By Chiamaka Orogbu: Sullivan Freshman
For many, historical movies can be hard to follow. We already know what happened, so why would we want to take time and watch it.
The movie “One Night In Miami” directed by Regina King talks about a moment in black history that truly changed things, but not many people know about it.
“One Night In Miami” talks about the real life story of February 25th, 1964. Not only on that night did the boxer Cassius Clay, aka Muhammad Ali, defeat Sonny Liston and became the a heavyweight champion, but mountain movers like Sam Cooke, Jim Brown, Muhammad Ail, and Malcom X all got together for a needed night.
What makes the movie even more meaningful and impacting is how it talks about today’s matters.
The thing about this movie is we don’t know exactly what these men talked about, but we do know that after that night Sam Cooke started to talk more publicly about the movement with his song “I was Born by the River” and Malcom X wrote his autobiography.
Sam’s song inspired the black empowerment movement in many ways and it still is to this day with artists doing covers during times of need.
In Malcolm’s autobiography he says, “It is a time for martyrs now, and if I am to be one, it will be for the cause of brotherhood. That’s the only thing that can save this country.” Just hearing those words has sparked inspirations.
The movie has also been sparking inspiration with quotes, like one from Leslie Odom Jr. (Sam Cooke) where he says, “Everybody talks about wantin’ a piece of the pie, well I don’t. I want the recipe.”
Another quote that has sparked many conversations was, “We want a world where we’re safe to be ourselves. To think like we want, without having to answer to anybody for it. We have to be there for each other.”
These are quotes that we should really think about next time we are going through a really difficult time.
Having this movie in a time like this is very important because we are having these moments that are pushing us to either go forward or backwards.
Just hearing actors like Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom Jr., and Kingsley Ben-Adir putting strength into these names and talking about these matters proves that we do need to do something.
These conversations have happened so long ago and we’ve pushed it to the side but it’s coming back up and we need to acknowledge it.
To sum everything that has been stated, “One Night In Miami” is highly recommended. We should take the message that we can make this world better for the generation to come.
