Sat Aug 8, 2015, 10:27 AM

ENCRB playing "Deacons for Defense"

Deacons for Defense is a 2003 American television drama film directed by Bill Duke. The television film stars; Forest Whitaker, Christopher Britton, Ossie Davis, Jonathan Silverman, Adam Weiner, and Marcus Johnson.

It is loosely based on the true story of the Deacons for Defense and Justice, an African-American militia that was formed in 1964 to protect activists working with the Congress for Racial Equality (CORE), as well as others working with the civil rights movement.

Plot

In 1965 Louisiana, war veteran Marcus (Forest Whitaker) works in the town's mill for meager wages, and must endure the ongoing humiliation meted out by his white supervisors. Encouraged by an idealistic white Northerner (Jonathan Silverman), his daughter becomes a civil rights activist. When his daughter is abused at a nonviolent demonstration, Marcus is pushed too far. Marcus organizes the Deacons for Defense and Justice, an all-black defense group dedicated to patrolling the black section of town and protecting its residents from the aspects of "white backlash".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deacons_for_Defense_%28film%29

It's heartbreaking to watch. I know this is a fictionalized account but their bravery was not.

In the scene I'm watching now a judge is berating the town for flying Confederate flags. "Is there not one American flag in Bogalusa?"

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2 replies	Author	Time	Post
ENCRB playing "Deacons for Defense" (Original post)	Nuclear Unicorn	Aug 2015	OP
Bill Duke fan here	discntnt_irny_srcsm	Aug 2015	#1
One account contends a white attacker was shot to death...	Eleanors38	Aug 2015	#2

Response to Nuclear Unicorn (Original post)

Sat Aug 8, 2015, 12:31 PM

discntnt_irny_srcsm (17,413 posts)

1. Bill Duke fan here

Imdb rates it at 7 stars which makes my watch list for sure.

I'd like to share a review from IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0335034/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

"I was born in Bogalusa, Louisiana (the lumber town depicted in "Deacons for Defense"

and lived through the events depicted in this movie. I can attest to the fact that it is very factually recounted. The tension between the blacks and the whites during that time were very high and emotionally charged. As a child I was taught by my Klansman father that black people were to be hated. For whatever reason that never really rang true to me and I refused to hate. It's so strange to look back objectively on a movie like this that reopens those old wounds. It's about the black citizens of Bogalusa who form a group intending to protect themselves from the bigotry that envelops the city and the tough choices they had to make going into this situation with little or no backup from the city police or the elected politicians in the area. It's really a very good movie."

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Response to Nuclear Unicorn (Original post)

Sat Aug 8, 2015, 01:21 PM

Eleanors38 (18,318 posts)

2. One account contends a white attacker was shot to death...

as the car from which he was shooting came under return fire. Some how the death was covered up, so the story goes, for fear that being of white status did not make you superman. Everyone has a narrative that must be protected.

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