Entertainment

The Biggest Problem with ‘Selma’ Has Nothing to Do with LBJ or the Oscars

Published

10 years ago

January 20, 2015

This photo released by Paramount Pictures shows, David Oyelowo, center, as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Carmen Ejogo, right, as Coretta Scott King in the film, “Selma,” from Paramount Pictures and Pathé. (AP Photo/Paramount Pictures, Atsushi Nishijima)

(The Washington Post) – “Selma” delivers a powerful dramatization of the bloody civil rights march in Alabama that led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. The depiction has received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, but has been criticized for various deviations from historical fact. Supporters of President Lyndon Johnson have decried his portrayal as an antagonist who only reluctantly supported the Voting Rights Act after attempting to obstruct the Selma effort. Even George Wallace Jr. has spoken out, insisting that his father, the former governor of Alabama, never advocated violence against the marchers (a contention difficult to believe given the level of brutality recorded that day). But all the criticism has overlooked the particularly troubling mischaracterization of one of the movement’s most critical players – Coretta Scott King. The movie presents a Coretta who exists under a fog of fear as she endures the terror of Selma. It portrays a Coretta who blames her husband for leaving the family during his trips to lead the movement. It shows a Coretta who timidly acquiesces to the charges that her husband dishonored their marriage vows and tearfully asks if he loves his mistresses. That Coretta is pure Hollywood fiction.

The film’s misrepresentation of Coretta continues a disservice done to her life and accomplishments in many accounts of the Civil Rights era. She was not a tormented victim. She was more than an accessory to her iconic husband’s story. Before Coretta met Martin, she was a student activist in the peace movement at Antioch College. She protested the Vietnam War in the early 1960s, before Martin took up the controversial stance. For example, in 1965, she addressed a major peace rally against the war in Madison Square Garden, the only woman to do so. In 1962, she went to the Disarmament Conference in Switzerland as a delegate of Women Strike for Peace, a group formed by Bella Abzug. And not only did she march with Martin in Selma, she later moved her children into a squalid Chicago tenement to dramatize the pathos of poverty. Even after Martin was assassinated in 1968, she remained a brave activist in her own right. She was an outspoken advocate for gay and lesbian rights, fearlessly defying many Christian leaders.

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Oakland Post: Week of January 15 – 21, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of January 15 – 21, 2025

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3 days ago

January 17, 2025

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Oakland Post: Week of January 8 – 14, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of January 8 – 14, 2025

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January 11, 2025

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2024 in Review: 7 Questions for California Black Chamber of Commerce CEO Jay King

Jay King is also a member of the popular 1980s R&B group Club Nouveau. In his role as an artist and activist, he has stood up for issues affecting underrepresented Californians for over three decades. As the President of the CBCC, King says he is determined to put his mark on developing and expanding the capacity of African American businessmen and women.

Published

2 weeks ago

January 5, 2025

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Jay King, president of CEO of the California Black Chamber of Commerce.

By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

Grammy Award-winning singer and record label executive, Jay King, was elected CEO/President of the California Black Chamber of Commerce (CBCC) in June of 2019.

The CBCC is the largest African American non-profit business organization, representing thousands of small and emerging businesses, affiliates, and chambers of commerce throughout California.

King is also a member of the popular 1980s R&B group Club Nouveau. In his role as an artist and activist, he has stood up for issues affecting underrepresented Californians for over three decades.

As the President of the CBCC, King says he is determined to put his mark on developing and expanding the capacity of African American businessmen and women.

California Black Media (CBM) spoke with King recently. He reflected on the Chamber’s accomplishments, disappointments, lessons learned this year, and goals moving forward.

Looking back at 2024, what stands out as your most important achievement and why? 

Making the voices of micro and mini-micro businesses loud, forcing policymakers and other decision makers across the state to pay attention to them. With legislation in place now — AB 1574 and AB 2019 – that mandates that the state and agencies affiliated with the state extend opportunities to micro and mini business owners and give them a chance to participate in government contracting in a real way.

How did your leadership and investments contribute to improving the lives of Black Californians? 

I really want to contribute to the world and the state of Black businesses because of the systemic inequities in the past.

Small business, micro businesses and mini businesses are too often overlooked.

I think it would be egotistical to believe that I make any significant impact on my own. Whether it’s the Asian Chamber, Hispanic Chamber and other organizations that are fighting the same fight. I think it’s a collective, so I’m proud to be part of the collective.

What frustrated you the most over the last year?

We say we want to give access to capital to small businesses, yet we continue to create barriers that deny them access.

What inspired you the most over the last year?

Watching some of the small business owners that we worked with — these micro businesses — and seeing the potential and the power that is in front of us.

What is one lesson you learned in 2024 that will inform your decision-making next year?

We have to fight for Black business owners, but they also have to be prepared; because if they’re not, it affects us all down the line.

In one word, what is the biggest challenge Black Californians face?

Self-belief. I think we have been conditioned on victimization and victimhood. We think that if we don’t get the help we need that we will falter.

What is the goal you want to achieve most in 2025?

I want to change the trajectory of micro and mini business owners.