has been given in. and more people are listening to the outcry, specifically the outcry on the part of the african americans, about these injustices that are occurring. our thanks to michelle for being here this. morning don t forget to watch the first episode of model america, tonight on msnbc, and streaming on peacock. we will be right back. ht back. i m aline and i live in castle valley, california. my husband, barney, and i have been married for 32 years. i think the most important thing in life is to stay healthy. i noticed i was having some memory lapses. i discovered prevagen. since i ve been on prevagen, i ve noticed more clarity, more sharpness. the recall mechanism is a lot more concise. i ve been taking prevagen for almost 10 years. it s wonderful. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.
largely because they didn t feel as if what happened then was adequately addressed by the government, by the public, by the media and so it just it was an opportunity for us to let them have a voice and we also wanted to hear more from the police officers involved but were not able to they didn t feel that they wanted to communicate. very interesting. michelle major, thank you so much for being with us. really appreciate what you re doing. thanks. thank you. you can catch part one of model america sunday right here on msnbc. also streaming on peacock. that wraps up the hour for me. i m jose diaz-balart. i ll see you tomorrow night on nbc nightly news saturday. you can always reach me on twitter and instagram. be sure to follow the show
officer in 1990, even at that time was not a surprise, unfortunately, for african americans in this country, but it was a surprise where it occurred in teaneck, which was a place where they believed that they had already achieved racial harmony. in a sense, it s kind of a cautionary tale because whenever we think we ve gotten it right and we re all on the same footing and there s equality across the board, that s really when we need to consider that maybe we ve missed something, and that there might be lingering discord there and continuing always to be working towards social justice. so that s why i think it s important that we re telling the story now. yeah, and, michelle, there was a quote there, a member of the naacp said, it was very surreal to stand in this really
16-year-old black teenager phillip pannell was shot and killed by a white police officer in teaneck, new jersey. the officer acquitted of manslaughter in pannell s death. this sunday, msnbc films will air part one of a series called model america . the story was coming at you kind of like water through a fire hose. that s when i started to have those thoughts starting to flow. why would they shoot him? he was running. did he get shot because he was black? joining us now, michelle major, the director of model america . thank you for being with us this morning. i m wondering, why is it important to tell this story now? so there s several reasons. firstly, the story of the killing of a black teen, phillip pannell, by a white police
happening. but it s important to always be aware of that this is something that can happen so easily regardless of what what you may think is going on in your community or how you may think you re treating the other people in your community. michelle, such an emotional story. how did the delicate nature of this situation inform your work and your documentary? interesting question. it was difficult in a lot of senses. firstly because the family was so gracious, the pannell family was so gracious to provide interviews and spend a lot of time telling their story. but it s very it s a painful thing for them still. 30 years later, but they really haven t been able to heal and