It came as no surprise to some of us that the movie “Selma” was snubbed at the Golden Globes Award and now, the Oscars. That’s the story of black folks in America.
The historical backdrop of the movie is the contentious path to the passage of the Voting Rights Act. Fighting to vote in 1965, fighting to vote in 2015. That’s the story of black folks in America.
In “Selma,” director Ava DuVernay has projected her interpretation onto the big screen of the historic and tumultuous events that led to the signing of the Voting Rights Act. “Selma” reminds us of a time when Southern white supremacy successfully robbed African Americans of their constitutional and human rights for generations.
It didn’t take long before critics began to undermine the spirit and intent of the movie. First out of the box was Joseph Califano Jr., President Lyndon Johnson’s chief assistant for domestic affairs during the timeframe depicted in “Selma.” Writing in the Washington Post, Califano criticized DuVernay for her portrayal of Johnson as a reluctant supporter civil rights supporter, even asserting that the Selma march was his boss’s idea. History has shown us that LBJ was no willing, enthusiastic supporter of civil rights but a shrewd politician.
Califano questioned the movie’s merit to be considered for any kind of cinematic awards, sending out a not-so-subtle message to the movie industry and the publications that cover it.
DuVernay confidently told Rolling Stone that she “wasn’t interested in making a white-savior movie” but instead “a movie centered on the people of Selma.” I knew when this unapologetic black woman spoke truth to power, she was going to lose points with some powerful white men.
DuVernay is molded in the tradition of the women she lifted up in her movie – freedom-fighting women like Diane Nash, Richie Lee Jackson, Annie Lee Cooper and Amelia Boynton. These were women, men and youth whose clarity of purpose and whose sacrifices pushed the freedom agenda forward to the next phase.
Here we are in 2015 – and black people are still struggling for full political, social and economic rights along with our human dignity. How is it that 29 states have introduced restrictive voting laws, including Missouri? The suppression of voting rights is part of a bigger strategy to continue the marginalization and dehumanization of non-white humans in a society that constantly banters around the concept of democracy.
At a time when the slogan “Black Lives Matter” has been embraced by those of many, divergent backgrounds, it is an opening to move this country towards a deeper, more transformative state. It means that our spirit must be defiant and our strategy must be clear.
It also means that our movement must grow exponentially so that it is indistinguishable from the everyday lives of people. It means that those who continue to deny others their rights and restrict their human potential must be isolated and scorned like some kind of virus that if let loose will infect millions and destroy the civilization that we are trying to build.
After Bloody Sunday, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. knew Selma was bigger than him, even bigger than the originally conceived march to Montgomery. He put out a national call for people to come to Selma and thousands answered the call. The call transcended the march. It had become a transformative moment when the South – this country – would never be the same again.
The tragedy of Mike Brown’s killing has that same kind of potential. We will never be the same, nor should we. We have the responsibility of doing the personal, organizational and institutional work to define democracy, not in the limited eyes of this country’s white forefathers, but in the full and rich tapestry for all who continue the tedious work to break the literal and figurative chains, to end all forms of oppressions.
A new day is dawning only if we make it so.
