Top 10 Moments from Selma (NOW PLAYING)

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NOTE: This post contains mild SPOILERS.

10) J. Edgar Hoover (Dylan Baker) tells President Lyndon B. Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) that the FBI can create a wedge in the family of MLK, Jr. (David Oyelowo).  

9) Coretta Scott King (Carmen Ejogo) quietly meets with Malcolm X in a church.  He offers assistance to the movement. 

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8)  Annie Lee Cooper (Oprah Winfrey) punches out a policeman who violently lay hands on her in front of the Selma courthouse.  

7) LBJ tells Governor George Wallace (Tim Roth) that “no way in Hell” will he be on the same page as the backward-thinking man when it comes to history. 

6) Coretta confronts Martin about her fears and insecurities, including the other women in his life.    

5) Rev. Reeve, a white Episcopal priest from Boston, is attacked by a group of young (also white) men.  (I didn’t know about this event before!)

 

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4) The prayer on the Edmund Pettis Bridge- a silent, BUT powerful moment.

3) Some little girls in their Sunday best discussing Coretta’s hair before the church bombing (of the 16th Street Church in Birmingham). 

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2) Amelia Boynton’s “you are already prepared” speech to Coretta- VERY well-written, touching, and inspiring!  (Ms. Boynton is still alive at age 103!  She’ll be a guest of honor on Tuesday night’s State of the Union speech.)

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1) MLK, Jr.’s emotionally-charged speech at Jimmie Lee Jackson’s funeral.  (Jimmy, an unarmed black man, was shot and killed by a state trooper in a diner.  This was witnessed by his mother and elderly grandfather.)

 

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