June 7th Asynchronous Work
The False Comfort of Black and White Photos For many Americans, when we think of the Civil Rights Movement in America, we draw up old black and white images of marches and police brutality. We see black and white images of White people seething with hatred as young Black children enter newly desegregated schools. Watching the documentary, I Am Not Your Negro , these same black and white images flash across the screen as Samuel L. Jackson, the narrator, gives voice to the brilliant work done by James Baldwin. In the documentary we hear from Baldwin's own words the toll and the conflict he experienced as a Black man in America during the 1960s as he examines the death and interconnectedness of three prominent Civil Rights leaders. However, every once and awhile, you see a photo in color and are immediately reminded that the seething White people and young Black children in those photos are now our parents and grandparents. The people in those black and white images are not so far
