My Name Is Pauli Murray is a documentary film which premiered in 2021. It covers the life and work of Pauli Murray from the beginning in 1910 to the end in 1985.
Pauli Murray was a civil rights activist, a lawyer, a minister, and a poet, who made important contributions to the struggle for equality, freedom, and justice for all in the US. But until recently her name was not well-known among the general population.
When her name is mentioned, many people will ask: who is she? What did she do? When they are told she was a pioneer who did important work to promote civil rights in the US, many people will ask: if her work and her contributions were so important, why do I not know her name? Why did I not hear anything about her until now?
This film tries to answer these questions. It tells us what she did and how she did it. It discusses the numerous obstacles she had to face in her life. And it tries to explain why she was not given the credit and the recognition she deserved.
It is based on evidence Pauli Murray left behind, on interviews with people who knew her, and on interviews with historical and legal experts who have followed and studied her life and her work.
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Directors: Julie Cohen and Betsy West
** Writers: Julie Cohen, Talleah Bridges McMahon, Cinque Northern, and Betsy West
** Producer: Talleah Bridges McMahon
** Run time: 93 minutes
THE CAST
Here are the names of the people who are interviewed in the film (listed in alphabetical order):
** Patricia Bell-Scott – author of a biography: The Firebrand and the First Lady (2016)
** Dolores Chandler - former coordinator, Pauli Murray Center
** Brittney Cooper – associate professor of women’s and gender studies, Rutgers University
** Sonia Pressman Fuentes (born 1928) – an author and a lawyer - founding member of NOW (founded in 1966)
** Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020) – lawyer, member of the US Supreme Court 1993-2020
** Tina Lu – Professor of East Asian Languages and Literature, Head of Pauli Murray College, Yale University
** Marghretta McBean - daughter of Adelene McBean who was Pauli's friend
** Ernest R. Myers – former student at Brandeis University
** Mary Norris – a friend
** Eleanor Holmes Norton (born 1937) – Yale School of Law 1964 - since 1991, she is a delegate who represents the District of Columbia (the capital) in the US House of Representatives
** Inez Smith Reid (born 1937) – a retired judge
** Rosalind Rosenberg – author of a biography: Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray (2017)
** Karen Rouse Ross – Pauli’s grand-niece
** Reggie Sapp – former student at Brandeis University
** Chase Strangio – ACLU attorney
** Raquel Willis – writer, activist, MS Foundation
Archive footage is used between the talking heads. Archive footage is used to support and supplement the statements made by the talking heads. Archive footage makes it possible for the viewer to follow the life of Pauli Murray via old photos and video clips.
RATINGS AND REVIEWS
What do reviewers say about this film? Here are the results of three review aggregators:
62 percent – IMDb
73 percent – Meta
95 percent – Rotten Tomatoes
On IMDb there are five user reviews. Here are the ratings and the headlines:
80 – Finally
100 – Why?
100 – An unsung hero
100 – How did I not know this woman?
100 – A love story for democracy and equality
As you can see, these reviews offer ratings which are much higher than the average rating on the website. The average rating of these five reviews is 96 percent.
On Amazon there are at the moment 139 global ratings and 112 global reviews. The average rating is 4.6 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 92 percent.
Most reviews (89 percent) are positive. They offer four or five stars. But a few reviews (8 percent) are negative. They offer only one or two stars.
To illustrate the positive and the negative trend, I will list some of the headlines.
Here are some one star reviews on Amazon. They hate it.
** Worn out storyline
** All lies!
** Trash
** Overhyped
** Perfectly ridiculous
Here are some five star reviews on Amazon. They love it.
An excellent documentary
A story most people should know
Informative documentary
Phenomenal!
Genius; phenomenal documentary
I should have known… But I know NOW!
Well-done documentary
Inspiring
Very enlightening
Superb US history documentary
Wonderful documentary
A remarkable documentary
Relevant more than ever
A must for everyone
Brilliance
OMG I’m 70 and I’m just now learning about this woman?!
American legal history: The untold story of a pioneer
Very well done
Amazing
Awesome
Important
What a remarkable documentary
A great film
An inspiration
Extraordinary!
CONCLUSION
I understand the numerous positive reviews. I agree with them. Pauli Murray was an extraordinary pioneer in the field of civil rights. The story of her life and her work is important and deserves to be told. In this film it is done very well.
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. Julie Cohen and Betsy West are directors of RGB, a documentary film about the life and career of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which premiered in 2018.
REFERENCES
** Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family by Pauli Murray (1956) (1999)
** Dark testament and Other Poems by Pauli Murray (1970) (2018)
** Pauli Murray: The Autobiography of a Black Activist, Feminist, Lawyer, Priest, and Poet (1989)
** Pauli Murray and Caroline Ware: Forty Years of Letters in Black and White edited by Anne Firor Scott (2009)
** The Firebrand the First Lady by Patricia Bell-Scott (2016)
** Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray by Rosalind Rosenberg (2017)
** Beyond Respectability: The Intellectual Thought of Race Women by Brittney Cooper (2017)
** Pauli Murray: A Personal and Political Life by Troy R. Saxby (2020)
*****
Pauli Murray (1910-1985)
*****
Julie Cohen - director
*****
Betsy West - director
*****
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