Speaker 1: Welcome back to Magical Rewind, the show that makes you
Speaker 1: want to grab your friends, your pjs, and your popcorn
Speaker 1: and go back to a time when all the houses
Speaker 1: were smart.
Speaker 2: The Waves, Tsunamis and the high School's musical.
Speaker 3: I'm Wilford Dell and I'm Sabrina Bright.
Speaker 1: We've got a special one today for Black History Month.
Speaker 1: We are diving right onto YouTube again, So apologies for that,
Speaker 1: but you'll understand why in a second landing again in
Speaker 1: the Wonderful World of Disney, which is why, of course
Speaker 1: we had to watch it on YouTube. They refuse to
Speaker 1: put these things on Disney. Plus, we think it has
Speaker 1: something to do with the music or the licensing. We're
Speaker 1: trying to get an actual answer though, because there's so
Speaker 1: many gems from the Wonderful World at Disney that we
Speaker 1: have not been able to dive into yet, or when
Speaker 1: we do, it's bad quality, or we get half of it,
Speaker 1: or it's ripped from somebody's vhs.
Speaker 3: So this one was a great quality.
Speaker 1: It was mine, was okay, it wasn't great, it was okay,
Speaker 1: And again, I just love being able to see every
Speaker 1: aspect of the filmmaking, and especially when it's something as
Speaker 1: important as a period piece.
Speaker 2: You know, I want to see the clothes and the.
Speaker 1: Cars and all that, so you know, it was a
Speaker 1: wonderful film, but I I, you know, wished I could
Speaker 1: have watched it more clearly. And of course that is
Speaker 1: because it's a wonderful world of Disney, which, as we've
Speaker 1: talked about a thousand times, is only on the YouTube's
Speaker 1: which is not good. But anyway, this is the nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety nine biographical drama of Revolution Selma, Lord Selma. It
Speaker 1: premiered on ABC on January seventeenth, nineteen ninety nine, just
Speaker 1: one day before the federal Martin Luther King Junior Holiday,
Speaker 1: which of course was designed to happen by Disney. The
Speaker 1: film is based on true events that took place in
Speaker 1: nineteen sixty five, detailing a tragic event in Selma, Alabama,
Speaker 1: a very dark day for the civil rights movement, where
Speaker 1: hundreds of marchers led by John Lewis and Josea Williams
Speaker 1: were met by a wall of state troopers and a
Speaker 1: posse of white locals who quickly knocked them to the
Speaker 1: ground and hit them with nightsticks and tear gas, some
Speaker 1: beaten unconscious while running away, All televised to an international audience.
Speaker 1: Seventeen marchers were hospitalized and fifty treated for lesser injuries.
Speaker 1: Lewis suffered a skull fracture, and one fourteen year old
Speaker 1: girl needed seven stitches above her right eye.
Speaker 2: And twenty eight on the back of her head.
Speaker 1: The massacre became known as Bloody Sunday and pushed President
Speaker 1: Lyndon Johnson to send a voting rights bill to Congress.
Speaker 2: Now, there have been obviously a lot.
Speaker 1: Of movies and books and TV shows about this very
Speaker 1: moment in American history, most famously the twenty fourteen award
Speaker 1: winning movie Selma. But Serena, did you know much about
Speaker 1: Bloody Sunday before we watched this film?
Speaker 4: Yes, I mean what we learned, you know, in school,
Speaker 4: and of course watching the movie Selma, So I definitely
Speaker 4: did know about it.
Speaker 3: It just doesn't like, it doesn't.
Speaker 4: Matter how many times I've talked about it or had
Speaker 4: stories that I've read. Just seeing it again, it's just
Speaker 4: it's so heavy, and it's just I mean, I obviously
Speaker 4: knew what I was going to be watching, and yet
Speaker 4: as it was going, even just the first couple of
Speaker 4: things that you're just going, wow, Like, what a different world?
Speaker 4: For especially the youth to live in you know how
Speaker 4: scary scary it was.
Speaker 1: Sure, yeah, this was it was an important film to watch, have,
Speaker 1: very heavy film to watch. Yeah, and it's one of
Speaker 1: those movies where I knew I was going to just
Speaker 1: sit there angry. Yeah, so you know, you get you
Speaker 1: you you Yeah, well we'll get into it. But it is,
Speaker 1: it's it's infuriating to watch what happened, especially you know
Speaker 1: when it's quote unquote disneyfied. So it's seen through the
Speaker 1: eyes of a child, right, it really puts kind of
Speaker 1: a different spin on what's happening in the world, where
Speaker 1: you know, one morning you're jump roping and a week
Speaker 1: later you're running from tear gas. Yeah, so it truly
Speaker 1: truly all this through the eyes of a child is
Speaker 1: such an interesting way to watch the events unfolding in
Speaker 1: our country. And you know, people forget our country is
Speaker 1: an idea and it's evolving all the time, and sometimes.
Speaker 2: It gets it.
Speaker 1: It's a horrible jump forward and sometimes it's a horrible
Speaker 1: jump backwards, and you're seeing kind of this progression.
Speaker 2: But oh man, it was.
Speaker 4: Just so inspirational to as far as you know, I mean,
Speaker 4: all I kept thinking was, man, how amazing it.
Speaker 3: Be to be in a room with doctor Martin Luther
Speaker 3: King James.
Speaker 4: Yeah, like his aura, his energy, like the way that
Speaker 4: people talk about him, the way everything that he did.
Speaker 4: It's just like I could, like the first couple of
Speaker 4: scenes were into it quickly into like a church, a
Speaker 4: small little area with him. I kept getting chills like
Speaker 4: I couldn't imagine literally being in that church with like
Speaker 4: such an incredible inspirational man who just moved mountains for
Speaker 4: this country.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And it's also there's something so amazing to me about
Speaker 1: somebody like a doctor King or Gandhi or somebody like
Speaker 1: that who essentially says every amount of violence we're met with,
Speaker 1: we're going to answer with peace and love.
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker 1: And it's just you get that feeling of you're infuriated
Speaker 1: in watching going like swing back, hit back, grab something,
Speaker 1: and it's like that's the absolute opposite of everything they're teaching.
Speaker 2: It's like everything we're going to meet you with the control.
Speaker 4: I mean, someone shuts me off on the freeway and
Speaker 4: I am like, you know, my marbles in my car,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean. It's like the level of
Speaker 4: control and just I mean and showing how it worked
Speaker 4: like showing that that was the right way to go.
Speaker 2: Was just pretty increasing.
Speaker 3: It's just wild.
Speaker 1: So, yes, this is gonna be again a different film
Speaker 1: that we're watching this week, and we've done a couple
Speaker 1: of these now that have kind of again looked at
Speaker 1: something going.
Speaker 2: On in the in the world.
Speaker 1: Usually, you know, color Friendship comes to mind, where you
Speaker 1: know it was about apartheid, and so looking at these
Speaker 1: incredible things that are happening, these horrible things that are
Speaker 1: happening throughout the world through the eyes of a child
Speaker 1: again is.
Speaker 2: A much different take, and Disney does it well.
Speaker 1: So Selma Lord Selma is based on a nineteen eighty
Speaker 1: book of the same name written by Cheyenne Webb and
Speaker 1: Rachel West and of course Frank Sacora, published by the
Speaker 1: University of Alabama. Disney Picture option the memoir hoping MLK
Speaker 1: Day could coincide with its release. The book was a
Speaker 1: memoir from Web and West, two children who witnessed the
Speaker 1: day as children.
Speaker 2: And are of course the main characters of the story.
Speaker 1: Compared to some of our past recaps, this film obviously
Speaker 1: holds a bit more emotional heft and violence than we
Speaker 1: usually see, but that was always the best part of
Speaker 1: the Disney Channel produced films. You know, they just did it.
Speaker 1: The genres and emotions ran the gamut in this one.
Speaker 1: Viewers got to learn something. It wasn't Fuzzbucket, to say
Speaker 1: the least.
Speaker 2: Critics so we're not so sold on it. They were mixed.
Speaker 1: However, it was nominated for the Humanities Prize, which you
Speaker 1: might remember Color of Friendship did win. It was also
Speaker 1: nominated for an NAACP Image Award. During researching the movie,
Speaker 1: it does seem like a lot of schools show this
Speaker 1: movie to students during Black History Month, which is great
Speaker 1: because that means they're probably have VHS copies out there. Because,
Speaker 1: as we said, as is the case with most whatever
Speaker 1: all of the Disney films, watching.
