All of these people were leaders in their own right, and it wasn\u2019t a coincidence that they were reverends. [It] was a Christian movement, and I think the thing that was amazing about it was not only showing the hypocrisy of Americans, challenging them, but challenging Christians also. Dr. King [\u2026] really challenged people\u2019s spirit, heart, and soul\u2014what they believed in. How could you be Christian and treat others that way? I think that was the combination of the two: the political strategy of understanding what advocacy could do, understanding what God could do in non-violence, but [also] understanding that they were men and women of faith trying to appeal to the hearts of other men and women of faith.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What did he ask those who participated in the Selma march?<\/strong>:<\/p>\nWhen I asked John Lewis, \u201cIn that moment, when you crossed the bridge, what did Hosea say?\u201d He said, \u201cHe turned to me and said, \u2018John, they\u2019re about to tear gas us.\u2019\u201d For me, realizing that this man, this reverend had fought in World War II\u2014African-American soldiers, the double V campaign, you know about that? Victory abroad and victory at home. He had fought one battle. There was victory abroad, and now he was fighting a second. Victory at home. He had the waddle of a walk because he was injured in a tank in World War II. And [\u2026.] when John said that to me, I remembered that my father, who also fought in World War II, that was a part of the training. [They] basically sent you into a gassed house, filled with gas, and you had to take the gas mask off to see how it would impact [you]. So he knew, because he had experienced it, what was about to happen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Experiencing racism at church<\/strong>:<\/p>\nI struggle with my faith. I\u2026[long pause]\u2026I grew up Catholic in the South. I\u2019m still Catholic. I don\u2019t go to the church near my neighborhood now because when we first got there, the separate but equal neighborhood in New Orleans [\u2026.]the parish happened to be on the white side. And when my parents first got there, they sat in their favorite pew, right side, fifth row, anywhere in the world the Pierce family\u2019s there. And they tapped on their should, they said, \u201cExcuse me, the Negro pews are in the back.\u201d My grandmother\u2019s Bible study was segregated. The white kids would go first, and then the black kids would go second. And the white kids would go to the choir loft and pee on them. The reverend would just say, \u201cStop, stop, stop, stop.\u201d That\u2019s it. So now, you grew up in a church like that, the first thing you ask as a kid is, \u201cMomma, why do we go to church?\u201d She said, \u201cBaby, we\u2019re trying to have a relationship with God. Always separate that which is divine and that which is man-made.\u201d [\u2026.] In religion, I\u2019m constantly trying to make sure\u2014I want to get to what God is trying to say to me. And so\u2026understand that man is\u2026fallible. So that allowed me to stay in the church, you know, and understand that, okay, all the things I hate about the church doesn\u2019t have to do with the divine.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What is the importance of the film now that the generation that lived through these events is passing away?<\/strong><\/p>\nI think [films like this are] profoundly important because\u2026there are those that don\u2019t have our best interest at heart. Who love revisionist history. And to\u2026belittle, to lessen the impact that Martin Luther King had on this country and this world. I told people, as we make this film and celebrate Dr. King and meet all these men and women who actually stood by his side, that developed this movement with him, like the courageous eight in Selma, like Reverend Reese, and C.T. Vivian\u2026those who were on the other side are still alive, too. There are some men and women that\u2026we forget that. We forget that there are those who are in agreement with Bull Conoor and Clark, and to this day think that Martin Luther King was a communist, was a plant, who want to discredit him. That he doesn\u2019t deserve the accolades that he\u2019s getting, because he actually changed a system that they felt was fair enough. Men who wrote that constitution did not consider me a human being. And there are some that don\u2019t have that enlightenment, that feel as though\u2014when they say \u201cAmerica,\u201d that doesn\u2019t include me. So as we look at these elderly statesmen and women, remember that there are still many men and women who cannot grasp the idea that we deserve\u2014of everybody having those rights. Martin Luther King is emblematic of that change that they cannot accept. And it\u2019s important that we not allow those folks to change who he was [with] revisionist history that he didn\u2019t make the impact that he did on this country and change one of the great American heroes. We should never allow anyone to demean him to a point where he is ineffectual.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Selma<\/em> has a limited release on December 25th and will expand to theaters everywhere on January 9, 2015.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I think that was the combination of the two: the political strategy of understanding what advocacy could do, understanding what God could do in non-violence, but [also] understanding that they were men and women of faith trying to appeal to the hearts of other men and women of faith.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1555,"featured_media":12127,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1590,52],"tags":[1599,1604],"class_list":["post-12126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-disclosure-travel","category-interviews","tag-selma","tag-wendell-pierce"],"yoast_head":"\n
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