I awoke early this morning with sleepy eyes and thoughts of John Lewis and how I might pay tribute to this great man. I searched Netflix to watch the film “John Lewis: Good Trouble.” Accidentally, I clicked on a related documentary called, “I am Not Your Negro.” However, I’ve decided that it was no accident. I was meant to watch this film and if you are reading this, perhaps you are too.

I learned something; my eyes widening as I awaken with new awareness. I've heard it said that the truth can set you free.  This gives me hope.

During the turmoil in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963, Time magazine aptly placed James Baldwin on the May cover with this fitting description, "There is not another writer, who expresses with such poignancy and abrasiveness the dark realities of the racial ferment in North and South.” Baldwin was a spokesperson for the Civil Rights Movement and his legacy continues as a bold voice for truth as history repeats itself or will we choose a new reality?

Raoul Peck’s documentary, “I Am Not Your Negro” begins with a television interview of James Baldwin with host Dick Cavett in 1968, when Cavett asked, “Why aren’t Negroes optimistic, even though there are Negro mayors, there are Negroes in all of sports, there are Negroes in politics, they’re even accorded the ultimate accolade of being in television commercials now.” Baldwin responded, “It’s not a question of what happens to the Negro here, the black man here, that is a very vivid question for me, you know, but the real question is what’s going to happen to this country?

This film gives witness to the brutalities and fight against racism in our culture.  It examines America’s assumptions with racist stereotypes during the  segregation era. It provides a candid look at events of the Civil Rights Movement juxtaposed amid today’s devastating racial climate. 

The film concludes with Baldwin’s poignant declaration, "You cannot lynch me and keep me in ghettos without becoming something monstrous yourselves. And furthermore, you give me a terrifying advantage: you never had to look at me; I had to look at you. I know more about you than you know about me. Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."

What remains relevant today are the hopes, dreams and aspirations for a better world where all people can live and flourish.  It is a fervent demand to  face ourselves as a nation, and as a people so that real change can occur; an emphatic call for redemption and the reclaiming of the soul of America.

"Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble." -John Lewis

Liz Sorensen Wessel