Try as he might, Marion Barry, 73, cannot erase the fact that most people know him as the mayor videotaped smoking crack in a 1990 sting operation – the same year DC had the dubious distinction of being the murder capital of the world.
Yet, today, and despite this humiliating and seemingly career-ending circumstance, Marion Barry is as beloved in chocolate city as ever, most recently elected as a city council member for DC's poorest area, Ward 8. He also provokes a vehement vitriol in the city as well.
Barry's phoenix like political career, and his fascinating and flawed personal life is chronicled in the documentary 'The Nine Lives of Marion Barry' which premieres tonight on HBO. It highlights not only a politician rocked by scandal but a brilliant young man who overcame bitter early circumstances to work in the civil rights movement and to serve in public office.
After several starts and stops filmmaker Dana Flor and her partner Toby Oppenheimer spent at least eight years on this project, and Flor belives that the film is not only about the history of DC but a spring to open up a very necessary dialogue about race and perception of reality based on race.
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