The Great Debaters – Die Macht der Worte (2007)

The Great Debaters – Die Macht der Worte: Directed by Denzel Washington. With Denzel Washington, Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett, Denzel Whitaker. A drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school’s first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship.

“This wasnu0026#39;t about my Texas, although I am familiar with many of the topics in this film. I have been to Marshall in my travels over most of the highways in Texas, I know about Paul Quinn College and Prairie View A u0026amp; M University. This wasnu0026#39;t even about my Daddyu0026#39;s Texas, as he was just a small boy at the time. It was, however, my Grandfatheru0026#39;s Texas. he typified the characters in this film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWith Denzel Washington directing and acting, I expected an outstanding film. I was not prepared to be so emotionally taken in that I left the theater wiping tears from eyes. This was a powerful statement about the differences in American. Differences that were typified by Franklin Rooseveltu0026#39;s affirmative action program for whites – the New Deal; differences that would be repeated twenty years later after WWII when the whites again received affirmative action in the form of the GI Bill. Robert Eiseleu0026#39;s story really brought home the pain and deprivation of being Black in America, and how some could overcome that deprivation with the right help, but could never overcome the pain.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBesides Washington, there were outstanding performances by Forest Whitaker, Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett, and Denzel Whitaker, as a 14-year-old in college.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTears in my eyes, I will long remember this film as one of the best of the year and of many years.”