Movie Stirs Memories in Selma

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2015/01/selmamovie1.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:301;s:4:"file";s:23:"2015/01/selmamovie1.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:5:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:23:"selmamovie1-336x169.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:169;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:23:"selmamovie1-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"selmamovie1-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:23:"selmamovie1-470x236.jpg";s:5:"width";i:470;s:6:"height";i:236;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:23:"selmamovie1-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:303826;s:14:"optimized_size";i:140373;s:7:"percent";d:53.799999999999997;}s:5:"sizes";a:8:{s:4:"full";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:51:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2015/01/selmamovie1.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:183651;s:14:"optimized_size";i:51257;s:7:"percent";d:72.090000000000003;}s:9:"thumbnail";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:6:"medium";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:59:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2015/01/selmamovie1-336x169.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:18078;s:14:"optimized_size";i:13344;s:7:"percent";d:26.190000000000001;}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:57:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2015/01/selmamovie1-80x80.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:3624;s:14:"optimized_size";i:3542;s:7:"percent";d:2.2599999999999998;}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:59:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2015/01/selmamovie1-600x301.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:45486;s:14:"optimized_size";i:33154;s:7:"percent";d:27.109999999999999;}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:59:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2015/01/selmamovie1-300x300.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:23597;s:14:"optimized_size";i:17380;s:7:"percent";d:26.350000000000001;}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:59:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2015/01/selmamovie1-470x236.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:29390;s:14:"optimized_size";i:21696;s:7:"percent";d:26.18;}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}}}
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => success
        )

)
1616998460 
1421193600

The Golden Globe Awards are Sunday and one film that could pick up a few statues is Selma. The film depicts the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery marches which led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act. This weekend, Paramount Pictures began free screenings in the movie’s namesake town in Alabama.

It’s half-an-hour until show time and the majority of seats are already taken at this showing at the Walton Theater in Selma. In the front row, in the far left seat is 85-year-old George Sallie. He’s black, grew up near Selma and was drafted as young man.

“Went to Korea fighting for someone else’s freedom and really I didn’t have freedom myself,” said Sallie.

Sallie says after he came back he became involved in the Civil Rights Movement. He lifts up his ball cap and points to a scar on his forehead — a memento of what’s known as Bloody Sunday. That’s the day in March 1965 when protestors were brutally beaten by police as they tried to cross Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Many people in the audience have firsthand connections with this history. Monique Williams was just a child then but remembers Annie Lee Cooper, who is played in the movie by Oprah Winfrey.

“I’m not quite sure how mama found her, but she was our housekeeper for about six months,” said Williams. “She was wonderful.”

Cooper was a civil rights activist most known for whacking the county sheriff at the time across the jaw.

Williams says she’s sure Cooper will come off great in the movie, but is a little uneasy about how white southerners will be depicted. Still she’s looking forward to it.

“I just think it’s a wonderful thing for Selma,” Williams said.

That’s because it took a special effort to bring this film here. The town doesn’t have a commercial movie theater.

Selma Mayor George Evans says it only makes sense the movie should be shown here and looked for a way to do it. He spoke with the filmmakers and the owner of a theater a few towns away. They made it happen in the city-owned auditorium. Evans says people first couldn’t believe the movie would be shown in Selma.

“But when we said the movie is going to be here and free, man, people just was overly elated over that,” said Evans.

Inside the theater, the audience is enraptured. They cheer. They sigh. And when the credits roll they applaud.

For Reverend F. D. Reese it brought back a lot of memories. He was head of the Selma movement then.

“I hope that people will understand the type of sacrifice that had to be made in order for us to enjoy…of the freedom we now enjoy today,” said Reese.

This is Terri Sewell’s third time seeing the film but the first with the hometown crowd. She represents Selma in Congress and is Alabama’s first black congresswoman. She especially wanted to see the movie with her parents.

“Mommy was literally in tears when she saw the reenactment of Bloody Sunday,” said Sewell. “And you know as I comforted her I said, ‘Isn’t it great that we are in a different space today.'”

Monique Williams agrees much progress has been made, but the film made her feel almost embarrassed. Teary-eyed she explains, yes she was a child, but oblivious to the injustice of segregation.

“I wish I could talk to Annie Lee Cooper today and just say, ‘Annie, I’m so proud of you,'” said Williams. “I think it sort of overwhelmed me as you can see.”

Several movie-goers remark about the need to take voting rights more seriously today. Some lament that race relations in America are still frayed. One native though says the voting rights marches needed to happen somewhere. He’s proud they happened in Selma.

 

BSC’s Daniel Coleman talks about his years-long effort to save the school and what happens next.

After the news that Birmingham-Southern College is closing, we sat down with the school’s president, Daniel Coleman.

IVF could help her start the family she wants. Will Alabama’s personhood law derail it?

Despite a law meant to protect IVF in Alabama, patients and advocates worry the protections won’t hold — and warn of future attacks on reproductive rights.

Struggling Birmingham-Southern College says it will close at end of May

The College Board of Trustees voted unanimously to close the longtime institution, officials announced in a news release. The announcement came after legislation, aimed at securing a taxpayer-backed loan for the 168-year-old private college, had recently stalled in the Alabama Statehouse.

What happens when a rural hospital shuts its doors? Look to Pickens County

Residents in the west Alabama county warn that the lack of emergency care can have deadly consequences. It's a fate that could befall a growing number of rural communities.

Q&A: A bad deal made Jackson’s water problems worse. It wasn’t the only Mississippi city harmed

Reporter Sarah Fowler talks about her investigation that found at least eight Mississippi cities were harmed by deals over faulty smart water meters.

What issues are driving you to the polls this year?

What issues are top of mind as you head to the polls this year? What do you want the candidates to be talking about?

More Arts and Culture Coverage