Speaker 2: It can be a bit of a scavenger hunt.
Speaker 1: But we did find the full version on the YouTube,
Speaker 1: so that's how we watched it. Just search for Selma,
Speaker 1: Lord Selma and you'll see a full movie option or
Speaker 1: pick I guess whatever upload speaks to you. Some might
Speaker 1: even say, let the movie choose. You don't choose the movie, however,
Speaker 1: choose the movie. It makes it again. We talked about this,
Speaker 1: talked about the actual day of Bluddy Sonny, but did
Speaker 1: you know anything about the film before we reakout?
Speaker 3: I didn't.
Speaker 4: I didn't, No, I didn't. But then once it popped
Speaker 4: up and I saw the main young actor, I was
Speaker 4: just she is just so extraordinary. I was like crepting
Speaker 4: myself up for a wonderful watch as far as it goes.
Speaker 1: By the way, we already got one of our producers saying,
Speaker 1: I remember watching school growing up, so yeah, this was
Speaker 1: an important one. And as they were so proud to
Speaker 1: say in the movie, let's get your marching shoes ready.
Speaker 2: Here is the synopsis.
Speaker 1: Eleven year old Cheyenne is touched by a speech from
Speaker 1: Martin Luther King Junior and becomes active in the civil
Speaker 1: rights movement of nineteen sixty five, but her resolution is
Speaker 1: tested when she joins others in the infamous Alabama March
Speaker 1: from Selma to Montgomery. Early thoughts, what did you think
Speaker 1: of Selma, Lord Selma?
Speaker 3: Oh man?
Speaker 4: It was you know, heavy, absolutely, but I thought it
Speaker 4: was done really well. I thought that this was a movie,
Speaker 4: I mean not necessary. Obviously, there would be kind of
Speaker 4: like an age that you wouldn't want to have your
Speaker 4: any child, like I wouldn't have my kids watch it
Speaker 4: just yet obviously probably yet yeah, no, But at the
Speaker 4: same time, I think in a couple years, you know,
Speaker 4: is such a learning movie and it's done well, it's
Speaker 4: not it you feel the heaviness, but it's not you know,
Speaker 4: graphic like, it's not like to where it's like you
Speaker 4: know that you get you get the the sin, like
Speaker 4: the seriousness of what happened. And I love that, you know,
Speaker 4: it obviously has a great message, but it's I love
Speaker 4: like period pieces and things that like really guide you
Speaker 4: through an experience that happened in the world prior.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I really liked this film, you know, again taking
Speaker 1: a snapshot of something so important and showing it through
Speaker 1: the eyes of a child that now said that a
Speaker 1: number of times, but it's true because you forget that
Speaker 1: all the people that are experiencing everything going on. So yeah,
Speaker 1: really amazing. And this is one of the few movies
Speaker 1: again because and I did the same thing with Color
Speaker 1: of Friendship where I'm pausing the movie and googling the
Speaker 1: people in the movie, like I'm seriously trying to deep
Speaker 1: dive the characters because I knew it's based on true events.
Speaker 1: What's this person doing? Now, what's that person doing. Now,
Speaker 1: how close is it to the actual story? And we're
Speaker 1: going to get into some of that, because pretty amazing.
Speaker 1: The director is a pioneer of African American cinema, Charles Burnett.
Speaker 1: He even received an honorary award from the Academy in
Speaker 1: twenty seventeen for being quote chronicling the lives of Black
Speaker 1: Americans with eloquence and insight unquote. The South Central LA
Speaker 1: native graduated from UCLA and helped start a movement called
Speaker 1: the La Rebellion, rejecting studio stereotypes and instead portraying everyday
Speaker 1: African American life with realism and humanism. His senior thesis
Speaker 1: movie Killer of Sheep was made for under ten thousand
Speaker 1: dollars and is now considered a landmark of American independent
Speaker 1: cinema and black filmmaking, named one of the one hundred
Speaker 1: Essential films of all Time by Time magazine, and his
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety movie To Sleep with Angels starring Danny Glover
Speaker 1: is also considered a masterpiece. He has also directed documentaries
Speaker 1: like Nat Turner, A Troublesome Property and Namibia The Struggle
Speaker 1: for Liberation. Burnett was a true legend, and this Disney
Speaker 1: movie is a memorable addition to his body of work.
Speaker 1: It stars Journey Smolette as Cheyenne Webb, part of the
Speaker 1: Smollette dynasty of actors and creators. She's probably best known
Speaker 1: for her work on the critically loved but quickly canceled
Speaker 1: HBO show Lovecraft Country, for which she was Emmy nominated.
Speaker 1: The former child star first broke out at eleven years
Speaker 1: old opposite Samuel L. Jackson in the movie Eve's By You,
Speaker 1: and appeared in fifteen episodes of Full House.
Speaker 2: She was also featured on.
Speaker 1: Cosby, Friday Night Lights and True Blood, and on the
Speaker 1: film side, she was most recently in The Order with
Speaker 1: Jude Law, and she played Black Canary Awesome in the
Speaker 1: comic book adaptation of Birds of Prey. Mackenzie Aston is
Speaker 1: Jonathan Daniels. Listeners in my age group will know Aston
Speaker 1: as Andy on the show Facts of Life, or just
Speaker 1: as the son of John Aston and Patty Duke. He
Speaker 1: is also the half brother of Hobbit and president of
Speaker 1: sag Sewn.
Speaker 2: Aston.
Speaker 1: Mackenzie has been working steadily since the eighties, starring in
Speaker 1: the criminally bad Garbage Pale Kids movie, but racking up
Speaker 1: far less offensive roles in movies like Wyatt RP. And
Speaker 1: Iron Will, and on TV he's been in it all.
Speaker 1: I mean seriously, go look pages and pages of credits.
Speaker 1: So let's just focus on the last few years where
Speaker 1: he's been on some of TV's biggest shows. Landman, Mayor
Speaker 1: of Kingstown, The Pit, and Winning Time just to name
Speaker 1: a few. Dude works all the time, wow and has
Speaker 1: his entire life. Clifton Powell has the weighty responsibility of
Speaker 1: playing Martin Luther King Junior. Powell has also been busy
Speaker 1: since the eighties, best known for roles in movies like
Speaker 1: Deep Cover, Menace to Society, Dead Presidents, Next Friday, and
Speaker 1: Rush Hour, and video game Fans.
Speaker 2: He is the voice of.
Speaker 1: Big Smoke in the Grand Theft auto franchise Huge. We
Speaker 1: also have a big cameo here and it is a
Speaker 1: meaty role. Martin Luther King Junior and Loretta King's firstborn child,
Speaker 1: Yolanda King, plays Miss Bright, Cheyenne's school teacher who joins
Speaker 1: her in the March. Yolanda King also played Rosa Parks
Speaker 1: in the King TV mini series, and she appeared in
Speaker 1: movies like Mississippi and TV shows like Jag. Unfortunately, Yolanda
Speaker 1: King passed away in two thousand and seven from suspected
Speaker 1: heart related complications at the young age of fifty one
Speaker 1: years old. And finally, Ella Joyce play I Mean again.
Speaker 1: The cast is huge, so where we're kind of hitting
Speaker 1: the big ones here, And finally, Ella Joyce plays Betty Webb.
Speaker 1: Joyce was best known for her time on the TV
Speaker 1: show Rock and she appeared in the TLC music video
Speaker 1: for Waterfalls. You also saw her on Sabrina, the teenage
Speaker 1: Witch Seinfeld and the movie set it off.
Speaker 2: And you know what sets me off? Sabrina movies that
Speaker 2: are too long.
Speaker 1: And here on Magical Rewind, we yearn for the ninety
Speaker 1: minute movie. And so where do we land on?
Speaker 2: Selma? Lord Selma.
Speaker 1: It clocks in at ninety four minutes. It's four minutes heavy.
Speaker 1: But we're gonna be honest, if any movie is allowed
Speaker 1: to be heavy, it's this one. So we're just gonna
Speaker 1: accept it and we're gonna move on, move on.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 1: On the script side, they give credit to three book authors,
Speaker 1: Rachel West Nelson and Chyanne Webb, whose true life story
Speaker 1: is brought here obviously, and Frank Zacora, who was the
Speaker 1: reporter for the Birmingham News that co authored the book
Speaker 1: with and the screenplay was from Cynthia Whitcomb, who was
Speaker 1: a prolific writer who had sold more than seventy screenplays
Speaker 1: in her career. Her two most well received though, are
Speaker 1: both from Disney Studios, Selma, Lord Selma and the nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety one Disney Channel movie Mark.
