Movies We Watch

This was the third movie we had watched in a row set in the 1930′s. It was amazing how different the three experiences of the characters were. This film having the most depressing yet inspirational of the stories. The film was also based on a true story.

I am lucky enough to have grown up after the Civil Rights Movement. Though I lived in Detroit for most of my childhood, I was shielded from the most ugly of the riots until I started my Master’s Degree at the University surrounded by the aftermath of the Riots. I always went to mixed race schools. I knew some people didn’t, but it never occurred to me that at one point it was so segregated when I was a child.

This film shows amazingly brilliant students that are scorned outside their college for  nothing more than their skin color. To see them break barriers, prove themselves over and over in the educational system and still almost be lynched is heartbreaking.

The fact that they persevere is inspirational. Take advantage of what you do have instead of whining about what you don’t.

A little long, but never slow moving. If you are looking for a film that takes you through the ups and downs, losses and victories of black American youth in the 1930s, watch this.

imdb.com

A drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school’s first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship.