“Dark Money” examines one of the greatest threats to American democracy: the influence of untraceable corporate money on our elections and elected officials. The film takes viewers to Montana, a frontline in the fight to preserve fair elections nationwide, to follow a local journalist working to expose the real-life impacts of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in which the Supreme Court ruled that “political spending is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment, and the government may not keep corporations or unions from spending money to support or denounce individual candidates in elections. While corporations or unions may not give money directly to campaigns, they may seek to persuade the voting public through other means, including ads, especially where these ads were not broadcast.”

Please join Meaningful Movies of First Church Seattle on Feb. 28 at noon for an online discussion of this film

Step 1:  

Watch “Dark Money” BEFORE THE EVENT.  See free alternatives below.   (We will NOT be showing the film during the Feb. 28 event.)

BEFORE the event, at your convenience, go to Amazon Prime (amazon.com), click on Prime Video, and type Dark Money Documentary in the Prime Video search bar. You may watch it for free by starting a 7-day free trial of PBS Documentaries.  Alternatively, you may pay $3.99 to rent the film. 

Another way to access the film is through Kanopy, a service offered by the Seattle Public Library.  To begin go to the Kanopy website (www.kanopy.com).  After stating that you want to enter Kanopy through a Public Library, you will then have to select Seattle Public Library including the branch.  You will need to log into your Kanopy account or create one from the log-in page (see small red type near the top of the log-in page).  You will be required to enter your library card number and PIN.  (You may obtain a library card online if you do not have one.  It is required to set up a Kanopy account.)  You may watch the online streamed version or you may obtain a DVD. 

Step 2:

Join us Sunday, February 28 from 12 noon – 1 p.m. via Zoom to learn more about dark money and what we can do about it. You must register for this event. Use registration link below. 

Our guest speaker Cindy Black, Executive Director of Fix Democracy First, will enlighten us about efforts to combat the influence of “dark money” in politics, including what we can do about it.  

Register here for the February 28 virtual (Zoom) event.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information about joining the event.

Guest Speaker:  Cindy Black has been the Executive Director of Fix Democracy First since 2016. She was also the Campaign Director for the Washington Coalition to Amend the Constitution (WAmend) that led to a successful statewide 2016 ballot Initiative (#735), making Washington the 18th State to call for a U.S. Constitutional amendment to end court decisions like Citizens United. She is active with several state and national coalitions, addressing voting access, money in elections, alternative voting systems, and increasing civic participation. Cindy is committed to helping pass pro-democracy legislation locally and nationally, as well as building an active citizen’s movement through ongoing coalition building, common sense reforms, and public outreach.