A *TERRIFIC* Disney Flick

This movie starts out a wee bit slow, but stay with it. It is *well* worth it.

"Lord, Selma, Lord" is based on the real life story of two 12 year old girls, Sheyann Webb-Christburg and Rachel West Nelson who were involved in the Civil Rights movment in Selma, Alabama in 1965. (the movie is based, in part, on their memoirs)

The movie's depiction of the Freedom March across the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma to Montgomery was incredibly well done. I felt like I already knew a lot about "Bloody Sunday" (March 7, 1965) but this movie portrayed that march in a way that stirred me very deeply.

This movie is a must for anyone with children. The violence is handled in a way suitable for children over 8 years old (in my maternal opinion) and it really brings the civil rights movement down to an individual level. It also did a superior job of showing that civil rights (specifically, the right of all people to vote) came at a great cost.

The end of the movie left me in tears; all the more so as I realized this movie was based on fact. Very stirring and also a good tool for opening up dialogue with your children on the whole topic of civil rights.

A Good One to Show in School for MLK Day

"Selma, Lord, Selma" fills an important niche by telling a story of the Civil Rights Movement in a manner that is accessible to upper elementary students (and older). The characters and situations are believable, and the story is told from the perspecive of a young--almost 12 years old--African-American girl who got involved after writing a report on Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

While this film portrays the harshness of the situation, including two deaths, it is not graphic or gratutitous. I personally appreciated the way the non-violent Civil Rights movement of Rev. King and his followers was based on their Christian beliefs. The film is not preachy, but the religious context of the movement is realistically portrayed.

As the school librarian, I will be recommending this video to teachers in our elementary school as an option for the Martin Luther King holiday.

A must-see video on an important part of US history

This is a true story with true characters and events, not a fictionalized "this could have happened" history.
This is the story of the civil rights movement in 1965 Selma, Alabama. After the events shown in the video, Lyndon Johnson made the following speech -- one of his best:
"At times history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man's unending search for freedom. So it was at Lexington and Concord. So it was a century ago at Appomattox. So it was last week in Selma, Alabama.
"There, long-suffering men and women peacefully protested the denial of their rights as Americans. Many were brutally assaulted....
"There is no cause for pride in what has happened in Selma. There is no cause for self-satisfaction in the long denial of equal rights of millions of Americans. But there is cause for hope and for faith in our democracy in what is happening here tonight...." You may wish to find the entire speech and read it -- it's available on the internet.
This movie is appropriate for school use for 5th and 6th graders and up. "Selma, Lord, Selma" never fails to bring tears to my eyes. A good companion video is "Ruby Bridges."