What stood out most to me were two very moving and powerful scenes that told the stories of those who we've heard about and/or read about in history books. But I've never seen them portrayed quite as vividly as they were in "Selma." One was the story of the four girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. The other was a story we all think we know well enough, the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The film showed a part of his life that I've never seen addressed in other portrayals, a human side that didn't paint him as a perfect leader, but rather a man that was merely a passionate advocate, flaws and all.
Reflecting on history, I am proud of how far our country has come. But I am also not ignorant to the fact that we still have a long way to go. I hope that we continue to exercise our rights to peaceful protests and freedom of speech to continue to march towards equality. A page from history could teach us a lot about the best way to move things forward in 2015, including the power of non-violence. I used to wonder why would anyone involved in the Civil Rights Movement would not fight back, leaning more toward the militant tactics of Malcolm X..an eye for an eye, right? But the film explained it well, pointing out the reason non-violence worked best. I'm not going to explain it. If you've seen the movie, you already know. If you haven't, GO SEE IT! Here's a quote to get you thinking...