Speaker 3: Twain and Me.
Speaker 1: She also wrote and was Emmy nominated for I Know
Speaker 1: My Name Is Stephen, a film about which I've seen
Speaker 1: Strange Enough, which is a film about a kidnapping victim
Speaker 1: named Stephen Stainer who escaped his captor alongside a five
Speaker 1: year old and he'd be brought to safety.
Speaker 2: Small detail here about Stephen.
Speaker 1: His brother Carrie would later go on and become a
Speaker 1: serial killer.
Speaker 4: Ooh not in the movie though, but WHOA.
Speaker 1: So let's get into this one. It's a rare Disney
Speaker 1: movie that covers something really, really important. This is Selma,
Speaker 1: Lord Selma. We opened with gospel music and establish shots
Speaker 1: of Alabama, focusing mostly on the Edmund Pettis Bridge. We
Speaker 1: find ourselves in a black neighborhood and what is easily
Speaker 1: identifiable as the nineteen sixties. We see the harsh signs
Speaker 1: of the time, a white and colored water fountain, a
Speaker 1: white's only bus benches, and segregated businesses. Doctor Martin Luther
Speaker 1: King Junior is being driven around and shown the area
Speaker 1: with hopes that Selma can be a place where blacks.
Speaker 2: And whites will eventually live together.
Speaker 1: Now to school during recess, we see Cheyenne jump roping
Speaker 1: with her friend Rachel across the street. At a church,
Speaker 1: people are lined up in applauding the arrival of doctor King.
Speaker 1: Cheyenne can't believe he's going.
Speaker 2: To be in Selma. She wrote a report on him
Speaker 2: in school. She has to go see him.
Speaker 1: The bell rings, but instead of returning to class, Cheyenne
Speaker 1: walks right to the church. Reverend Reese is speaking to
Speaker 1: the congregation about the importance of equality, and he's thrilled that.
Speaker 2: Help has come in the form of doctor Martin Luther King.
Speaker 1: Doctor King is happy to be in Selma and will
Speaker 1: help send a powerful message to change America. With black
Speaker 1: people making up fifty percent of Selma's population, they need
Speaker 1: more than the two percent registered to vote. Cheyenne tries
Speaker 1: to sneak into a pew, but everyone notices her. They
Speaker 1: tell her it's an adult meeting. She isn't allowed to join.
Speaker 1: She explains she just wants to see Doctor King, and
Speaker 1: if her dad finds out she skips school, he's going
Speaker 1: to be furious. And that's when Doctor King calls her
Speaker 1: to the front of the church. She nervously pulls out
Speaker 1: her report and asks him to sign it. He's happy
Speaker 1: with what she wrote, mentioning his Nobel Peace Prize and
Speaker 1: his mission to spread love. He says that kids like
Speaker 1: Cheyenne are the reason they need to fight. As everyone
Speaker 1: leaves the church, Doctor King invites Cheyenne to sing at
Speaker 1: his big meeting tonight, and then with a huge smile,
Speaker 1: she runs back to school. Cheyenne walks into the class late,
Speaker 1: catching the attention to the teacher, Miss Bright, who's lecturing
Speaker 1: about dinosaurs. She shows off Doctor King's autograph, but is
Speaker 1: told she can't understand Doctor King's message and to stay
Speaker 1: during recess to make up what she missed. As she
Speaker 1: passes Rachel, her friend says, I told you so, Oh geez,
Speaker 1: and I told you so, friend, like Cheyenne needed to
Speaker 1: hear that. When the bell does ring, Cheyenne stays in
Speaker 1: her seat and eventually raises her hand. She tells Miss
Speaker 1: Bright that she does know what Doctor King was talking
Speaker 1: about freedom. When asked what that means, Cheyenne answers, doing
Speaker 1: stuff you want to, but her teacher says it's much
Speaker 1: more complicated than that. Miss Bright encourages her to focus
Speaker 1: back on school and leave these things for her elders.
Speaker 1: The teacher also informs Cheyenne that she has to call
Speaker 1: her mom and tell her what she's done. Now, walking
Speaker 1: home with her snitch neighbor friend Rachel, yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: come on, Cheyenne is so excited about singing for Doctor King.
Speaker 1: She might not be Aretha Franklin, but she's going to
Speaker 1: give it a try. Then a white reverend pulls up
Speaker 1: looking for the West Home, which is coincidentally Rachel's last name.
Speaker 1: The man introduces himself as Jonathan Daniels from New Hampshire
Speaker 1: and says Rachel's parents asked him to come and stay
Speaker 1: at their house. Cheyenne can't believe a white man is
Speaker 1: staying at her friend's house. Jonathan meets up with Rachel's
Speaker 1: mom and says that when he heard that doctor King
Speaker 1: needed volunteers in Selma, he just had to come. He
Speaker 1: offers to pay room and board, but Rachel's mom insists
Speaker 1: it's not necessary. Cheyenne still can't get over the fact
Speaker 1: that he's a preacher but wearing blue jeans. Over at
Speaker 1: the church, Reverend Daniels is being shown around the grounds
Speaker 1: by a woman named Sally. He explains he's in town
Speaker 1: for the movement, and Sally says she sympathizes with their plight,
Speaker 1: but doesn't have time to volunteer. She then introduces him
Speaker 1: to Father Whittaker, a priest he's told to look up
Speaker 1: by one of his friends back at home. Father Whittaker
Speaker 1: offers him tea, and Sally says any time he needs
Speaker 1: help in the town, feel free to call now. Man
Speaker 1: to man, Jonathan says he's in Selm to help with
Speaker 1: the civil rights movement, and though he's a man of God,
Speaker 1: that does and seemed to excite Father Whittaker. He explains
Speaker 1: the last thing the town needs are Northerners stirring the kettle.
Speaker 1: Jonathan can't believe the priest doesn't believe in integration, and
Speaker 1: Father Whittaker aggressively explains that the South is just different.
Speaker 1: The two men awkwardly shake hands in part ways. And
Speaker 1: that's when I was sitting there and I was like
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'm gonna hate all these people, like.
Speaker 3: I know exactly.
Speaker 4: I was just like, Oh, I mean, we've got a
Speaker 4: priest like in on this.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, somebody who's teaching, trying to teach the
Speaker 1: word of Christ to say things like this.
Speaker 2: It's like, okay, like.
Speaker 3: All children are a child of God.
Speaker 4: Like it's that's just the core basis of the religion
Speaker 4: is to accept everyone.
Speaker 3: And you're just going, Holy cow.
Speaker 4: And he wasn't just he did it with an aggressive
Speaker 4: aspect behind his words.
Speaker 2: There's an anger behind all there.
Speaker 4: Was an anger, and you're just going, I you know,
Speaker 4: it's just the opposite of what this person should you know,
Speaker 4: this mentor should be.
Speaker 1: Like there are worlds I'm just unfamiliar with and a
Speaker 1: lot of the characters. I just I sit there and
Speaker 1: I'm gfa like, is.
Speaker 3: This Yeah, how is that possible?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: How is it okay? In any sense?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Very very amazing. And again I knew I was
Speaker 2: going to sit there.
Speaker 1: I was like, Oh, this is going to be one
Speaker 1: of those movies where I'm just going I'm gonna sit
Speaker 1: here and seethe essentially for ninety minutes. Yes, So now
Speaker 1: at dinner, the West family is feeding Reverend Daniels, but
Speaker 1: mister West is forced to stand with his plate because
Speaker 1: there isn't enough room at the table. Jonathan said he's
Speaker 1: studying to be a reverend because he wants to fight
Speaker 1: hatred and bigotry with the word of God. Mister West
Speaker 1: says in Selma he'll have his work cut out for him,
Speaker 1: especially once he meets Sheriff Potts. Rachel is excused from
Speaker 1: the table because she's going with Cheyenne to see doctor King.
Speaker 1: But over at Cheyenne she has to beg for permission
Speaker 1: to go, especially after skipping class today.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you just broke the rules. You don't get to
Speaker 2: now go do other stuff.
Speaker 1: But eventually her mom does agree and instructs her to
Speaker 1: hurry back home afterwards. Sadly, she can't come see her
Speaker 1: daughter singing because she has a baby to take care
Speaker 1: of and her dad is working late. With the two
Speaker 1: girls now walking and singing on the way to church,
Speaker 1: a white sheriff stopped them to ask where they're going.
