On July 3, 2020 I saw a pre-screening
of the new John Lewis documentary JOHN
LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE (2020), produced by Magnolia
Pictures, I am saddened that my scheduled review of the film would be released one day
after his passing. Nonetheless, I am
honored to have had to opportunity to get up-close and personal with Lewis, via
this documentary.
JOHN
LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE (2020) is
simply brilliant! From the moment the film begins and we see Lewis
walk into an almost empty auditorium, for what would be his private
viewing of images and video related to this documentary, we know we are in for
a special treat.
As he gently sits on the stage,
looking up towards the black & white images as they flash across the
screen, he admits he has never seen many of the images before. However, you quickly come to understand his
in-depth knowledge of the moments the images were captured more than 60 years
prior. He asks the theatre technician
to pause an image for a moment. Lewis
then states, “I’ve never seen this photo before. You see the man standing next to me? He’s got his hand up to his nose because he
knows we are getting ready to be gassed.”
JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE fast forward and rewinds us back and forth
60 plus years throughout Congressman
John Robert Lewis’ life. We are afforded
the opportunity to walk with him through the halls of the US Congress, the
streets of Washington D.C., his private home, and then back to his childhood farm
where, as he says, “As a child, I wanted
to be a preacher SO bad, that I’d gather the chickens around and I’d preach to
the chickens!” Lewis laughs and goes
on…
“Yes, my siblings wouldn’t sit long enough to listen to me. So I’d
preach to those chickens.” He laughs some more.
Through the age of 80 he preached
a new message to the world from his seat in the US Congress. And his message is simple. “Go out
and get into some good trouble!” Lewis would say. And with these words, Lewis is told us to not
be afraid to speak up and spark the kind of trouble that will cause positive
change in our society and world.
In JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE (2020)
the film’s Director, Dawn Porter (Trapped (2016) -
Gideons Army (2013), along with Producers: Erika Alexander, Ben Arnon
and Laura
Michalchyshyn, do an excellent job of not only getting up-close and
personal with Congressman Lewis, who
represented the 5th District of Georgia, they are able to capture
the true sense of Lewis’ character. We witness
how Lewis sincerely cared, not only for the public, but for those who work for and
serve him in private. We watch the gentle
way in which he addressed his personal executive assistants, drivers and staff,
giving back to them equal, if not more, service than they render unto him.
JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE (2020)
chronicles Lewis' 60-plus years of social activism and legislative action on issues
including: civil rights, voting rights, gun control, health-care reform and
immigration. The film co-stars, Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Henry Louis Gates Jr. Corey
Booker, ILhan Omar, Nancy Pelosi, Eric Holder, Michael Collins, Jamila
Thompson, Beto O’Rourke and Stacey
Abrams. Rare images and video footage of Julian Bond, Lyndon B. Johnson, Malcolm X,
Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. are also contained within the
documentary as well.
US Congressman and
Representative, John Robert Lewis passed away on July 17, 2020, at age 80. He was a key figure and confidante of Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. And through this film, we learn the very
private details of exactly how he and King met after unknown activist; Lewis
wrote Dr. King a personal letter. King would
later invite Lewis for a private meeting eventually adopting Lewis into his
inner circle with Lewis ultimately becoming one of Dr. King’s most trusted
confidants and advocates of the non-violent philosophy and Civil Rights
Movement.
JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE (2020) is a great historical film about US Congressman and Representative, John
Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020). It is a documentary people of all races
should see along with their children. It
will be the best “GOOD TROUBLE” you’ll ever watch.
Written By:
“Thank you Congressman
John Robert Lewis for your life of
service and for teaching us all how not only to serve our Nation, but how to serve
one another and GOD. May you forever Rest in Peace. AMEN.” –
DeAlan Wilson (Saturday, July 18, 2020)
