Last night, at the Houston Museum of African American Culture, I was privileged to attend a screening of the film "Street Fight", which shows the necessary but nasty battle between Councilman Cory Booker and Incumbent Mayor Sharpe James. In the film, young Cory Booker tries to win the hearts, minds, and votes of Newark voters in the 2002 Mayoral Race. It was not an easy battle to say the least. Booker had to fight against dirty machine politics from the James camp. They said he wasn't black enough. They said he was a golden boy-outsider-carpetbagger that wanted to wave his Ivy league education around to poor people. In the end, the voters' voices were heard. Only one candidate could emerge from a modern day political "Street Fight".
After the film, there was a Q & A session moderated by the world renowned, Brother Jesse Muhammad, who is a blogger, staff writer for the Final Call newspaper, motivational speaker, and political community activist. You can catch up with him via his great blog, http://jessemuhammad.blogs.finalcall.com/ or via Twitter @brotherjesse.
Brother Jesse led the discussion on a few questions:
What could Cory Booker have done differently?
What lessons did both candidates learn?
Should we have a responsibility to groom our future political leaders?
Has politics gotten cleaner or dirtier?
Answer those questions after you view the film. I would love to discuss your point of view and mine in the comments section.
So without further adieu, I give you "Street Fight" in many parts......................................
Cry Freedom is a 1987 British drama film directed by Richard Attenborough, set in the late 1970s, during the apartheid era of South Africa. It was written from a screenplay by John Briley based on a pair of books by journalist Donald Woods. The film centres around the real-life events involving black activist Steve Biko and his friend Donald Woods, who initially finds him destructive, and attempts to understand his way of life. Denzel Washington stars as Biko, while actor Kevin Kline portrays Woods. Cry Freedom delves into the ideas of discrimination, political corruption, and the repercussions of violence.
The film was primarily shot on location in Zimbabwe due to political turmoil in South Africa at the time of production. As a film showing mostly in limited cinematic release, it was nominated for multiple awards, including Academy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song. It also won a number of awards including those from the Berlin International Film Festival and the British Academy Film Awards.
A joint collective effort to commit to the film's production was made by Universal Pictures and Marble Arch Productions. It was commercially distributed by Universal Pictures theatrically, and by MCA Home Video for home media. Cry Freedom premiered in theaters nationwide in the United States on November 6, 1987 grossing $5,899,797 in domestic ticket receipts. The film was at its widest release showing in 479 theaters nationwide. It was generally met with positive critical reviews before its initial screening in cinemas. (via Wikipedia)