Speaker 1: When they answer church, the cop cryptically reminds them of
Speaker 1: the four little girls in Birmingham who were bombed in
Speaker 1: their church. This awful moment in American history is also
Speaker 1: chronicled in the movie. It's a documentary for HBO by
Speaker 1: Spike Lee called Four Little Girls. It's it's another one
Speaker 1: that's a heavy watch, obviously, but absolutely worth seeing. The
Speaker 1: sheriff hints that their church could be bombed too, and
Speaker 1: so they run off in fear.
Speaker 2: It's one one moment after another.
Speaker 3: And oh, these just young girls minding their business. I
Speaker 3: was just like, oh my god, I.
Speaker 1: Can't I yeah, yeah, it's it's people, neighbors, neighbors that
Speaker 1: don't know.
Speaker 2: It's I can't even explain it.
Speaker 1: I just because I don't know what any of these
Speaker 1: these people were going through.
Speaker 2: I have no context to it.
Speaker 1: So watching it is very difficult because I just I
Speaker 1: can't relate in any way, shape or form. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: it's and so watching it, you almost there's a party.
Speaker 1: It's like, oh, this can't be real, and you realize
Speaker 1: it is and and as been for centuries.
Speaker 4: I'm just I mean, it just feels makes you feel
Speaker 4: proud that that's not where we're at, that we.
Speaker 3: Have moved forward.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that we're going so many ways, and then there's
Speaker 4: a lot more I'm sure to continue to do, but
Speaker 4: that that's not what we're doing anymore. It was like
Speaker 4: it was like heartbreaking. Even just that was just like,
Speaker 4: oh my god. I just was just like cool, Yeah,
Speaker 4: it is over.
Speaker 1: At the church, Cheyenne isn't letting that cops scare her
Speaker 1: away from singing for Doctor King, and once inside, the
Speaker 1: girl see Doctor King's talking to an eager man named
Speaker 1: Jimmy Lee Jackson and the two men who will be
Speaker 1: running the Selma movement, John and Josea. The girls are
Speaker 1: still shaken by the cops warning and searching the church
Speaker 1: for a bomb because of course, the cop just scared
Speaker 1: the hell out of them. Eventually, Doctor King spots Cheyenne,
Speaker 1: his designated singer. He also meets Rachel and explains the
Speaker 1: meeting's goal is freedom, but you need to want it
Speaker 1: bad enough, and the girls make it clear that they're
Speaker 1: motivated for freedom and ready to march. Then Doctor King
Speaker 1: takes the stage and preaches nonviolence and equality, eventually calling
Speaker 1: up Cheyenne to sing Ain't gonna let nobody turn me round?
Speaker 2: Which I loved this song. Moment was just the song too.
Speaker 2: I loved this song. I did, really did, and.
Speaker 4: I don't I've never heard this song before, and it
Speaker 4: was like I so it was interesting, like is I
Speaker 4: had like the question of like is that the song?
Speaker 4: Like the person that kind of leads it says the
Speaker 4: first line and then it's the push back, and it
Speaker 4: was like, I mean, the way the grit. I already knew,
Speaker 4: I've I've seen her sing before. I knew she had
Speaker 4: a great voice, and even as she's like younger in
Speaker 4: this movie, but like her grit and like the way
Speaker 4: she was like when she said like the governor and
Speaker 4: like this, like I mean, it was like such a great, wonderful,
Speaker 4: unifying moment.
Speaker 3: I loved it.
Speaker 1: The congregation loves it too, clapping and dancing along. She
Speaker 1: is a natural. We also noticed that Jonathan and the
Speaker 1: Wests are in the audience smiling at the performance. She
Speaker 1: concludes to a loud route of applause, a hug from
Speaker 1: Rachel and words of encouragement from Reverend Jonathan. The group
Speaker 1: will start marching tomorrow and everyone in the church is
Speaker 1: feeling optimistic, but Doctor King reminds them it will be difficult.
Speaker 1: Many cities across the country are being met with violence.
Speaker 1: Doctor King is also introduced to Reverend Jonathan, who is
Speaker 1: very nervous to meet one of his heroes. Once Doctor
Speaker 1: King leaves, Jonathan meets Willie Hill, who'll be working with
Speaker 1: to register new voters in the town. Back at Cheyenne's house,
Speaker 1: she is still so excited about her performance she wishes
Speaker 1: her mom could have been there to see it. Cheyenne
Speaker 1: says that Doctor King thinks that black people are still slaves,
Speaker 1: but her mom explains the difference between them and her
Speaker 1: grandmother of one hundred years before. A lot has changed,
Speaker 1: but Cheyenne reminds her they still can't vote, which is
Speaker 1: the reason Doctor King is marching, and with that she's
Speaker 1: off to bed. Later that night, Cheyenne's dad returns from work.
Speaker 1: He hears all about the Doctor King's stuff, including Cheyenne's
Speaker 1: big musical debut. Her mom is excited that she's showing
Speaker 1: interest in something, but her dad thinks if Chyan gets
Speaker 1: mixed up in this, she could get hurt. He mentions
Speaker 1: that they've already lost one daughter to this movement, and
Speaker 1: with that they go inside and soak.
Speaker 2: His sore muscles from his day at work.
Speaker 1: But first he swings by Cheyne's bedroom and she's wide awake,
Speaker 1: having trouble falling asleep. She wishes her dad was involved
Speaker 1: in the movement like Rachel's dad is. Her dad just
Speaker 1: wants her to stay safe and says the movement will
Speaker 1: get along fine without her.
Speaker 2: They embrace and say good night.
Speaker 1: Meanwhile, Reverend Jonathan arrives at the church to work with
Speaker 1: Willie and is welcomed by a handful of clan members
Speaker 1: about to light a cross on fire in the front yard.
Speaker 1: He jumps out of his car and screams for them
Speaker 1: to stop. They ignore his pleas and light the cross
Speaker 1: on fire anyway. One masked man tells the reverend they
Speaker 1: don't like outsiders, and he slowly approaches him.
Speaker 2: Jonathan darts off to get help.
Speaker 1: Now at the police station, the officers laugh off the
Speaker 1: reverend's claim. They swear there hasn't been Clan and Selma
Speaker 1: for over twenty years. He begs them to go check
Speaker 1: out the cross at the chapel, but they warn him
Speaker 1: not to stir up trouble in the name of voter registration,
Speaker 1: and then the cops just drown him and busy work,
Speaker 1: making it impossible.
Speaker 2: For him to file her report.
Speaker 1: A defeated Reverend Jonathan eventually leaves the station and runs
Speaker 1: into Sally from the church. He tells her about the clan,
Speaker 1: and she says the town just turns a blind eye
Speaker 1: to their existence. He promises Doctor King will bring change
Speaker 1: to Selma. Sally calls him idealistic and warns him to
Speaker 1: be careful. And now a crowd has gathered at the
Speaker 1: chapel smoldering cross. Everyone is disturbed and Cheyenna and rachelar's skins.
Speaker 1: Rachel thinks the march should be canceled, but Cheyenne isn't
Speaker 1: going anywhere. She's marching with Doctor King no matter what.
Speaker 1: Jonathan is also there. When a somber Doctor King arrives,
Speaker 1: he says they need God's blessing more than ever, then
Speaker 1: prays for strength to fight the hatred. He tells everyone
Speaker 1: to look deep in their hearts for the ability to
Speaker 1: march tomorrow, and everyone agrees that hatred will not deter them.
Speaker 1: The entire group, including Cheyenne, breakout and song and celebrate
Speaker 1: to kick off the march. The group, led by Doctor King,
Speaker 1: John and Hosea Sin kumbaya while walking down the street,
Speaker 1: but before they can even get to the courthouse, cops
Speaker 1: arrive and block the front door. Immediately, Sheriff Potts warns
Speaker 1: the marchers no more than three of them can gather
Speaker 1: at any time and suggest they leave, but doctor King
Speaker 1: explains they just want to register voters and they'll wait
Speaker 1: as long as needed to get it done, since the
Speaker 1: registration office is only open two days a month. One
Speaker 1: woman says she needs to sign up today. The sheriff
Speaker 1: understands and shows her the door. The crowd applauds, but
Speaker 1: when she enters the courthouse, she's told that before she
Speaker 1: can register, she has to guess how many jelly beans
Speaker 1: are in a jar.
Speaker 3: Just because then I'm going there's no way there, there's oh.
Speaker 4: My goodness, like taking oh gosh.
