At the Museum of the City of New York, there is currently an exhibit titled Activist New York. The exhibit covers stories of oppression and activism from the 1600s up until the present day. It gives a brief overview of several movements that occurred within the U.S., including the Women’s Rights movement, the anti-Vietnam War protests, and had a particularly moving section on the recent Black Lives Matter protests. The section included photographs from the protests, articles that were used during the protests such as posters, as well as a video that incorporated images and clips from past and present protests for the rights and treatment of Black people in America. Throughout the exhibit, there were several separate sections that were about different movements in which Black People had to fight for their rights and their lives, whether it be the push for civil rights, the push against gentrification, or the most recent of Black Lives Matter.
This exhibit has strong ties to that of the story of Malcolm X. Not only was he involved in the Civil Rights movement, but his words and messages ring true in the protests for the Black Lives Matter movement. I found that the images and clips in the museum exhibit echoed those in Spike Lee’s film. Lee’s film focused heavily on images of black power, and the unity of black people that we saw in the scene in which Malcolm X enters the police station to fight for Brother Johnson. This was one instance in the film where the power of Black activism was highlighted, as Malcolm X was able to instill fear in the police officers and accomplish what it was that he wanted to – secure help and safety for Brother Johnson. I was reminded of this scene while I was looking at the exhibit’s images of people demonstrating in the streets for black lives; the hurt that these protestors hold, the anger in their voices, and, most importantly, their power.
These emotive depictions of the Civil Rights movement and the Black Lives Matter movement have a profound effect on the viewer. Lee’s film forces us, the audience, to reckon with our own perceptions of Malcolm X, a man who was villainized by the American media. Lee’s film brings attention to who Malcolm X was at his core, and through the cinematic experience of watching this film, we can see that Malcolm X was just a human being who thoroughly loved himself and his people. Activist New York showed us how often different groups of people have to fight for their right to survive and to thrive and yet, still, society pushes them down. The Black Lives Matter movement is something that Malcolm X would have never wanted to see, as he believed that his people should never have had to fight for their right to live in a society that he believed would never accept them. I think that photographs, videos, and films illustrate the emotions and the power of people involved in these movements in a way that affects people deeply. There is an indescribable feeling of seeing the moment someone is fighting for their life captured on film.
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