Reverend Al Sharpton rants about the importance of depicting the brutality of slavery in the film 12 Years A Slave and why it is still relevant today at a screening he co-hosted with activist Kevin Powell.

Sharpton told Uinterview in this exclusive U Rant that he hopes Steve McQueen's film will not only serve as a reflection of the harsh realities of slavery, but also as proof of distance we've traveled since then. "You really see how far we've come," Sharpton said of the film. “[We have the] vestiges still, of this [racism], in the US. Not as brutally as it was but we are not all the way out of it yet,” he said.