Selma, Lord, Selma

**Selma, Lord, Selma** is a 1999 American live-action film directed by Charles Burnett.

It focuses on an 11-year-old girl who is touched by a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. and becomes a devout follower. Her resolution is tested when she joins others in the famed march from Selma to Montgomery.

The film was released on January 17, 1999.

## Plot

Sheyann Webb sees Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. going into Brown Chapel AME Church one day while playing outside with her friends. They are told that Dr. King has come to Selma, Alabama to help the Negro people get voting rights. Sheyann learns many things from Dr. King. He teaches her and her friend Rachel that when asked, "Children, what do you want?" their answer should be "Freedom." He also teaches her that everyone deserves to be treated with fairness, regardless of the colour of their skin, and that children also have a battle to fight. Sheyann wants to get involved and skips school to sneak into the meetings. One night a friend of Sheyann's named Jimmie Lee Jackson is killed. To draw attention to the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson, it is decided that a 54-mile march to the state capital of Alabama will take place. Marchers will present a petition to Governor Wallace to protest that Negroes are not being treated fairly. On Sunday, March 7, 1965, a day that comes to be called Bloody Sunday, Sheyann and other African-American protesters march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge en route to Montgomery, and are attacked by police. Sheyann is the youngest person to attempt to march.

In August, President Lyndon Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965, to oversee and enforce constitutional rights of suffrage and prevent discriminatory measures, such as use of literacy tests against potential voters.

## Cast and Characters

* Jurnee Smollett as Sheyann Webb
* Clifton Powell as Martin Luther King Jr.
* Mackenzie Astin as Jonathan Daniels
* Ella Joyce as Betty Webb
* Yolanda King as Miss Bright
* Elisabeth Omilami as Amelia Boynton
* Afemo Omilami as John Webb
* Brett Rice as Sheriff Pots
* Margo Moorer as Alice West
* Von Coulter as Tom West
* Laura-Shay Griffin as Sallie Parker
* Danny Nelson as Father Whitaker
* Faruq Jenkins as Willie
* Stephanie Zandra Peyton as Rachel West
* Zach Rogers as Jimmie Lee Jackson
* L. Warren Young as Hosea Williams
* Bob Banks as Reverend Frederick D. Reese
* Richard Reed as John Lewis
* Ebony Curry as Billy Vickers

## Production

Selma, Lord, Selma is based on a book of the same name written in 1980 by Sheyann Webb, Rachel West and Frank Sikora. The full title is Selma, Lord, Selma: Girlhood Memories of the Civil-Rights Days. It was published by the University of Alabama Press in Tuscaloosa, AL. It is written in the style of memoirs by Sheyann and Rachel.

Selma, Lord, Selma was made into a movie. Walt Disney Pictures picked it up and on January 17, 1999, one day prior to the national holiday commemorating Dr. King's birthday, it was broadcast on the ABC television network. Dr. King's daughter Yolanda is featured in the film as Miss Bright, Sheyann's teacher who marches with her. Music composed by Stephen James Taylor, with vocals by Brides of the Wind.

## Reception

The Philadelphia Tribune praised the portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr. by Clifton Powell and the "…heart-wrenching performance" by Jurnee Smollett. The Boston Globe criticized it: "…never rises above the level of a Classic Comics version of civil rights history", while The Rocky Mountain News said: "Selma offers a sense of authenticity…".