My mind is whirring because last night my husband and I watched Freedom Riders (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/freedomriders/) on PBS. The documentary tells the story of courageous people, the Freedom Riders, who challenged segregation in the United States in 1961. I’m getting verklempt because the climate created by racial hatred displayed in that documentary is directly connected with the struggles that I and many others have had with racial identity. Is it any wonder that we’ve tried to assimilate (for example: http://tropie7189.blogspot.com/2011/04/why-talk-about-ethnic-hair.html) and do whatever we could to be accepted when folks just like us were beaten (one news article headline in the film said that 300 people attacked 21 freedom riders), brutalized, and even worse? If you haven’t already, please watch the documentary. It is beautiful to watch the poised Freedom Riders face venomous hatred with dignity, strength and love.
No comments:
Post a Comment