Speaker 1: So upset obviously, she returns outside and calls the test
Speaker 1: an insult. She reminds the sheriff that citizens pay his
Speaker 1: salary through taxes, and as a result, she gets arrested.
Speaker 1: The shot crowd watches on as she's put in the
Speaker 1: police car. One of the protesters calls the cops a
Speaker 1: racist like Hitler, and out of nowhere, the sheriff.
Speaker 2: Punches him in the stomach, then arrests him too.
Speaker 4: But even though they and they portrayed it pretty well
Speaker 4: as far as Disney goes right like, it didn't go
Speaker 4: over the top.
Speaker 2: With her.
Speaker 3: But the way he is.
Speaker 4: Man handling her and getting aggressive putting her in the
Speaker 4: car was obviously to provoke that anger from the group. Sure,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean, Like, especially with it being
Speaker 4: a woman, you know, and so of course they're thinking, oh,
Speaker 4: if I do this to a woman, one of them
Speaker 4: guys is gonna step up and start trying to swing
Speaker 4: or whatever, you know, and it's just like, oh, you're just.
Speaker 2: Such a jog Yeah you do. You just get you do?
Speaker 2: You just sit there angry for.
Speaker 4: Yes, I mean that would have floored me had someone's
Speaker 4: done that in front of me to day with another woman,
Speaker 4: like you know what I mean, just just not necessarily
Speaker 4: in any way, rough housing a woman into a cop
Speaker 4: car like that would have It would have gotten my
Speaker 4: heart going and my I'm for sure my mouth would
Speaker 4: have gotten of course hands.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's yeah.
Speaker 1: So it's but you know, again, as they show back
Speaker 1: in the day, anytime the black community stood up, especially
Speaker 1: in the South in the sixties, they were marching with
Speaker 1: peace and met with violence. Yes, so we're gonna sing
Speaker 1: and you're gonna attack us with sticks, I mean right.
Speaker 4: And the even the idea of him saying they could
Speaker 4: have gotten in trouble because there was more than three
Speaker 4: of them at one time, Like, there's seventeen of you
Speaker 4: and there's three of us.
Speaker 3: Are bothering you? Are you kidding?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 5: It's oh my gosh, yeah, so mid old, yeah, wild,
Speaker 5: and an everyday occurrence for black people throughout this country
Speaker 5: in the South.
Speaker 2: In the sixties, I mean, just torrible.
Speaker 1: Everyone is silent as the cop asks Cheyenne why she's there,
Speaker 1: She replies to be free. Doctor King and Jonathan love
Speaker 1: her answer, but the sheriff tells her to go home.
Speaker 1: She looks to Jonathan for advice and does end up leaving,
Speaker 1: and with that everyone else is placed under arrest and
Speaker 1: herded like sheep, off to jail. When Cheyenne returns to
Speaker 1: school later, Miss Bright is mad again. Chyanne reveals she's
Speaker 1: been marching and Doctor King was arrested. Her teacher's quick
Speaker 1: to reminder they don't talk about that stuff in class,
Speaker 1: but since Chyenne is clearly emotional right now, the teacher
Speaker 1: decides they can broach the subject. Miss Bright explains that
Speaker 1: some white people just don't want them to vote because
Speaker 1: that'll mean that black people could overcome their surroundings and
Speaker 1: actually make changes and white people want to keep their
Speaker 1: control intact. She writes freedom on the chalkboard and tells
Speaker 1: Cheyenne she won't tell her parents that she skips school,
Speaker 1: but Cheyenne says, thank you, ma'am.
Speaker 2: I will in the jail.
Speaker 1: Policemen have cleared the cell, so Doctor King and his
Speaker 1: black followers can enter.
Speaker 2: The next day, with the girls at school, Rachel's.
Speaker 1: Parents admit that they're proud their daughter wants a better life,
Speaker 1: and with that, Jonathan finally returns home from jail. He
Speaker 1: was released, but Doctor King is still in custody. Jimmy
Speaker 1: and Willie then arrive and they were released from jail
Speaker 1: as well. The three want to register more voters, knowing
Speaker 1: that even just one.
Speaker 2: Can make a difference, but decide to eat first at
Speaker 2: the West House.
Speaker 1: Back in Miss Bride's class, the teacher mentions their discussion
Speaker 1: about freedom the other day and says as a result,
Speaker 1: the teachers voted to march, so class has been canceled.
Speaker 1: The class celebrates and follow their teacher to the church
Speaker 1: to help make a statement. Meanwhile, Sheriff Potts has been
Speaker 1: alerted about the walkout, and since he thinks the teachers
Speaker 1: are quote the smartest blacks in town. He wonders if
Speaker 1: they've all gone crazy. Back outside the courthouse, the teachers
Speaker 1: are singing in unison as the mayor and sheriff watch
Speaker 1: on from across the street. The mayor doesn't want any
Speaker 1: problems from these highly regarded members of their community, but
Speaker 1: the sheriff argues they're still unlawfully gathered. But since the
Speaker 1: teachers being thrown in jail would be terrible optics, the
Speaker 1: mayor instructs the sheriff to just let them protest. Now,
Speaker 1: on their day off from school, Cheyenne and Rachel are
Speaker 1: outside the courthouse waiting in a long line for a
Speaker 1: colored water fountain. Schyane notices that no one's waiting at
Speaker 1: the white fountain, so she cautiously tiptoes over with her
Speaker 1: cup and starts to fill it. That's when a nearby
Speaker 1: white kid calls her a very horrible slur and knocks
Speaker 1: the cup out of her hand. Yane runs back to
Speaker 1: Rachel and joins Miss Bright in the protest. The teacher
Speaker 1: is thankful for Schyane's interest in voting and freedom. She's
Speaker 1: already made a real difference at their school.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: Later in the day, Sane and Rachel are doing school
Speaker 1: work outside. Chyenne wants her parents to join the movement
Speaker 1: so badly, so when Jonathan arrives, chyan asks him to
Speaker 1: help her in her recruitment of her dad, and he
Speaker 1: promises that he will talk to him on her behalf.
Speaker 1: Back at the jail, the sheriff is bragging to two
Speaker 1: white visitors about their most famous inmate, doctor Martin Luther King.
Speaker 2: He promises to keep him.
Speaker 1: Around a little while longer to show off the Southern hospitality.
Speaker 2: They're literally treating him like an animal in a zoo.
Speaker 1: And now Jonathan has arrived with Mister to talk to
Speaker 1: Chyanne's dad about the movement. They congregate at the dinner table,
Speaker 1: but Yan's dad says he just doesn't have time. He
Speaker 1: mentions his oldest daughter, Vivian, who was in the movement
Speaker 1: and got arrested, so they had to send her up
Speaker 1: north for her own good, and now he's lost her completely.
Speaker 1: He's not gonna let another child of his join the movement.
Speaker 1: He just isn't hearing it now. The thing I liked
Speaker 1: about this is all he cared about was her safety,
Speaker 1: And like, I just don't want you to involved because
Speaker 1: I lost a daughter.
Speaker 2: But he was never angry about it. No, you know
Speaker 2: it was.
Speaker 1: I think you easily could have gone the route of
Speaker 1: because I said so and we're not gonna I don't
Speaker 1: want to hear this anymore.
Speaker 2: You're staying home and out of danger. But it was
Speaker 2: never like that.
Speaker 1: It was it was from a place of love and
Speaker 1: from a place of I'm not gonna.
Speaker 2: Lose you too, right, which was very powerful.
Speaker 4: I think, I absolutely and I feel like, I mean,
Speaker 4: he's he wasn't wrong to be nervous and not excited
Speaker 4: about his daughter wanting to be a part of something
Speaker 4: that was very dangerous.
Speaker 3: Yeah, right, Like.
Speaker 4: I mean it would like even just that that one
Speaker 4: scene with the cross in front of the church with
Speaker 4: the ku kuks Klan guys was scary enough to.
Speaker 3: Go there are people that are off their rock or here, like.
Speaker 4: You don't know who is ever going to be around
Speaker 4: the wrong corner and when you're involved in something like this.
Speaker 3: So, I but you're right.
Speaker 4: I did love how he never got angry. You know,
Speaker 4: he was never mad at her. He was just trying
Speaker 4: to be the parent that's saying, I'm just trying to
Speaker 4: keep you safe.
Speaker 1: Yep, that's your safety is my only priority right right
Speaker 1: back at the courthouse, the group has congregated again to
Speaker 1: see Doctor King finally released from the steps he preaches
Speaker 1: and says they're not going to take it anymore.
