Boycott (2001)
The story of Dr. Luther King and the many brave men & women who engaged in the Montgomery Bus Boycott is told in great detail.
Miss. Summer Freedom Project – Part 5
In case you are new to this blog, I need to explain that this is Part 5 of my looking back on the MS Freedom Summer Project’s 60th Annversary. During my two-week participation in that life-changing event I kept a journal, which is what I am recounting and reflecting upon here. Ten years ago I …
60th Anniversary of the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project, my journals, part 4
This time in Part 8 of my Journal I start by mentioning our failure to draw students for a Freedom School–not everthing was successful– and then move on to describe our meeting with the most striking person that I have ever met, Fanny Lou Hamer. It was at a Freedom Rally in Cleveland, the county …
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60th Anniversary of the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project, my journals, part 3
Freedom Summer took place 60 years ago, but my memories of my experience in what semed like a different country are bolstered by the extensive journal entries I wrote at the end of each hot day. Last week I covered our arrival at the little town of Shaw up in the Mississippi delta, the 3-room …
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60th Anniversary of the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project, my journals, part 2
For this 60th anniversary, the veteran film critic and author shares with us his journals from the historic Freedom Summer in Mississippi.
MEDGAR & MYRLIE
I have just finished reading Joy-Ann Reid’s new book MEDGAR & MYRLIE: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America–and can highly recommend it. I had known of the martyred NAACP leader even before I joined the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project way back in 1964. The three films in which he is portrayed greatly enhanced my …
American Fiction (2023)
A black novelist tired being told what a “Black” writer must write rebels by concocting a novel full of stereotypes which, to his surprise and dismay, becomes a best seller.
Genius: MLK/X –Part 1
In this 8-part series the parallel lives of Malcolm X & MLK, Jr. unfold, from their boyhood to their maturity as each fights racism in their own way.
Bayard Rustin: Slowly Emerging from the Shadows
Bayard Rustin was a genius at organizing mass events, but few Americans know anything about him–and this is just what the makers of the new Netflix film RUSTIN hope to correct. For details of his exciting story, I refer you to my review, found elsewhere on this site. What I want to address here is …
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Rustin (2023)
The story behind the 1963 March on Washington is well-told, including the frank depiction of the genius leading its planning, Bayard Rustin.