The Defiant Ones: A Tribute to John Lewis
By Perdeta Long | North Birmingham Regional Branch Library
The Defiant Ones is for all men and women who stand up to and against racism and still do the right thing. During these times of civil unrest, I go to movies to find peace, friendship, love, and hope in mankind. I know this is a lot to ask of a movie, but movies are a way to escape, to get lost in the moment, and a way of seeing things differently through other eyes and points of view. The movies listed will all show us that compassion, love, and respect can bring us together, no matter our color, religion, or social or economic status.
The Defiant Ones (1958) Sidney Poitier, Tony Curtis
John "Joker" Jackson who is White, and Noah Cullen who is Black, are chained to each other after escaping while on their way to prison. They hate each other but they need to help each other to succeed in their intent of going north to jump on a train and reach freedom. Events that follow will force them both to make decisions between self-preservation or finishing their journey together, defying all the things that had previously divided them.
The Help (2011) Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spenser, Bryce Dallas Howard
The Help is an inspirational, courageous, and empowering story about very different, extraordinary women in the 1960s South who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project—one that breaks society’s rules and puts them all at risk. Filled with humor and hope, The Help is a timeless, universal, and triumphant story about the ability to create change. They created change during a time when your job security and freedom could be taken away from you in a moment with just a word or a phone call. These women loved and raised their children, but none of that mattered when you stepped out of your place. You got no respect from people that you had known and taken care of for years. This was the life of The Help.
To Sir with Love (1967) Sidney Poitier, Judy Geeson, Lulu
The story of an idealistic engineer-trainee and his experiences in teaching a group of rambunctious White high school students from the slums of London’s East End. Going beyond just an 8-to-3 job, he teaches them about art, the bigger world beyond their own neighborhood, and how to respect themselves as well as others. It is a movie about how a teacher can move beyond a racist environment and change the lives of his students for the betterment of all.
Loving (2016) Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga
The movie celebrates the real-life courage and commitment of an interracial couple, Richard and Mildred Loving, who married and then spent the next nine years fighting for the right to live as a family in their hometown. Their civil rights case, Loving v. Virginia, went all the way to the Supreme Court, which in 1967 reaffirmed the very foundation of the right of a White man and a Black woman to marry and live together as husband and wife. The one thing Richard wanted the Supreme Court judges to know was “I love my wife.”
Black or White (2014) Kevin Costner, Octavia Spenser
Elliot Anderson is widowed after a car crash leads to the death of his wife. Elliot, who is White, raises his bi-racial granddaughter, Eloise, as he struggles with his grief by binge drinking. Elliot's world is turned upside down when the child's Black grandmother, Rowena, demands that Eloise be brought under the care of her father, Rowena's son, Reggie, a drug addict whom Elliot blames for the negligence that led to the death of his own daughter. Elliot finds himself deeply entrenched in a custody battle and will stop at nothing to keep his granddaughter from coming under the watch of her reckless father. The movie concludes with Elliot putting his feelings about race and his granddaughter’s father aside and doing what is right for Eloise.
In Honor of John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 –July 17, 2020)
Selma and Malcolm X are historical landmarks to get you on the journey to learning about the civil rights movement; these movies do not take the place of historical documents or books. We lost a great leader in John Robert Lewis, an American civil rights leader and politician. He was a member of the Democratic Party, and was the U.S. Representative for Georgia's 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death. He was also the dean of the Georgia congressional delegation. The district he served includes the northern three-quarters of Atlanta.
Selma (2014) David Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson, Carmen Ejogo
Selma is based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches led by Martin Luther King Jr., Hosea Williams, and John Lewis. The marchers cross the Edmund Pettis Bridge and approach a line of state troopers, who put on gas masks. The troopers attack the marchers with clubs, horses, tear gas, and other weapons. Lewis and Boynton are among those badly injured. President Johnson speaks before a joint session of Congress to ask for quick passage of a bill to eliminate restrictions on voting.
Malcolm X (1992) Directed by Spike Lee; Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Al Freeman Jr.
Malcolm X explores his life: his criminal career; his incarceration; his conversion to Islam; his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam and his later falling out with the organization; his marriage to Betty X; his pilgrimage to Mecca and reevaluation of his views concerning Whites; and his assassination on February 21, 1965. Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King were opposite sides of the same coin—neither right, neither wrong— but both striving for the same results: freedom for their people.
"Freedom is never given; it is won."
