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SELMA Released December 2014PG-13http://www.selmamarchon.com/

SELMA is the story of a movement. The film chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement. Director Ava DuVernay’s SELMA tells the real story of how the revered leader and visionary Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his brothers and sisters in the movement prompted change that forever altered history.

Historical SummaryAfrican-American men had fought for and won the right to vote following the Civil War with passage of the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1870. In 1920 women of any race gained the right to vote through the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. However, in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s southern states passed laws, such as literacy tests and poll taxes, to make it very hard for African-Americans and some poor whites to vote. By the 1960’s many African-Americans were fighting again to be able to register to vote. Protests happened throughout the south many led by young African-American high school and college students. By 1965, the denial of African-American voting rights was hurting the reputation of the United States around the world.

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Elements of Nonviolent Campaigns source: Martin Luther King, Jr. via http://www.actupny.org/

• How does the movie depict the story the same or differently than actual historical accounts?

• Gandhi called nonviolent action “the greatest and most active force in the world.” What do you think about nonviolence as a strategy to make change? Is it still relevant today? In what situations? What are current examples of nonviolent campaigns that are succeeding?

• What were the turning points in the Selma campaign? Were the turning points strategic or due to unexpected opportunities?

• How did the media figure into the Selma campaign?

• How did leaders fit it into their strategy? How does the media cover social movements today? What role does social media play?

• Why did it make a difference for teachers and other African-American professionals to march in Selma? What difference did white allies make?

• Did the Selma campaign succeed in the short term? In the long term? Large portions of the Voting Rights Act were repealed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013. Are voting protections still needed for minority groups? Why or why not?

• Did the Selma campaign change the minds of white people in Alabama? Can you have real change without changing people’s views and values?

• What are the most important civil rights issues facing our community today?What was a time that you stood up to injustice? How did it feel? Was it successful?

• How do the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner relate to the Civil Rights Movement if at all? What role would a nonviolent campaign play in a movement for police accountability and community safety?

• First, nonviolence is resistance to evil and oppression. It is a human way to fight.

• Second, it does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but to win his/ her friendship and understanding.

• Third, the nonviolent method is an attack on the forces of evil rather than against persons doing the evil. It seeks to defeat the evil and not the persons doing the evil and injustice.

• Fourth, it is the willingness to accept suffering without retaliation.

• Fifth, a nonviolent resister avoids both external physical and internal spiritual violence- not only refuses to shoot, but also to hate, an opponent. The ethic of real love is at the center of nonviolence.

• Sixth, the believer in nonviolence has a deep faith in the future and the forces in the universe are seen to be on the side of justice.

Keep the Discussion Going

Nonviolent Strategies and Tactics• http://www.actupny.org/documents/CDdocuments/NVRe-

sponse.html

• http://www.actupny.org/documents/demomanual/Demom-anual.html

U.S. Civil Rights Movement• http://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/index.php/move-

ments-and-campaigns/movements-and-campaigns-summa-ries?sobi2Task=sobi2Details&catid=17&sobi2Id=22

Current Nonviolent Conflicts Around the World• http://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/index.php/news-and-me-

dia/featured-news-stories

Martin Luther King, Jr.• http://www.thekingcenter.org/books-bibliography

Organizing Community Conversations for Racial Equity• http://www.everyday-democracy.org/resources/racial-equi-

ty#.VJM0GSvF_ig

2013 Repeal of the Voting Rights Act• http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/26/us/supreme-court-rul-

ing.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Guides for Teachers• http://www.tolerance.org/teaching-kits

Other links• www.blacklivesmatter.com

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