This morning I read Eric Kohn‘s Indiewire interview with Selma director Ava DuVernay and Fruitvale Station director-writer Ryan Coogler about their support of the Black Friday Blackout. For me, the stand-out portion is when Kohn asks DuVernay if she sees “any direct connections between today’s climate in the immediate aftermath of Ferguson in the story of Selma.” And Duvernay responds as follows: “Yes, absolutely. It’s the same story repeated. The same exact story.
“An unarmed black citizen is assaulted with unreasonable force and fatal gunfire by a non-black person who is sworn to serve and protect them. A small town that is already fractured by unequal representation in local government and law enforcement begins to crack under the pressure. People of color, the oppressed, take to the street to make their voices heard. The powers that be seek to extinguish those voices with brute, militarized force and disregard for constitutional rights. That’s Selma 1965. That’s Ferguson right now.”
This moved me to write the following to DuVernay a few minutes ago:
“Ava — Today I noted your statement in the Eric Kohn Indiewire interview in which you link the Selma marches & non-violent protests of 1965 with what has happened in Ferguson.
“In line with this, I want to bring to your attention (or perhaps clarify if you’ve already heard of it) a different linkage that I mentioned three nights ago. Regretfully, I would add, as it turned out all wrong…even if my heart was in the right place.
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