– A. Philip Randolph
"Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed."
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Defiant Ones is for all men and women who stand up to and against racism and still do the right thing. During these times of civil unrest, I go to movies to find peace, friendship, love, and hope in mankind. I know this is a lot to ask of a movie, but movies are a way to escape, to get lost in the moment, and a way of seeing things differently through other eyes and points of view. The movies listed will all show us that compassion, love, and respect can bring us together, no matter our color, religion, or social or economic status.
The Defiant Ones (1958) Sidney Poitier, Tony Curtis
John "Joker" Jackson who is White, and Noah Cullen who is Black, are chained to each other after escaping while on their way to prison. They hate each other but they need to help each other to succeed in their intent of going north to jump on a train and reach freedom. Events that follow will force them both to make decisions between self-preservation or finishing their journey together, defying all the things that had previously divided them.
The Help (2011) Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spenser, Bryce Dallas Howard
The Help is an inspirational, courageous, and empowering story about very different, extraordinary women in the 1960s South who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project—one that breaks society’s rules and puts them all at risk. Filled with humor and hope, The Help is a timeless, universal, and triumphant story about the ability to create change. They created change during a time when your job security and freedom could be taken away from you in a moment with just a word or a phone call. These women loved and raised their children, but none of that mattered when you stepped out of your place. You got no respect from people that you had known and taken care of for years. This was the life of The Help.
To Sir with Love (1967) Sidney Poitier, Judy Geeson, Lulu
The story of an idealistic engineer-trainee and his experiences in teaching a group of rambunctious White high school students from the slums of London’s East End. Going beyond just an 8-to-3 job, he teaches them about art, the bigger world beyond their own neighborhood, and how to respect themselves as well as others. It is a movie about how a teacher can move beyond a racist environment and change the lives of his students for the betterment of all.
Loving (2016) Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga
The movie celebrates the real-life courage and commitment of an interracial couple, Richard and Mildred Loving, who married and then spent the next nine years fighting for the right to live as a family in their hometown. Their civil rights case, Loving v. Virginia, went all the way to the Supreme Court, which in 1967 reaffirmed the very foundation of the right of a White man and a Black woman to marry and live together as husband and wife. The one thing Richard wanted the Supreme Court judges to know was “I love my wife.”
Black or White (2014) Kevin Costner, Octavia Spenser
Elliot Anderson is widowed after a car crash leads to the death of his wife. Elliot, who is White, raises his bi-racial granddaughter, Eloise, as he struggles with his grief by binge drinking. Elliot's world is turned upside down when the child's Black grandmother, Rowena, demands that Eloise be brought under the care of her father, Rowena's son, Reggie, a drug addict whom Elliot blames for the negligence that led to the death of his own daughter. Elliot finds himself deeply entrenched in a custody battle and will stop at nothing to keep his granddaughter from coming under the watch of her reckless father. The movie concludes with Elliot putting his feelings about race and his granddaughter’s father aside and doing what is right for Eloise.
In Honor of John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 –July 17, 2020)
Selma and Malcolm X are historical landmarks to get you on the journey to learning about the civil rights movement; these movies do not take the place of historical documents or books. We lost a great leader in John Robert Lewis, an American civil rights leader and politician. He was a member of the Democratic Party, and was the U.S. Representative for Georgia's 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death. He was also the dean of the Georgia congressional delegation. The district he served includes the northern three-quarters of Atlanta.
Selma (2014) David Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson, Carmen Ejogo
Selma is based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches led by Martin Luther King Jr., Hosea Williams, and John Lewis. The marchers cross the Edmund Pettis Bridge and approach a line of state troopers, who put on gas masks. The troopers attack the marchers with clubs, horses, tear gas, and other weapons. Lewis and Boynton are among those badly injured. President Johnson speaks before a joint session of Congress to ask for quick passage of a bill to eliminate restrictions on voting.
Malcolm X (1992) Directed by Spike Lee; Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Al Freeman Jr.
Malcolm X explores his life: his criminal career; his incarceration; his conversion to Islam; his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam and his later falling out with the organization; his marriage to Betty X; his pilgrimage to Mecca and reevaluation of his views concerning Whites; and his assassination on February 21, 1965. Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King were opposite sides of the same coin—neither right, neither wrong— but both striving for the same results: freedom for their people.
"Freedom is never given; it is won."
– A. Philip Randolph
"Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed."
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
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