Boycott, starring Jeffrey Wright, Terrence Howard, and Carmen Ejogo . Directed by Clark Johnson. 2001. Library Call Number: PN1995.9.N4 B69 2001 What became one of the seminal moments in the Civil Rights Era is recreated here, with Jeffrey Wright superbly playing an obscure Baptist minister in 1955 Montgomery Alabama, who takes up the cause of equal rights. When a small, middle-aged black woman named Rosa Parks (played by Iris Little-Thomas ) is directed by the bus driver to give her seat to a white man and refuses, she is arrested. The minister, Dr. Martin Luther King, is named to head what becomes known as the Montgomery Bus boycott. African-Americans, who at that time were ¾ of the passengers, refused to board city buses leading to a financial meltdown of the city’s transit system. In response, White Citizen’s Councils firebombed black churches and the houses of King and Reverend Ralph Abernathy.
Boycott faithfully recreates these events, which began in Montgomery and became a national cause. Wright is stellar as the charismatic King, capturing his tones and the power of his voice, while demonstrating his fear and vulnerability.
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