"Selma" - The Civil Rights Movement for Modern Audiences

***There is no spoiler alert because this was REAL HISTORY! Ha

Note: When I write Black(s), I'm referring to African American(s), not every group of the African Diaspora or modern African immigrants. 

It's so awesome to watch another movie that inspires me enough to want to, need to write about it. I would put it on the same level as other historic epics like Gandhi and Schindler's List that everyone needs to watch at least once in their lives to be more informed and empathetic about the scope and depth of human history, injustice, cruelty, mercy, hope, vision, violence, pride, greed, courage, and kindness. 

You should know by now (see previous posts) that I am obsessed with Black History & Culture. The peculiarity of the fact that I'm 100% Chinese and am not nearly as interested in Asian American History & Culture is not lost on me.

I have...

• read articles, historical books, and slave narratives;
• watched documentaries and biopics; 
• taken classes;
• written papers and blog posts;
• given presentations;
• listened to podcasts; 
• visited museums & monuments; and
• attended concerts and attend events

...to fuel my love of the subject, including this proud moment of marching with thousands in Washington, D.C. at the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington (see blog post) for jobs and freedom where Dr. King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963.

I love this stuff. Still, there is so much I don't know and would probably fail a test about the details. But it is extremely gratifying to see a mainstream movie backed by big name producers (thank you Brad Pitt & Oprah) and a big budget that is so well done. And I think the movie Selma was spot on in many ways in bringing more awareness to the Civil Rights Movement for modern audiences:

- It was impeccably well-timed - released 1 week before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 1 month before Black History Month, and 50 years after the actual event. 

- It starts with an intimate scene between Dr. King and his wife. Then it suddenly switches to the utterly shocking, senseless, and cruel events of the Birmingham Church Bombing that killed 4 little black girls and murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson after the 1st attempted march at Selma. It is crucial to remember that these single shattering tragedies represent numerous untold stories of black suffering, many that are much worse and gruesome. Don't even get me started on lynchings...

- It portrays Dr. King as the articulate, courageous, visionary leader he was...but also a morally imperfect human being who had extramarital affairs and people within his group who criticized him. It shows him strong, charismatic, and vocal at the podium, but also exhausted, disheartened, and overwhelmed at night alone, as well as the constant threat of death and heavy guilt he carried. 

- It reminds us that there were many white sympathizers who believed strongly in the Movement and sacrificed much, including their lives at the hands of other whites who despised blacks, Dr. King, and the whole Movement. They broke the mindset of race solidarity that had been instilled in whites since the days of slavery to prevent sympathizing whites from supporting blacks. 

- It points out that there were many ways blacks wanted to obtain equality and there was dissension within the Movement, namely between SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference, led by Dr. King) and SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), and between Dr. King and Malcolm X.  

- It revealed the tense period of the controversial Vietnam War that many alive today remember well - and the hypocrisy Dr. King saw in the federal government spending millions of dollars to send Americans to fight for people in a faraway country while leaving its own people helpless in America. I admit I don't know much about the Vietnam War but his indignation is completely understandable. 

- It highlights the fact that without mass media (newspapers, radio, and especially TV), Dr. King's nonviolent tactics would not be nearly as effective, and most likely not even worth doing. The main reason he risked blacks getting injured, jailed, and killed was because he expected journalists and news broadcasters to expose the injustice and violence of white supremacy and police brutality in order to prevent more suffering.

I definitely shed tears during the film. It hurts my soul to see such injustice and cruelty heaped upon a whole race of people just because of their skin color. It infuriates me whenever I think that the descendants of slave masters continue to treat the descendants of slaves with contempt, discrimination, and barbarity.

Truly, the only way I can bear to learn about this harsh history and reality is by constantly remembering that Jesus Christ paid for every single person's sins (if they are willing to repent) and will make up for every unfair thing ever suffered in human history. Scriptures such as these are a spiritual balm to me:

"Let all the saints rejoice, therefore, and be exceedingly glad; for Israel’s God is their God, and he will mete out a just recompense of reward upon the heads of all their oppressors." (D&C 127:3) 

“ye need not suppose that the righteous are lost because they are slain; but behold, they do enter into the rest of the Lord their God.” (Alma 60:13)

As we know from the recent events surrounding Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, and others (#blacklivesmatter), racism and police brutality are unfortunately still with us. Slavery left a long ugly legacy. The struggle is real and it continues.

Go watch Selma.