This week, we watched a movie entitled "The Black Press: Soldiers without Swords." Wow. I was completely unaware that there was a black press movement and It was an impressive one. It's incomprehensible to think that not only did black people have no rights, but essentially they had no importance in "white media". The words that stuck out to me the most in the film were "we didn't live, we didn't die, we didn't get married, and we didn't have children." The speaker was of course not literal in what he was saying, but basically he was saying, to the white man, the black man was completely non-existent.
It was so sad to hear and see how these people were treated, and that it was ever ok to treat them as such is an atrocious thought. But it was also inspiring and impressive to see how they fought to be heard and seen when the world was telling them to be silent and to hide.
I just kept thinking how they must have been so terrified, but also so motivated to put up this fight. Because someone had to, and that someone had to be the everyday black man or woman. It was really cool to see how these men and women found ways to reach other areas even when their papers were banned and how they never stood down.
One of the most memorable parts for me, was how anytime a black person was mentioned in a newspaper, they would put "black" in parenthesis behind the person's name. I absolutely loved when they talked about how the black media would put "white" in parenthesis after any white person's name.
I truly believe this film was named very well, after all, these men and women fought a necessary war and they fought it with words alone. They made a huge difference in America back then and today!

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