Speaker 2: Meanwhile, Reverend Jonathan and.
Speaker 1: The boys are still going door to door to register
Speaker 1: black voters, but no one wants to put a.
Speaker 2: Target on their back.
Speaker 1: People are getting fired from their jobs just for speaking up.
Speaker 1: Later that night, the Reverend chats with Cheyenne.
Speaker 2: And Rachel and the Stoop.
Speaker 1: They all wish on a star, which Jonathan thinks are
Speaker 1: deceased loved ones. Sensing her wish, Jonathan gives Cheyenne his
Speaker 1: enamel crosspin from his church. The next day, Shane is
Speaker 1: awakened by her mom saying, Oh my God. And everyone
Speaker 1: has gathered at the church while helping someone register to vote,
Speaker 1: Jimmy was shot by a trooper and died an hour ago.
Speaker 1: Everyone's obviously distraught and crying, especially Cheyenne. Nobody can believe
Speaker 1: something so senseless was allowed to happen.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: At Jimmy's funeral, Doctor King explains that his death is
Speaker 1: going to try their principles of nonviolence, but they must
Speaker 1: stay strong and remember that God has a plan. The
Speaker 1: church choir sings their hearts out, and Reverend Jonathan is
Speaker 1: obviously amazingly sad and distraught because he was there when
Speaker 1: it happened and actually saw the murder. Later, Cheyenne visits
Speaker 1: Doctor King in his office. He says he has a
Speaker 1: daughter her age, and sometimes he thinks about Jimmy's mom
Speaker 1: and admits he has trouble keeping his faith knowing what
Speaker 1: she's going through at the That's always what goes through
Speaker 1: my head.
Speaker 2: It's like, how can you watch all this and.
Speaker 1: Still keep moving forward and still preaching and staying with
Speaker 1: the non violence. It's a level of passion and peace
Speaker 1: and love andria.
Speaker 4: But also thinking for him especially, I'm sure his family
Speaker 4: was under.
Speaker 3: Direct attack and oh yeah.
Speaker 4: You know, in such a vulnerable place during all of this,
Speaker 4: you know them tart trying to target him through them.
Speaker 1: Well, this was sixty five, so he was murdered three
Speaker 1: years later. I mean, doctor King only has three years
Speaker 1: left to live at this point. I believe if memory serves,
Speaker 1: he was killed in nineteen sixty eight, So I mean,
Speaker 1: this is it's yeah, it's really incredible.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: At the same time, Jonathan Willie are having car troubles
Speaker 1: pulled over on the side of the bridge. Willy has
Speaker 1: noticed that people are much more willing to listen and
Speaker 1: register after Jimmy was killed. Jonathan reveals that he made
Speaker 1: a promise to Jimmy to rally voters in Mary in
Speaker 1: his hometown, then tells the story about the night he died.
Speaker 1: Jimmy was just trying to pray when a state trooper
Speaker 1: attacked him. Jimmy was nonviolent, but he was still shot
Speaker 1: and killed. Willy is adamant they must start fighting back.
Speaker 1: He's been talking to other young people in Selma and
Speaker 1: they all agree it's time to get more confrontational. Jonathan
Speaker 1: asked what the Bible would say, and Willie reminds the
Speaker 1: Reverend and I for an eye. That night, we see
Speaker 1: Cyan writing in what we think is a journal, but
Speaker 1: it actually turns out to be her own obituary. Cheyenne Webb,
Speaker 1: eleven years old, was killed today in Selma. She was
Speaker 1: one of Doctor King's freedom fighters. She was a student
Speaker 1: at Abbott Street School, Selma. Cheyenne wanted all people to
Speaker 1: be free and happy. Then she yeah, I know it's
Speaker 1: oh this got me, this got me.
Speaker 3: I I was down for the County.
Speaker 2: A number of things in this movie just rip my
Speaker 2: heart out. Yes.
Speaker 1: Then she cuts an article about Jimmy out of the newspaper.
Speaker 1: The headline reads one dead after troopers attacks civil rights
Speaker 1: marchers at night. Just then, her mother walks in and
Speaker 1: shyan admits she's scared of dying young. Her mom doesn't
Speaker 1: get it, so Shyane explains, if they can shoot Jimmy,
Speaker 1: they can shoot anybody here, maybe even me. Her mom
Speaker 1: promises no one will hurt her baby, but still warns
Speaker 1: her to be careful in town. The next day, reverendj
Speaker 1: Jonathan spots Father Whittaker and says hello. Father Whittaker asked
Speaker 1: what he's been up to, and Jonathan says he's still
Speaker 1: happily part of the civil rights movement, though he's saddened
Speaker 1: by what's happened lately. Father Whittaker heard about Jimmy and
Speaker 1: agrees it's very sad. Jonathan explains that by encouraging segregation,
Speaker 1: he's actually participating in his death. The father says he
Speaker 1: doesn't encourage segregation, he just believes that black people are
Speaker 1: more comfortable within their own kind. Jonathan leaves, saying he
Speaker 1: doesn't think God wants people to be divided. Back at church,
Speaker 1: doctor King is concerned because people expect him to lead
Speaker 1: the march, but he has to work in Washington, d C.
Speaker 1: John and Josea assure him that they have it covered
Speaker 1: and people will understand. But it might not even matter
Speaker 1: because the governor has rescinded their marching permit, claiming it's
Speaker 1: not in the public interest. But the mayor is not
Speaker 1: excited by this proclamation. He warns the police don't let
Speaker 1: it get out of hand, especially with Sheriff Potts out
Speaker 1: of town. It's time for the march in the crowd
Speaker 1: is much bigger than expected. The leaders are concerned though
Speaker 1: they don't have a permit, and women and children showed
Speaker 1: up to march obviously, and this could get bad, But
Speaker 1: they're thinking with Sheriff pots out of town, it might
Speaker 1: be their best chance to cause some change. Back at Cheyenne,
Speaker 1: she's too excited for the march to even eat breakfast.
Speaker 1: Sensing her dad still might approve, she politely asks if
Speaker 1: he wants her to stay home. He tells her to
Speaker 1: do what she thinks is right, and a completely different
Speaker 1: type of prepace happening across the city. At the police
Speaker 1: station Sheriff Potts is actually rushed home from Washington, DC
Speaker 1: and is giving random white guys police badges to defend
Speaker 1: the city against the march. He's just deputizing people and handing.
Speaker 2: Them sticks, horrifyings.
Speaker 1: And over at the church, John and Josea are telling
Speaker 1: the large group what to do if they're tear gassed.
Speaker 1: Cheyenne is still so innocently excited, showing Jonathan her marching shoes.
Speaker 2: The group begins the fifty.
Speaker 1: Four mile march with a freedom song to start the day.
Speaker 1: They eventually get to the Edmund Pettis Bridge and slowly
Speaker 1: make their way across it, holding hands in American flags,
Speaker 1: but only halfway they stop dead in their tracks. Dozens
Speaker 1: of officers, both officially in uniform and citizens they just recruited,
Speaker 1: are patiently waiting on the other side. John and Joseah
Speaker 1: take a deep breath and continue their march, now face
Speaker 1: to face with the police. The march is called an
Speaker 1: unlawful assembly, meaning they have two minutes to disperse. It's
Speaker 1: a silent standoff as the clock counts down, and just
Speaker 1: like that, officers are instructed to quote break these people
Speaker 1: up unquote, the cops charge into battle it's a one
Speaker 1: sided affair of billy clubs and tear gases. Peaceful protesters
Speaker 1: scream in pain and run at full speed away as
Speaker 1: fast as they can. Even with the gast marchers retreating home.
Speaker 1: The police don't let up, chasing after them to attack,
Speaker 1: following them all back to their homes. Cheyenne has been
Speaker 1: thrown to the ground and is having trouble breathing. Eventually,
Speaker 1: Reverend Jonathan comes to rescue her and grabs her and
Speaker 1: starts to flee as the sheriff barks out commands. He
Speaker 1: drops her and Rachel off at their house and tells
Speaker 1: their parents to lock the door. Now safe inside and crying,
Speaker 1: Shan cries to her father, you said be careful, but
Speaker 1: I thought you were just being a daddy.
Speaker 2: He calls her brave and tells her to relax.
Speaker 1: That night, Cheyenne decides to visit church, now set up
Speaker 1: with a triage area where everyone is still reeling and healing.
