“Dividers need us to stay in our own little bubbles talking about each other rather than to each other. We need to try something else.”
We live in a politically polarized world. For many, this has led to a deep cynicism about the political process. When two sides won’t even talk to each other, how can anything get done? In the Kramer Brothers, The First Step, we see that there is hope for getting things done, but it is by no means easy.
The film follows Van Jones in his quest to get a criminal justice reform bill (‘The First Step Act’) through Congress and signed into law. Jones is a progressive commentator on CNN and served in the Obama White House. The election of Donald Trump upset him deeply. He has been focusing on criminal justice reform for some time. The film takes place during the Trump presidency, when Republicans controlled both houses of Congress and the White House. For a progressive to get such work done would require a bipartisan effort. But how could it happen?
Jones believes that things can happen when you bring people together with common concerns, even if they have very different views. To explore the issues of drug addiction and the way it has affected criminal sentencing, he brought together a group of people from South Central L.A. and from rural West Virginia, both communities had significant drug problems. Most of those from West Virginia voted for Trump. Those from L.A. felt deep animosity for him. But what they held in common in terms of dealing with the pain of addiction in their community was a place they could come together.
But that is not what life in Washington, DC, is like. In order to begin the work there, Jones made a connection with Jared Kushner, President Trumps son-in-law and advisor. Kushner’s father had spent time in federal prison. Kushner also had a desire to bring about reform. But the very act of meeting with Kushner brought anger from Jones’ progressive allies. They saw him as selling out, as giving validation to the White House.
As the bill works its way through Congress, Jones and those who work with him find themselves attacked by people on both sides of the divide. For some this is letting criminals out on the streets, for others it is fixing a system that both sides admit is badly broken. Much of the success of the bill will rely on whether the President will support it, and how forcefully. Yet for some, giving the President any credit is anathema.
I first saw this film over a year and a half ago, as part of AFI Docs. That was during the early months of the Biden Administration. Would the change in government bring a new sense of bipartisanship? In the time since, we still see the political posturing that seems to care more about personalities and power than it does about functioning. The January 6 investigation was amazingly divisive. The Republicans fought over electing a Speaker. The debt ceiling needs to be addressed, but some see it only as a way to get what they want. Is bipartisanism dead? Perhaps not, there are still examples. But it keeps getting harder.
The film shows the possibility of such things happening. After all, the First Step Act was passed and signed into law, releasing many prisoners from the system. But it could only happen with a great deal of work, and sacrifice. Jones, even after the bill was passed, had to defend himself to some of his friends for how much he was willing to engage with the Right?and by how much credit he was willing to give them.
This film may show the possibility of working bipartisanly, but it is far from a picture of a bright future. It strikes me more as an exception that proves the rule, in that it really isn’t the leaders who are making this happen, but some who are on the edge of the system who have found a way in this case to accomplish a very limited, but important, goal.
The First Step is playing in select theaters.
Photos courtesy of Meridian Hill Pictures and Magic Labs Media
