‘Selma' and the ongoing struggle for racial justice

Directed by Ava DuVernay (Paramount Pictures, 2015)

What happens when a man stands up and says enough is enough? When that man is Martin Luther King Jr., a movement mobilizes. Thousands rise with him. A nation changes forever.

Selma depicts the heat of the civil rights movement, the 1965 fight for equal voting rights. King (David Oyelowo) and fellow African American activists are starving for justice. When progress on voting rights legislation is slow, the movement convenes in Selma, Alabama to peacefully—and relentlessly—demonstrate. Their strategy? March to Montgomery and captivate a nation. A bigoted white brigade assaults the marchers with tear gas, batons, and malicious slurs, yet King and his supporters march on, bleeding and exhausted.

A controversy has erupted over the film’s portrayal of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s role in the civil rights struggle. Historians have decried the inaccurate portrait of LBJ as an at best reluctant supporter of voting rights. “This is art,” responded director Ava DuVernay. “I’m not a historian.”

Oyelowo delivers a masterful performance, channeling the unmistakable cadence, mannerisms, and raw emotions of King to a T. DuVernay delivers an intimate look at race relations in a country whose past—and present—is entrenched in cycles of racial injustice. One of the greatest achievements of Selma is its timeliness. The film is set in 1965, but many similar feelings and systemic barriers are experienced today. On screen we see how the nation’s white-dominated legal system severely disadvantaged black citizens. Today Americans are taking to the streets of Ferguson, New York, and many other cities.

In Selma we also see what can be done when passionate people are unwilling to succumb to violence. We see leaders turning to prayer for answers. In the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, we see progress. Selma provides hope for a movement that is not over.