Selma
The 2014 film Selma captures a pivotal moment in American Civil Rights history, focusing on the use the Dr. Martin Luther King's program of nonviolent collective action. The film can be analyzed through the lens of Omi and Winant's "By the Rivers of Babylon." Omi and Winant discuss the way Ghandi-influenced strategies created a global anti-oppression movement to challenge the core of white/European hegemony. The movement described in Selma was greater than itself; it represented the need for total transformation of American society. As Omi and Winant point out in Part One of "By the Rivers of Babylon, "The black movement served as a powerful catalyst because racial oppression was a society-wide problem which could not be confined within traditional political-economic boundaries," (38). A turning point in the film was when the white activists and clergy joined the march, echoing what Omi and Winant discuss in terms of how the black movement created opportunities for applying a broader critique of the hegemonic social order. Although Selma as a film remains focused on one facet of the movement, issues related to race, class, gender, and social power converged during the Civil Rights era.
Selma demonstrates how the black power movement differed from the conscientiously Ghandi-influenced nonviolent civil disobedience strategy espoused by King. Omi and Winant also discuss the significance of King's example, as by using Ghandi's methods, the oppressed people of the world could collectively unite under a common rubric. The movement helped to "redefine the meaning of racial identity," and not simply advocate for specific rights and freedoms (Omi and Winant, Part Two, 35). Ultimately, both the black power and King's movement led to a transformation of worldview that...
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