Affirmed: The Great Debaters is Great!

My family went and saw the Great Debaters over the holidays and it was an inspiring and educational movie. It told the story of the Wiley College debate team, a squad from a historically Black college that challenged and ultimately beat the defending all White national champion debate team. The movie is another testament to the strength and resilience of the Black community; even under the oppressive and violent southern Jim Crow laws, Black would not be denied. Although the movie slightly differs from established history, the debate team beat the University of Southern California as opposed to Harvard University, the spirit and strength of the story carried throughout the movie.

Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker and the rest of the cast put forth an amazing effort of depicting Black life under Jim Crow. You found yourself connecting with the characters, cheering and taking pride in their accomplishments and feeling sympathetic and hurt when they felt emotional and physical pain.

The Great Debaters is an “A” movie and should be seen by all, especially Black youth who often aren’t being shown images of Black youth aspiring higher education.