Nationtime

The National Black Political Convention, or the Gary Convention, was held on March 10-12, 1972 in Gary, Indiana. This movie recounts the highlights of that event, with narration by Sidney Poitier

Time is supposed to heal all wounds. More than half a century after the events in this movie, I find it makes me fearful. It's filled with angry people, shouting. When Bobby Seale is at the microphone, he shouts. My immediate reaction was surprise: doesn't the convention have an amplification system? Then I realized this was a style of speech-making developed for speaking to crowds when there were no amps. In a closed hall, with a sound system, it's angry. Half a century ago, had I seen this, it would have frightened me. It still does today.