LOCAL Houston | The City Guide October 2017 | Page 40

GISH AT THE
MOVIES
“THE ROOTS OF THURGOOD MARSHALL”
It is said that if you don’t know history, history repeats itself. The roots of racism in our country run deep and
long and are as old as slavery, where it all began in 1641 when Massachusetts became the first colony to
legalize it. Four centuries later, Black Lives Matter emerged because of current racial tension but this is nothing
new. Their work rests on the shoulders of prominent figures such as Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, Frederick
Douglass, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Thurgood Marshall was the great-grandson and grandson of slaves. He was the founder and director of the
NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, a nonprofit law firm separate from the NAACP, and his impact
on the civil rights movement changed the course of our country’s history. Before he was appointed as the
first African American Supreme Court Justice in 1967, Marshall argued (and often won) many cases before
the Court – so many that earned the nickname “Mr. Civil Rights.” He is most well-known as the lawyer who
won the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case, which forced integration at public schools. “Marshall”
is the true story of the greatest challenge in his early days: the case of black chauffeur Joseph Spell (Sterling
K. Brown) accused by his white employer, Eleanor Strubing (Kate Hudson), of sexual assault and attempted
murder. The outcome of that case would set the tone for the modern-day fight for equal rights.
Interestingly, Marshall is played by Chadwick Boseman, who will star in the soon-to-be-released film “Black
Panther,” based on the black Marvel Comics character. The director of “Marshall,” Reginald Hudlin, wrote
Black Panther stories for Marvel for a few years. Boseman has skillfully portrayed two other prominent African
Americans in history, Jackie Robinson and James Brown. Recent films such as “Hidden Figures” have resur-
rected little-known historical moments; “Marshall,” which is set to open on October 13, is the latest such
film. Perhaps this knowledge will enable history to not repeat itself.
WANT TO SEE MORE ART FILMS?
CHECK OUT THESE VENUES
14 Pews (www.14pews.org)
Alamo Drafthouse (www.drafthouse.com)
Asia Society (www.asiasociety.org/texas)
Aurora Picture Show (www.aurorapictureshow.org)
Blaffer Art Museum (www.blafferartmuseum.org)
Café Brasil (www.brasilcafehouston.com)
Contemporary Arts Museum (www.camh.org)
Discovery Green (www.discoverygreen.com)
DiverseWorks (www.diverseworks.org)
Holocaust Museum (www.hmh.org)
Jewish Community Center (www.erjcchouston.org)
Landmark River Oaks Theatre (www.landmarktheatres.com)
Menil Collection (www.menil.org)
Miller Outdoor Theatre (www.milleroutdoortheatre.com)
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (www.mfah.org/films)
Orange Show (www.orangeshow.org)
Rice Cinema (www.ricecinema.rice.edu)
Sundance Cinemas (www.sundancecinemas.com)
By Sarah Gish | www.gishcreative.com
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L O C A L
| 10 . 2017