BEFORE: Yep, another film that played at the theater during the run-up to Awards season, or maybe it played a couple times, once during the Tuesday night Film Appreciation class. Such screenings are my bread and butter now, even though I'm technically still a temp there, I usually get about two or three shifts a week, more during the guild screenings (November to February) and during film festival season (June and October). Next week I've got an interview for a staff position, I'm hoping that they think I'm qualified, but still I might not be able to take the job because if I have to give up my other job to do it, it would mean a big pay cut. I think, anyway, I'll have to do the math. Still, it would be nice to be considered for the job, even if I can't take it at this time.
Frank Harts carries over from "See You Yesterday".
THE PLOT: Activist Bayard Rustin faces racism and homophobia as he helps change the course of Civil Rights history by orchestrating the 19633 March on Washington.
AFTER: Everybody knows about the March on Washington, where Martin Luther King gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. And sure, MLK was the headliner, but his speech was only possible because of all the people behind the scenes, and apparently the chief organizer of the event was this Bayard Rustin person. No, I'd never heard of him before, but he led (or deputy-led, it's complicated) the team of people who came up with the idea, who drummed up financial support, who spread the word and then did all the event planning, from the buses that got people there from other cities to the refreshments and the lavatories. And don't forget the sound system, because Dr. King's speech wouldn't have much impact if nobody could hear it. Thinking only about Martin Luther King when you think about this pivotal moment in history would be like crediting only Neil Armstrong for the Apollo 11 landing, when there were two other astronauts and a whole team of NASA engineers and support personnel back on Earth. (see also: "Hidden Figures")
So yeah, it's great that films are now seeking out those relatively unsung heroes of the Civil Rights movement, and then there's the added angle, part of the reason that Rustin's efforts were, well not ignored but downplayed, could be connected to homophobia. (I was about to say due to his lifestyle choices, or his sexual orientation, but as i understand it, those terms have fallen out of favor, because they imply that being gay is a choice, and the emphasis now is on calling it an integral part of who people are, rather than a choice.). Of course, it was a different time, sure. And the Civil Rights movement was trying to fight for freedom and equality for all, regardless of gender, skin color or religiious beliefs, and at least during the 1960's, it seemed like maybe they left one criteria off of that list. It was a process, I guess.
People at the time didn't really understand bisexuality, you were either one thing or another, and the common belief was that gay people were incapable of forming partner bonds, or even long-term relationships, and the struggle for gay marriage wouldn't take place for another few decades, so gay people pretty much had a "hall pass" of sorts. Or it was kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy, some psychology expert couldn't find any long-term gay couple so it was determined that they didn't exist, and then maybe gay people came to believe this about themselves, so they didn't seek out such things. Who's to say? Now, of course, we know that's all B.S, because there are gay marriages now, and gay divorces, and the legality of things sometimes falls behind actual practice, so there simply MUST have been gay people who acted like married couples, they just didn't publicize it that much, for fear that society just wasn't ready to accept it.
The gay lifestyle was so misunderstood that Strom Thurmond called Rustin a "communist", that long-term Senator was extremely racist already, but I doubt that he really understood homosexuality if he was equating it with Socialism. Thurmond also got name-checked in the "Oppenheimer" film, BTW, he was a senator for South Carolina for 48 years, after all, and the biggest opponent to civil rights legislation for two decades at least. He filibustered for over 24 hours against the Civil Rights Act of 1957, but still somehow claimed he wasn't a racist, he was just doing it in support of states' rights. Yes, specifically, the states' rights to discriminate against African-Americans, or as he probably called them, the "coloreds".
The film also paints a complicated picture of the various Civil Rights organizations at the time, which were apparently frequently at odds over their policies, and argued over the best ways to move forward, politically. There was the N.A.A.C.P., the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Congress of Racial Equality, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Commitee, and the National Urban League. The leaders of these organizations, along with A. Philip Randolph, formed the "Big Six" to plan the event, forming a group called the Council for United Civil Rights Leadership. Randolph had, along with Rustin, been planning a March on Washington since 1941, when they wanted to protest discriminatory hiring during World War II by U.S. military contractors. But FDR signed an executive order to establish the Committee on Fair Employment Practice, and it seems this fixed the problem, so no march in 1941. But they never gave up on the idea, it just got delayed for another 22 years.
Randolph and Rustin began planning the 1963 march in December of 1961, and initial plans were for a two-day protest, however that meant they'd have to set up tents for sleeping, like the Woodstock festival did a few years later, so it was trimmed down to a one-day event, no tents. It was announced in May of 1963 and planned originally for October, but then in June it got moved up to August - so, not a lot of time to plan everything. It might not have been possible if the organizers hadn't promised "civil disobedience", which honestly sounds like a contradiction in terms or an oxymoron, like "Civil War". They were expecting a crowd of 100,000 but ended up with more than 200,000, most of whom arrived by bus.
The D.C. police forces were at full capacity, with 5,900 officers, plus 2,000 men from the National Guard and 19,000 troops waiting in the suburbs somewhere, directed there by the Pentagon. Rustin and Randolph countered with 5,000 NYC police officers who were recruited to act as private marshals - the organizers had the brilliant idea to police the crowd themselves, as they trusted their own recruited police more than the cops from another city. Alcohol sales were banned in Washington for the first time since Prohibition. The film got very detailed about the planning, which I sure appreciated, but I doubt most people are as into event planning as I am, so you may notice that there's very little footage of the event itself. Well, it's not a documentary, and you can watch Dr. King's speech just about anywhere else. Again, this is the story of the man who planned the event, if that's not your cup of tea then maybe watch a different movie.
After the event, the "Big Six" met with President Kennedy, so yeah, that was a very positive result, but Bayard Rustin was not invited. As a true event organizer, he stayed behind to oversee the clean-up. Since I've been a house manager of a few hundred events myself in the last two and a half years, I get it. The job's not done until the trash is in the dumpster and the doors are locked, so to speak. This part rang true, for sure.
Also starring Colman Domingo (last seen in "Zola"), Ami Ameen (last seen in "The Butler"), Glynn Turman (last seen in "80 for Brady"), Chris Rock (last seen in "Venus and Serena"), Gus Halper (last seen in "Cold Pursuit"), Johnny Ramey (last seen in "New Year's Eve"), CCH Pounder (last heard in "Avatar: The Way of Water"), Michael Potts (last seen in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"), Audra McDonald (last seen in "Respect"), Jeffrey Wright (last seen in "American Fiction"), Lilly Kay, Jordan-Amanda Hall, Jakeem Powell, Ayana Workman, Grantham Coleman, Jamilah Rosemond, Jules Latimer, Maxwell Whittington-Cooper (last seen in "Human Capital"), Kevin Mambo (last seen in "Rebel in the Rye"), Carra Patterson (last seen in "Straight Outta Compton"), Da'Vine Joy Randolph (last heard in "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish"), Adrienne Warren (last seen in "Tina"), Bill Irwin (last seen in "Igby Goes Down"), Jamar Williams, Hope Clarke (last seen in "Into the Night"), Rashad Demond Edwards (last seen in "The Music Never Stopped"), Phoenix Southwood, Isabela Spurlock, Amir Carr, Jeffrey Jordan, Melissa Rakiro, Cotter Smith (last seen in "You Don't Know Jack"), Ivan Moore, Drayton Walker, Chris Blount, Robert M. Pflegardt, Christopher Anglim, Devin Doolan, Marlon Bradley Ray, Thomas W. Wolf (last seen in "White Noise") with archive footage of John F. Kennedy.
RATING: 6 out of 10 travel coordinators using the same alias
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