Speaker 1: Reverend Jonathan is helping the wounded, and spirits are obviously
Speaker 1: very low. As Cheyenne surveys the dismal scene, she decides
Speaker 1: to do the only thing she can, and she starts
Speaker 1: to sing that same freedom song. The entire church immediately
Speaker 1: joins in. No one can stop them. And this was
Speaker 1: another moment where I was like, ugh, like like one
Speaker 1: of those gutted kind of amazing moments.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I love this aspect of for it
Speaker 4: to be the child of the group that stands up
Speaker 4: and reminds them of their cause, reminds them of what
Speaker 4: they're fighting for.
Speaker 2: Oh, really amazing.
Speaker 1: And now it's March fifteenth and Lyndon Johnson is speaking
Speaker 1: on the TV. He condemns the actions of Bloody Sunday
Speaker 1: and demands equal rights for millions of oppressed Americans. Doctor
Speaker 1: King has returned to Salem and is happy to hear
Speaker 1: about the president's newly announced civil rights bill, but doctor
Speaker 1: King knows that this isn't the end. What the President
Speaker 1: says is one thing, but they need the local government
Speaker 1: to follow orders. John and Hosea suggests marching again, but
Speaker 1: doctor King is wory about pushing it too far, but
Speaker 1: he admits that this is the moment to me their
Speaker 1: commitment to nonviolence. And yet downtown there are still marches
Speaker 1: and celebrations being monitored and discouraged by the police. The
Speaker 1: city has set up a barricade they're calling the wall
Speaker 1: that no black people can go beyond. Tension is rising
Speaker 1: and back home, Chyenne asks Reverend Jonathan if he's going
Speaker 1: down there to the wall to protest. He says he is,
Speaker 1: but first he wants to recruit some others. As he
Speaker 1: drives off, Cheyenne tells him to stay safe. Jonathan and
Speaker 1: Willy stop by a gas station to fill up, but
Speaker 1: are told by the owner they don't serve black people.
Speaker 1: Jonathan insists is his car, and the man gives in,
Speaker 1: but asks why he hangs around with people like that.
Speaker 1: The Reverend tries to reason with the racist, but he
Speaker 1: eventually just sprays him with gasoline and tells him to
Speaker 1: watch his back. Over at the Wall, police are on standby,
Speaker 1: ready to attack if instructed. Jonathan Willy are now papering
Speaker 1: the neighborhood and talking to residents, but they know the
Speaker 1: wall can only stand for so long.
Speaker 2: Willy doesn't care if it means more bloodshed.
Speaker 1: It's time to send a message, but Reverend Jonathan praises patience, hope,
Speaker 1: and God, and just then a cop arrives and notices
Speaker 1: the flyers.
Speaker 2: He immediately arrests.
Speaker 1: Jonathan Willy for of course quote unquote defacing property. Then,
Speaker 1: after spending some more time in a cell, Jonathan is
Speaker 1: set free, but Willy is kept behind bars. The reverend
Speaker 1: promises he'll get him out, and so now Jonathan is
Speaker 1: walking the streets and very paranoid when he notices he's
Speaker 1: being followed. It's one of the klansmen from before, at
Speaker 1: least he thinks it is, now asking him questions and
Speaker 1: acting very threatening. Jonathan tries to explain his motives of
Speaker 1: love and peace, but the man pushes him against the
Speaker 1: wall and pulls out a gun, and just like that,
Speaker 1: he's killed in broad daylight. Now I do want to
Speaker 1: say something here because, as I said, I googled everybody,
Speaker 1: and so when I google his story, his story is
Speaker 1: actually even more.
Speaker 2: Amazing than what they did in the film.
Speaker 1: Really, what happened was he and I think they kind
Speaker 1: of put in amalgamation of the characters, so I think
Speaker 1: they made it Willy. But in real life, he and
Speaker 1: another black protester were put in jail. When they were
Speaker 1: released from jail, they met up with two. He also
Speaker 1: taught a lot of children how to read in Selma
Speaker 1: and in the town. That was one of the things
Speaker 1: he was doing. He was helping the children of the
Speaker 1: town and he was registering voters.
Speaker 2: He ended up.
Speaker 1: Going with two young black girls teenagers to the only
Speaker 1: place in town that served the young black people drinks,
Speaker 1: serve them sodas. So they were going to get sodas
Speaker 1: during the middle of the day, four of them, when
Speaker 1: a white man stepped on the porch and said the
Speaker 1: stores closed and raised a shotgun at the four of them.
Speaker 1: The reverend grabbed the shotgun and pushed it to the
Speaker 1: side while he pushed one of the girls aside. The
Speaker 1: guy shot him and killed him right there, while the
Speaker 1: other black teen he threw the girl behind the car
Speaker 1: and he was shot as well. So he literally died
Speaker 1: saving other people's lives.
Speaker 2: As he was there.
Speaker 1: And as I'm reading the story, one of the things
Speaker 1: that was attached to the story was a letter he
Speaker 1: had written his mother from jail saying, like, I'm in
Speaker 1: jail again. They just keep arresting me, but I'm keeping
Speaker 1: with my faith. It's really truly an amazing story, which
Speaker 1: then led me down the rabbit hole of the two
Speaker 1: girls that actually wrote the book, what their lives are
Speaker 1: doing now. It's really This was one of those movies
Speaker 1: that I just stopped and just started googling everybody. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so check out the stories of these people. They're really amazing.
Speaker 1: Chyanne returns home to see Rachel and their families crying
Speaker 1: on the stoop. Chyanne breaks the news about Jonathan, and
Speaker 1: everyone of course with sobbing, including me. At this point,
Speaker 1: I don't cry much, but I teared up, which for
Speaker 1: me is the equivalent of sobbing. And now we are
Speaker 1: at Jonathan's funeral. Another funeral, Doctor King is praising the
Speaker 1: work of the reverend and reminding the congregation that this
Speaker 1: is everyone's fight, not just that of black people. Father
Speaker 1: Whittaker and Sally are also in attendance. Everyone says their
Speaker 1: final goodbyes, and Chyann whispers to the coffin that there
Speaker 1: will be another star in.
Speaker 2: The sky tonight and I was like, oh, God killed me.
Speaker 2: She will keep an eye out.
Speaker 1: The girls give their condolences to Jonathan's family and leave
Speaker 1: for the park, where they just.
Speaker 2: Sit and cry.
Speaker 1: Obviously, they just can't find any energy to play anymore.
Speaker 2: They tell Miss Bright how angry they are.
Speaker 1: They just want to hurt somebody in retaliation, but their
Speaker 1: teacher reminds them you can't hurt someone else just because
Speaker 1: you're hurting inside. There's a reason for everything. But Cheyenne
Speaker 1: doesn't believe in the movement anymore. Miss Bright reminds her
Speaker 1: Jonathan wouldn't want her to give up. They need to
Speaker 1: keep pushing because God is testing her strength. And then
Speaker 1: it's Chyanne's birthday. Her dad reveals her gift, his own
Speaker 1: marching shoes. He's going to be joining her today, and
Speaker 1: she's so happy she jumps into his arms with a
Speaker 1: huge bear hug. And so Doctor King is back and
Speaker 1: ready to march, but now with legal permission to do so,
Speaker 1: they're going to march over that bridge, and this time
Speaker 1: no one's going to turn them around. The group, now
Speaker 1: much noticeably larger and with more white allies, starts the trek,
Speaker 1: singing freedom songs and standing strong. When they get to
Speaker 1: the edge of the bridge, officers are once again waiting
Speaker 1: for him, but now they're accompanied by their mayor, who
Speaker 1: demands the sheriff remove the barricades immediately. He begrudgingly follows orders,
Speaker 1: allowing Doctor King to lead the way to their destination.
Speaker 1: As they progress, we get some updates. In August of
Speaker 1: nineteen sixty five, President Johnson did in fact sign the
Speaker 1: Voting Rights Act into law. Cheyenne is still in Alabama
Speaker 1: and now directs a youth program for children of all races.
Speaker 1: Rachel is also still in Alabama and her brother was
Speaker 1: a two term city councilman and now every year on
Speaker 1: the third Sunday in feb r a memorial service is
Speaker 1: held in Marion for Jimmy Lee Jackson and Jonathan Daniels
Speaker 1: was canonized by the Church in nineteen ninety four. He's
Speaker 1: now included in the Calendar of Saints.
Speaker 2: And that is our movie.
Speaker 1: There's no laughs in this one, guys, nor should there be.
