Birth of a Movement is a documentary film which premiered in 2017. The topic is the beginning of the civil rights movement in the US in the beginning of the 20th century.
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Directors: Bestor Cram and Susan Gray
** Writers: Kwyn Bader and Dick Lehr
** Based on the book The Birth of a Movement: How Birth of a Nation Ignited the Battle for Civil Rights by Dick Lehr (published in 2017)
** Narrator: Danny Glover
** Studio: Northern Lights Productions
** Shown on US television (PBS) as an episode of the program Independent Lens (season 18 episode 07) (2017)
** Run time: ca. 55 minutes
Several persons are interviewed in this film. Here are the names (listed in alphabetical order):
** Bob Bellinger – historian – Suffolk University
** David Blight – historian – Yale University
** Vincent Brown – historian – Harvard University
** Dolita Cathcart – historian – Wheaton College
** William Jelani Cobb – journalist – Columbia University
** Ira Gallen – archivist - collector
** Henry Louis Gates, Jr. – literary historian – Harvard University
** Reginald Hudlin - filmmaker
** Spike Lee - filmmaker
** Dick Lehr – journalist – Boston University – the film is based on his book about The Birth of a Nation (published in 2017)
** Paul Miller (aka DJ Spooky) - composer
** Charlie Musser – film historian – Yale University
** Charlene Regester – film historian – University of North Carolina
** Ellen Scott – film historian - UCLA
** Melvin Stokes – film historian – College London
Archive footage appears between the talking heads. Archive footage is running while the narrator is talking.
Archive footage is used to illustrate the information offered by the talking heads and by the narrator.
The civil rights movement in the US did not begin with the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955. Nor did it begin with Marian Anderson’s open-air concert held at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939.
It began long before these famous and memorable events.
In order to find the real beginning, we have to go further back; back to the first two decades of the 20th century when the following three persons played an important role in the black community:
** Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)
** William Monroe Trotter (1872-1934)
** W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963)
Booker T. Washington was an educator and an author. He was a leader of the African-American community until his death in 1915. He wanted to avoid a conflict with the white community. He advocated an accommodating line. Do not confront the white establishment! Take what you can get and be happy with this!
William Monroe Trotter was the founder and editor of a newspaper in Boston. He was a militant activist. He opposed Booker T. Washington’s accommodating line. He did not seek to avoid a conflict. He felt that sometimes it was necessary to face a conflict in order to achieve progress for the black community.
W. E. B. Du Bois was a sociologist and an author. Like Trotter, he opposed Booker T. Washington’s accommodating line, but he did not agree with Trotter on every other issue.
In 1905, the Niagara Movement was founded. It was the first organization whose purpose was to promote and protect the civil rights of African-Americans. Trotter was among the founders.
However, this organization did not live long. There were internal problems. In 1910 it was disbanded.
One year before, in 1909, a somewhat similar organization had been founded: the NAACP. It was the second organization whose purpose was to promote and protect the civil rights of the black community in the US. Du Bois was among the founders.
In this film, we meet Booker T. Washington, Trotter and Du Bois. We also meet some of the people who represent the other side of the conflict:
** Thomas Dixon, Jr. (1864-1946)
** D. W. Griffith (1875-1948)
Thomas Dixon, Jr. was a politician and a lawyer who represents the idea of white supremacy. He was the author of a bestseller called The Clansman which was published in 1905.
D. W. Griffith was a film director who made several short movies in the beginning of the 20th century. When he heard about The Clansman and when he read the book, he decided that he wanted to make a movie based on this book.
The movie was ready in 1915. At first, it had the same title as the book. But soon it was decided to give it another title:
The Birth of a Nation.
This movie was a big success for Griffith. It was shown in movie theatres.
The movie was even shown in the White House. It was a special screening for President Woodrow Wilson and his family and some members of his cabinet. Both Dixon and Griffith were present at the screening of the movie.
But not all Americans were happy about this movie.
What was wrong?
The movie places the black community in a negative light and places the Ku Klux Klan in a positive light. The movie is a remarkable example of full-blown racism.
This movie ignited protest. This movie called for a vigorous response. Among those who criticized the movie we find William Trotter and W. E. B. Du Bois.
The conflict between William Monroe Trotter and D. W. Griffith is a good example of the deep-seated conflict between black and white in America.
This is the time when the black community begins to organize itself and to establish a national network in order to promote and protect its place and its role in American society.
What do reviewers say about this film?
** On IMDb it has a rating of 73 percent, which corresponds to 3.7 stars on Amazon.
** On Amazon there are at the moment more than 40 global ratings and reviews. The average rating is 4.5 stars.
If you ask me, the rating on IMDb is too low, while the rating on Amazon is much more appropriate.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
PS. The Birth of a Nation is a historical drama which premiered in 2016. Written and directed by Nate Parker. Based on the story of Nat Turner who led a slave rebellion in Virginia in 1831.
This historical drama from 2016 should not be confused with the silent movie from 1915.
SOME REFERENCES
** Black Radical: The Life and Times of William Monroe Trotter by Kerri K. Greenridge (HC 2020, PB 2021)
** W. E. B. Du Bois: A Biography 1868-1963 by David Lewis (HC 2008, PB 2009)
** Up from History: The Life of Booker T. Washington by Robert Norrell (2009, 2011)
** D. W. Griffith: An American Life by Richard Schickel (1984)
*****
The Birth of a Nation (1915)
*****
The Birth of a Movement
by Dick Lehr
(2017)
*****
No comments:
Post a Comment