SELMA

You want to know the funny thing about being black? Nothing! It’s been struggle all the way. We did not choose this road but since it’s all the choice we have, we might as well get comfortable. It’s been a long road and a damn hard one, but sometimes we forget! We forget that all it took to get here was only a few centuries of racial subjugation, thousands of lives lost in the pursuit for liberation, children, old folks and a long list of black heroes that gave it all for the course. What’s so special about Selma? Let’s just say it’s a trip down memory lane.

I would have betrayed history and the very truth that equality has nourished at the cost of millions of American Negros motivated by dignity to choose not to write about this movie (MLK, 1964) – a brief history on the dark depths the fanatic stand off and extreme display of activism dived. I wasn’t there and I cannot say I regret that.

This movie, however, is not about me; it’s not about the fact that black people can now roam the streets of Selma free of the fear of violence, it’s not about the fact that there exist no more disputes in Montgomery, Alabama over something as insignificant as a bus seat, it’s not about the fact that a black man was liberal enough to run for president of the United states of America and was eligible enough to emerge victorious. No, it’s not about the goodies, it’s about the price.
The movie narrates the struggle of the black community, led by Dr. Martin Luther King and how they persevered in the demand for their most basic civil right – the right to vote.
Unlike Dr. King that only had a vision of the ‘glory’, every day since his death has brought us a step closer to a dream, and even though victory is still far off, we’ve traveled in too deep into this dark tunnel and the light at the end couldn’t be any brighter to keep hope alive.

I watched this movie a couple of years back and it was just sensational. The passion, the truth, the injustice visited on a people beaten, wounded but not broken by the dehumanizing measures employed by ruthless, blood thirsty, power drunk political heads and a segment of the white population that were victims of their history and a cruel culture of racial degradation.
I could go on and on and on about how much of a great movie Selma is but I’m sure if you watched it there will be no point to that, actually I thought the best part was when John Legends song – Glory – came on. It takes nothing to shed a tear this days but this movie, this movie stole mine right from my eyes and I didn’t hold back knowing that it was worth every drop. Movies like this reminds me of the pride there is in being black and still, employs me to refuse the concept of ‘black’ and ‘white’ as long as the human race is concerned.

I would like to say a big thank you to the producers, the actors (special thanks to Oprah Winfrey of course) and everybody that was part of this incredible work; you touched the most sensitive and passionate part of my soul with this work. With all the blood shed and all the lives lost, it is only reasonable that we agree that there’s no reason to be white or black, as none of these colors are innocent anymore. If we are to be guilty of any crime at all then let it be because we are human beings equal in body, spirit and in will. See ya!!