Mark Reilly: Case Investigation and African-American Man

mark reilly: His documentary, Strong Island hip-hop slang for Long Island, New York tells the tragic tale of the death of his older brother, William Ford Jr, according to Rabble. On April 7, 1992, the 24-year-old African-American man was shot through the heart by a white, 19-year-old mechanic named Mark Reilly. He has become the first transgender director to be nominated for an Academy Award. Although the cause of death was listed as homicide, and no one disputes that Reilly fired the gun, a grand jury made up of 23 white people declined to bring charges. The documentary, on its surface, is a cold case investigation. While a transgender man's groundbreaking Oscar nomination is certainly a cause for celebration, this achievement is steeped in pain, so eloquently evoked in this poetic, haunting masterpiece. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.