Selma, Lord, Selma

Episode aired Jan 17, 1999
1h 34m

7.3/10

558

S2.E13

All episodes

All

Adventure Comedy Drama

In 1965 Alabama, an 11 year old girl (Jurnee Smollett) is touched by a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. (Clifton Powell) and becomes a devout follower. But her resolution is tested when she... Read allIn 1965 Alabama, an 11 year old girl (Jurnee Smollett) is touched by a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. (Clifton Powell) and becomes a devout follower. But her resolution is tested when she joins others in the famed march from Selma to Montgomery.In 1965 Alabama, an 11 year old girl (Jurnee Smollett) is touched by a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. (Clifton Powell) and becomes a devout follower. But her resolution is tested when she joins others in the famed march from Selma to Montgomery.

7.3/10

558

Director
- Charles Burnett
Writers
- Rachel West Nelson(book)
- Frank Sikora(book)
- Sheyann Webb(book)
Stars

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Awards
- 4 nominations

Clifton Powell in The Wonderful World of Disney (1997)

Director
- Charles Burnett
Writers
- Rachel West Nelson(book)
- Frank Sikora(book)
- Sheyann Webb(book)
All cast & crew
See more cast details at IMDbPro

inspirational police brutality racial issues christian gospel music 20 more

Genres
Parents guide

Trivia
This movie is based on the memoir "Selma, Lord, Selma: Girlhood Memories of the Civil Rights Days" by Sheyann Webb and Rachel West Nelson, as told to Frank Sikora, first published in 1980.

Goofs
In the beginning of the movie, Johnathan Daniels first comes to Selma, he meets Father Whitaker. Father Whitaker is an Episcopal priest, as is Johnathan. Yet throughout the movie, Daniels is referred to as "Reverend Daniels," or a pastor or minister.

Some may perceive this to be inaccurate and assert that all Episcopal priests are referred to as "Father," not "Reverend."

However, it is quite common for Episcopal priests to be referred to other than "Father." Some Episcopal priests, being of a more "low-church" persuasion do not wish their parishioners call them "Father". In some cases, e.g. small towns in the South, they are simply called "Preacher."

Quotes
Martin Luther King, Jr.: You may have the law on your side but we have morality on ours and one day you're going to have to accept that.

Top review

8/10

Greatly affecting, if not brilliant

Charles Burnett's "Killer of Sheep" is a true masterpiece--an unsentimental look at ghetto life, rich in detail, marvelously flirting with an unexpected and regarding nonnarrative structure. "Selma, Lord, Selma" doesn't offer the same joys--it too obviously is a television project, with clearly identifiable "good guys" and "bad guys" and a strong sentimental thrust. Burnett seems to have been forced into removing the subtleties of the historical events he portrays by the limits of working with Disney. In the end, this movie is greatly affecting--it is hard to watch it with dry eyes--but it is not likely to make someone who isn't ignorant of the struggle for civil rights in the U.S. to think about the events in a new light.

helpful•1