Selma Book Vs Movie Essay - 1640 Words

As Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, â€Å"The nonviolent approach does not immediately change the heart of the oppressor. It first does something to the hearts and souls of those committed to it. It gives them new self-respect; it calls up resources of strength and courage they did not know they had†. (King) The conflicts met between the Civil Rights Movement protesters and the white people of the South were incredibly gruesome. While peace and equality for African Americans was the driving force of the protests, violence and inhuman resistance was the force of the white people. In the March Trilogy Books, written by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, and in the movie Selma, written by Paul Webb and directed by Ava DuVernay, we are given a†¦show more content†¦Twenty-one children were injured and four young girls lost their lives that day. [Figure 1] Lewis asked, â€Å"How could our quest for human dignity spawn such evil?† (3:16). Another example that they both showed in common was the tension portrayed at the time of the first attempt to march across the Edmond Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. Lewis and Hosea Williams led the marchers. As they were walking across the bridge, Williams asked Lewis, â€Å"Can you swim?† (Lewis and Aydin 3:197) as if to insinuate that going over the bridge may be what was to come, not knowing what they were to face at the end of the bridge. Where a crowd of resisters was waiting for them. Even though the marchers faced violent opposition and met with conflict, they continued their demonstrations. The books and the movie displayed controversy throughout. One example is during the first attempt to cross the bridge, when the marchers were met by the Alabama State Troopers. It went very dark, very quick, as the troopers barged towards them, making this day known as â€Å"Bloody Sun day†, March 7, 1965. When asked for his comments in the movie by the press after the merciless attack on the marchers, King says â€Å"While rageful violence continues towards the unarmed people of Selma, while they are assaulted with tear gas and batons like enemy in a war, no citizen of this country can call themselves blameless, for we all bear a responsibility for our fellow man. I am appealing to men and