A few days ago I saw a film called "Selma". It was a moving film on Martin Luther King Jr., his colleagues, their struggles, and the race relations in the US. It was not a biography of King, but focused on a rather short period of time when he was at Selma, Alabama, to lead a civil rights struggle in 1965.
In many ways it reminded me of the life of Gandhi. In 7 March of that year, for example, which turned into a "Bloody Sunday", people tried to march from Selma to Montgomery, of the bus boycott fame of ten years ago, the distance of 80 km, in a non-violent way, to be brutally attacked by the State Troopers, even by the mounted police, at a bridge just outside Selma. It was reminiscent of Gandhi's "Salt March". In the latter case the March itself was peaceful, but afterwards when the marchers tried peacefully to occupy a salt depot, they were severely treated by the police.
Gandhi's method was called by an eminent Indian historian as "Struggle-Truce(negotiations)-Struggle". King's method may be called the same way, in the sense that he was also not averse to negotiating, even with the President. Like Gandhi he also, quite naturally, selected moments to attract the attention of the papers, radio and the TV.
King was not at Selma on the first march. He led the second, but when the State Troopers withdrew he led the people back to Selma. This brought about differences. On the third occasion, however, after President Johnson had to submit a Bill and concluded his speech with the famous "We shall overcome", which must have been sung so often before, the third march led by King finally reached Montgomery, the State Capital.
I wondered if the impact of the on-going Vietnam War was fully incorporated there in the film. However, the importance of the voting rights, and that both for the Black community and the segregationists, was overwhelming.
In many ways it reminded me of the life of Gandhi. In 7 March of that year, for example, which turned into a "Bloody Sunday", people tried to march from Selma to Montgomery, of the bus boycott fame of ten years ago, the distance of 80 km, in a non-violent way, to be brutally attacked by the State Troopers, even by the mounted police, at a bridge just outside Selma. It was reminiscent of Gandhi's "Salt March". In the latter case the March itself was peaceful, but afterwards when the marchers tried peacefully to occupy a salt depot, they were severely treated by the police.
Gandhi's method was called by an eminent Indian historian as "Struggle-Truce(negotiations)-Struggle". King's method may be called the same way, in the sense that he was also not averse to negotiating, even with the President. Like Gandhi he also, quite naturally, selected moments to attract the attention of the papers, radio and the TV.
King was not at Selma on the first march. He led the second, but when the State Troopers withdrew he led the people back to Selma. This brought about differences. On the third occasion, however, after President Johnson had to submit a Bill and concluded his speech with the famous "We shall overcome", which must have been sung so often before, the third march led by King finally reached Montgomery, the State Capital.
I wondered if the impact of the on-going Vietnam War was fully incorporated there in the film. However, the importance of the voting rights, and that both for the Black community and the segregationists, was overwhelming.
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