The Great Debate

Originally after seeing the movie on Christmas day I wasn't going to write on the movie and share my thoughts with you all. You see initially I was hesitant to see the movie in the 1st place and felt Denzel may have made a critical error at this point in his career by directing and staring in this film. However, my mother a older southern black women loves Mr. Washington an insisted that we go out and support his film as he can do no wrong. I ordered the tickets for myself my brother and my mother and headed to the theater open minded. What I saw was what was truly a great movie containing a story of struggles, how to overcome adversity in tumultuous times, and what happens when you believe in yourself.

The story was set in rural Louisiana in what we consider the deep south down there below the Mason Dixon line. Denzel portrayed the great debate coach at Wiley college, Melvin Tolson a man who lead two lives all for the betterment of not only African Americans, but Americans as a whole. I became engulfed in this film and the multiple stories that were told within it. A young boy struggling to be like his well accomplished father and struggling with love, happiness, and adolescence all at the same time. See I could identify with particular parts of this movie and the struggle that certain characters encountered.

At one point during the movie the debate team is traveling to a debate against Pepperdine University and happen upon a Lynch Mob. For those of you not familiar a lynch mob was/is a group of whites who gathered together for the hanging of a black person and lighting them on fire. It was this scene that was most difficult to bear. See my roots are from the deep south, you know down there below the mason dixon line and the simple thought of knowing that this is what my family members and others before me had to go through in order for me to be able to having the blessings and opportunities that I have today was to say the least extremely humbling and emotional. I looked over at my mother beside me and saw her filled with anger, tears, and emotion. It wasn't until she reached out and grabbed my hand that I realized the significance of this movie and my elder family before me.

We spoke about it briefly on the way home about what touched her so much within the movie to spark such anger and tears. She spoke on things she witnessed as a child growing up in the south and spoke on how the movie brought back to reality many images and thoughts that she went through as child. You know it's difficult to hear someone speak of being in the car with their father on the way to church and having to drive through town and pass through a Ku Klux Klan rally every week. See Generations before us took unified steps to allow better more prosperous lives for us and we must be sure to do so for those after us.

Now I'm not saying that the word can be perfect or that racism will one day end, but what I am saying is that we can damn sure try if not because we want to but that we need to. We need to continue to move forward as a people and as brothers and sisters. No one is saying you need to go out and be some sort of radical and start a revolution, but what I am saying is that if we all do our part we will fair much better than we are now. The world is in turbulent times, countrymen are killing countrymen, brothers are killing brothers, and races are killing races. Lets ban together as those before us did for betterment of those that will follow.

I encourage you all to go out and see The Great Debators regardless of where you are and what the color of your skin is. You will surly be entertained and touched by a incredibly great story.

Peace