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You are right about it beginning in 1865.
And there are many stories that could be told from that time on. How about something other than a documentary about the Tulsa Riots?
How about a story about the Godfather of the lawyers of the Civil Rights movement?
How about one about the lives of Fredrick Douglass?
Booker T Washington?
DuBois?
Any one of these gentlemen had lives that would be fabulous as dramas on the big screen...to be honest, they'd be better off on the small screen in a good mini-series.
How about one about Ida B. Wells?
How about Dr. Benjamin E. Mays - who sculpted the minds of some of our most successful Black men at Morehouse for generations.
You forgot 10,000 Black Men Named George - another one I really enjoyed.
How about a fictionalization of Lawrence Graham's book - The Senator & The Socialite?
There are so many stories to be told.
Why'd you have to send me down this road....Our stories are an untapped reservoir. And while documentaries are nice, I would love to own a DVD collection of our stories in theatrical releases.
"Some people will remind me of Schwerner and Goodman. I don't mean to minimize their efforts. My white Jewish father marched on Washington. My mother's father taught school and sold chickens on the side in order to make enough money to move he, my uncle and my grandma out of segregated Tampa so his children could get a decent education. Looking at these two stories, Hollywood would choose to make a film about my father."
Hollywood is not OUR hood, and cannot be expected to want to tell our stories. That is our responsibility alone.
Get a video camera. Get a digital voice recorder, and stick them in the faces of the movement vets in your city or your family. Ask some questions and let them tell some stories. Get the history before it goes away.
Along with other former members of the Black Panther Party in Chicago, 1968-73 or 74 I am helping pull together an oral history project. It ain't rocket science, and we can't wait for somebody else to put it on the big screen and serve it to us. If we can do it, others can too.
Hollywood could care less which means we should care a lot more.
The question--a very good one--aises the issue of demand, and who's attentive to it. Does the Black community demand more movies and other artistic expressions of the Civil Rights Movement? Are we? And if we are, and Hollywood is ignoring our demands, are BET, TVOne ignoring us just the same?
Or do our demands consist of more sitcoms, rap videos and better representation in talent shows and singing contests?
It is not possible, or perhaps, even desirable, for Hollywood to craft the quintessential epic about the Civil Rights Movement. Hollywood has never crafted a quintessential epic about any era of human endeavor and struggle. Hollywood can occasionally produce works of art but that is seldom by design or intention.
Telling the history of the Civil Rights Movement is something that Hollywood is probably incapable of doing for reasons that are patently and not so patently clear. Movies don't tell history. They tell stories about history, which is not the same thing.
I read the article in yesterday's post and immediately sent an email to the reporter informing her too about 'Boycott', which was complete with extraordinary performances from Jeffrey Wright, Terence Howard and others. Wright's protrayal of Dr. King was mesmerizing! I also told her to pick up a copy of 'Keep the Faith Baby', starring Harry J. Lennix as Adam Clayton Powell, Jr and Vanessa Williams, as well as '10,000 men named George', starring Andre Brauer as A. Philip Randolph. Both films had stellar performances on par with 'Boycott'. Yes, it's sad that none of these films made it to the big screen, but nonetheless they were released on HBO and Showtime, so they were exposed to very large audiences. And more of us should be watching before complaining that there haven't been any quality productions about the movement. Personally, I think it would be impossible and somewhat insulting to try to digest a 30 year movement (not 10 as she states) into a 2 or 3 hour movie. Let's start chronologically with the founding of the NAACP. If there is one man that deserves an epic made of his life, it's W.E.B. DuBois, arguably the greatest intellect in the history of this country.
Is that a serious possibility or are you just hoping?
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