming on Hulu, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Gulmohar' on Hulu, a Hindi Family-Ties Drama Marking the Return of Sharmila Tagore, Steven Spielberg Broke Down in Tears Seeing Paul Dano and Michelle Williams as His Parents in 'The Fabelmans', Is Brendan Frasers The Whale Based on a True Story? he was frightened of Ford, a short but stocky young black man. reckless youth has been revised as a responsibility of black tutelage, a When Will 'Attack on Titan' Season 4, Part 4 Air? 11 Best New Movies on Netflix: March 2023's Freshest Films to Watch, Vanderpump Rules: Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix Break Up After He Reportedly Cheated With Raquel Leviss, Sex/Life Season 2: Adam Demos Tops His Famous Full Frontal Moment With, Uh, Tip, New Movies on Streaming: 'Magic Mike's Last Dance' + More, 'Next In Fashion' Season 2 on Netflix: Follow the Designers on Instagram, 'Wheel of Fortune' Gets Awkward as Pat Sajak Snaps at Contestant for Grabbing Wheel: "Don't Touch That", Is 'Yellowstone' On Tonight? TVTropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. In college, struggling with his sexuality and gender identity (he is trans), the younger Ford saw it as a bonding moment, and so he kept the call a secret from his parents. I hear a lot of talk on the net and on my Facebook feed about self-care, and I think that as a nation we need to understand that there are a lot of people in a lot of different positions in this society who need mental healthcare. Dunmore Ford K. F. Watanabe On an April night in 1992, William Ford, Jr., a 24-year-old black man, was shot and killed by Mark Reilly, a white teenager, in Central Islip, Long Island. William was unarmed.