Monday, March 23, 2015

Selma, Martin Luther King, the movie and memories

The movie 'Selma' is moving and very well conceived. I love how Martin Luther King keeps making the case for continuous non-violent action against all odds. The film brought tears to my eyes and made me proud of what the people, often at high personal cost acchieved. The cast is sublime, the humanity of the main characters shines through.
My late husband Tony Mafia once mentioned to me that at the first march to Selma he went along with some friends in an old Volkswagen bus. He lived in Los Angeles at that time. What he told me was indeed that on the bridge the local sheriff and the cops really went out of their way with their batons to hurt as many people as possible. He even mentioned that German shepherds were send in against the marchers. Many black people and lots of young hippies were injured. He didn't go to the other marches not liking the violence, not liking to see how people around him got shot or killed in other ways.
I was a young teacher in an interpreting school when all this happened. I was the teacher for English interpreting and spoke also about all things American. Sadly, the message today still needs to heard. Sadly black children still live all too often in dire circumstances and shamefully black boys still are killed by white cops and vigilantes who all too often go unpunished.

We are one race: the human race and we are all born equal.

 Here you can see the trailer of the movie.

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