Speaker 1: But this is an important movie that everyone should watch.
Speaker 2: Really good. Can we do some real reviews?
Speaker 4: Yes, I've got the five star this week from George C.
Speaker 4: This movie is one of my all time faiths. It
Speaker 4: never sees since bire me so good.
Speaker 1: And Okay, So it's difficult to find bad reviews of
Speaker 1: this movie, I'll be honest, But when you do, it's
Speaker 1: usually involved some changes that were made for the movie.
Speaker 2: And this is the most common and it's what we
Speaker 2: were just talking about. I watched this movie.
Speaker 1: It was outraged at the portrayal of the murder of
Speaker 1: the young Episcopal Samaran Jonathan Daniels. The movie showed him
Speaker 1: being shot while alone on a side street in Selma.
Speaker 1: In reality, was killed by a shotgun in Haynesville as
Speaker 1: he pushed Ruby Sales out of the line of fire.
Speaker 2: A Roman Catholic priest was also wounded in the attack.
Speaker 1: The Disney version does a great injustice to Jonathan's memory
Speaker 1: and to the heroism of the priest who was wounded.
Speaker 2: Agreed by the way, yes, can we do have a Sabrina? Ses?
Speaker 2: Are we doing Sabrina?
Speaker 4: Ses?
Speaker 2: Should we not do Sabrinasse?
Speaker 4: I think it's just more of the stuff of like
Speaker 4: kind of like what we've already said. The shock one
Speaker 4: of the things that I felt was a little, I
Speaker 4: guess questionable because again, the movie.
Speaker 3: Was so good when we get to the.
Speaker 4: Church, you know, when Cheyenne's going there to sing. This
Speaker 4: clearly was a place that was not a comfortable place
Speaker 4: to be, this town of Selma, and was not.
Speaker 3: Safe for especially the youth.
Speaker 4: It kind of shocked me. It's just one of those
Speaker 4: things like once we saw we were in the church,
Speaker 4: and we see Rachel's parents were there, and so was
Speaker 4: the priest. Jonathan, and I'm like, if they were going
Speaker 4: there anyway, why wouldn't they have been walking the kids.
Speaker 3: That kind of was kind.
Speaker 5: Of like a oh my gosh, Like if this place
Speaker 5: was really which I believe it was very unsafe for
Speaker 5: two young girls to be walking around by themselves, right,
Speaker 5: and they were going there, So that was just kind
Speaker 5: of like a oh my gosh.
Speaker 3: And then there was one moment where again it was.
Speaker 4: Kind of just looking at like I had never seen.
Speaker 4: It just was a moment that I had never seen
Speaker 4: any of the pictures of the videos and things that
Speaker 4: I've seen that documented doctor.
Speaker 3: Luther King's journey with him in like such a casual outfit.
Speaker 4: He was at one point in like a denim top
Speaker 4: and jeans, and I was like, I'd only ever seen
Speaker 4: him in suits everything that I've seen from what I've
Speaker 4: have watched over the years.
Speaker 3: So that was just like a.
Speaker 4: Thing like, Oh, he's looking at mister mister King junior.
Speaker 3: All casual. That's literally the only thing it was.
Speaker 4: And then the jail tours drove me crazy. This tour
Speaker 4: of a jail with a random white couple.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that was famous. They used to do
Speaker 1: that quite a bit with Nelson Mandela too. They used
Speaker 1: to constantly bring tours in his prison in South Africa
Speaker 1: to just show him off in prison.
Speaker 3: That's just the strangest thing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I couldn't. I couldn't wrap my head around most
Speaker 1: of this. I just I don't have the context. I
Speaker 1: just know that's the privileged life you get to lead
Speaker 1: when you watch things like this, and you just can't
Speaker 1: relate in any way, shape or form to the lives
Speaker 1: that some people haven't had.
Speaker 2: Yea.
Speaker 1: So it's yeah, this is an important film. And because
Speaker 1: it's such an important film, and I don't feel right
Speaker 1: doing one of our feature games this week. It just
Speaker 1: doesn't seem like we should. It seems weird. We're also
Speaker 1: not going to do a whole bunch of options. We're
Speaker 1: going to do one out of ten when we rank
Speaker 1: civil rights leaders, is what we're going to this week.
Speaker 1: And I think this time you go first.
Speaker 2: So I do Do.
Speaker 3: You think I loved this movie? However? You know me?
Speaker 4: I love living on a bright, shiny rainbow filled with
Speaker 4: glitter and pixie dust. Right, So the more serious movies,
Speaker 4: I do love watching them as well. I love watching
Speaker 4: period pieces that helped teach about history.
Speaker 3: That has happened.
Speaker 4: And the actors in this movie I thought were wonderful.
Speaker 4: I thought they were so good. And I thought this
Speaker 4: movie was, like I said earlier, done in such a
Speaker 4: great Disney way. It was heavy, the seriousness was there,
Speaker 4: it was felt, but it didn't it didn't go I
Speaker 4: would say into the actual level of graphics that it
Speaker 4: could have been like, it could have been very gory,
Speaker 4: it could have been, you know, to where you wouldn't
Speaker 4: really as like a younger audience wouldn't be able to handle,
Speaker 4: and that it was done for an all family audience.
Speaker 4: And so I really loved this. I thought I one
Speaker 4: hundred percent have been locking it into my bank as
Speaker 4: far as things that I want my kids to see
Speaker 4: out at some point when they're ready for it. So
Speaker 4: I'm this is right up there with Color of Friendship
Speaker 4: for me. I'm giving this one a ten civil rights leaders.
Speaker 2: You're right up there with me.
Speaker 1: Again, I Disney can do it sometimes where they can
Speaker 1: they just punch in the gut like we've seen a
Speaker 1: couple of these. And again when you take these incredibly
Speaker 1: important moments and put them through the eyes of a child,
Speaker 1: especially when it's a true story. Again like color of
Speaker 1: Friendship or like like something like this, It really takes
Speaker 1: it to another level. I mean, again, Selma, brilliant film,
Speaker 1: and you're watching all these movies that are incredible about.
Speaker 2: This time in the South.
Speaker 1: But again, to take it through the eyes of an
Speaker 1: eleven year old girl who's going through all this, who's
Speaker 1: finding the movement herself, who has her whole life ahead
Speaker 1: of her, and is wondering what the world's going to
Speaker 1: be like for her when she grows up, it really
Speaker 1: just takes it to kind of another level.
Speaker 2: Then, filmmaking wise, is what I look at next.
Speaker 1: Obviously when I'm looking at my scores, it was beautifully made.
Speaker 1: I also when I ever do a when I look
Speaker 1: at any kind of period piece, I'm one of those
Speaker 1: guys with the Hawkeyes looking for are there any modern
Speaker 1: cars driving by in the background by accident?
Speaker 2: Are the outfits? And this seemed impeccable.
Speaker 3: Everything seemed so authentic.
Speaker 2: Again, yes, it really did. It really did. It was
Speaker 2: and this is one that you should watch.
Speaker 1: And again you're probably right if you've got a five
Speaker 1: or six year old kid, probably not the best thing.
Speaker 2: Hi twelve ten, eleven twelve. This is one to sit
Speaker 2: down and watch with the family.
Speaker 1: It's a very very heavy, emotional, important movie and it
Speaker 1: does it shows what Disney can do when they want
Speaker 1: to go the serious route, and they did it well.
Speaker 1: So I'm giving it nine civil rights leaders.
Speaker 2: This was a great movie. Well, thank you everybody for
Speaker 2: joining us on. Obviously, what is not supposed to.
Speaker 1: Be, nor was it going to be a funny episode
Speaker 1: of Magical Rewind.
Speaker 2: This is an important episode of Magical Rewind.
Speaker 1: We hope, we hope at least, let's say, the episode
Speaker 1: of Magical Rewind might not have been important, but the
Speaker 1: film was the film, and as important as the film was,
Speaker 1: the subject matter is extraordinarily important. So please go and
Speaker 1: check it out and never forget. We have a backlog
Speaker 1: of recaps and interviews featuring some of your favorite names
Speaker 1: in Disney history just waiting for you to listen. Just
Speaker 1: search for Magical Rewind wherever you get your podcasts and
Speaker 1: subscribe so you know you can be there for every
Speaker 1: time they're released.
Speaker 2: We got some great ones coming up, and.
Speaker 1: For more information, you can follow us at Magical Rewind
Speaker 1: Pod on the Instagram Machine.
Speaker 2: Bye everybody, Bye,