October 18, 2017 The Skanner Page 7
Arts & Entertainment
FILM REVIEW: ‘Marshall’ Recounts High-Profile
Case Argued by Thurgood Marshall Proxy
By Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
P
rior to becoming
America’s first Af-
rican
American
Supreme Court Jus-
tice, Thurgood Marshall
(Chadwick Boseman) en-
joyed a legendary legal
career as a civil rights
lawyer. While serving
as chief counsel for the
NAACP, he argued before
the U.S. Supreme Court
32 times, most notably,
the landmark Brown v.
Board of Education case
ending segregation in
public schools.
This makes one ques-
tion director Reggie
Hudlin’s (“House Party”)
thinking in having his
“
The case was splashed
across the tabloids, and the
accused had already been
convicted in the court of
public opinion
biopic about the beloved
icon revolve around a
criminal trial from 1941,
when he was still estab-
lishing himself. What’s
even more curious is that
Marshall wasn’t allowed
to interrogate witness-
es or even speak in the
Book cont’d from pg 7
Author Resmaa Menakem
Boy, they really came in
handy
She’d say, ‘Matty don’ you
whip that boy
What you want to spank
him for?
He didn’t drop no apple
core’
But I don’t have Grandma
anymore
If I get to heaven I’ll look
for
Grandma’s hands”
--Grandma’s Hands by
Bill Withers
L
ike Bill Withers, Res-
maa Menakem had
a wise grandmother
who played a pivot-
al role in shaping him
during the formative
years of his life. For that
reason, he acknowledg-
es the debt of gratitude
owed to Addie Coleman,
whose
tenderhearted
spirit permeates his
new book, “My Grand-
mother’s Hands.”
But the groundbreak-
ing opus isn’t merely a
fond memoir about a late
loved one, but rather a
sobering how-to tome
endeavoring to identify
and alleviate deep-seated
traumas afflicting Blacks
and Whites alike. For the
author, a veteran thera-
pist who has appeared
as a guest on such TV
shows as Oprah and Dr.
Phil, fervently believes
that racism can’t be erad-
icated by conversation
across the color line
alone, as so often sug-
courtroom by the racist
judge (James Cromwell)
presiding over the pro-
gested by well-meaning
political pundits.
He asserts that race-
based trauma is so em-
bedded in our bones that
it can “alter the DNA”
and thus be passed from
one generation to the
next. Consequently, his
innovative recipe for
recovery incorporates
a hands-on approach to
healing the body as well
as metaphysical mea-
sures for soothing the
soul.
The book is basically a
mix of diagnostic discus-
sion, anecdotal evidence
and invaluable exercises
designed to enable the
reader to recognize his
or her need for treatment
and then get themselves
started on the road to re-
covery. Though the high-
ly-charged subject-mat-
ter might ordinarily be
controversial in nature,
this text is written in
a
non-confrontational
style apt to disarm, en-
gage and enlighten read-
ers, regardless of color
or political persuasion.
Kudos
to
Resmaa
Menakem for such a
sorely-needed
work
which couldn’t be more
practical or more time-
ly, given this bitterly-di-
vided country’s current
state of race relations.
To order a copy of
“My
Grandmother’s
Hands,” visit: www.
amazon.com/exec /obi-
dos/ASIN/1942094477/
ref%3dnosim/theska-20.
ceedings, because he
wasn’t a member of the
bar in the State of Con-
necticut.
So, instead of seeing
Marshall work his mag-
ic, we have to settle for
watching him quietly
orchestrate his strategy
with help of a Caucasian
colleague (Josh Gad),
who’s rather reluctant to
get involved. That would
be Sam Friedman, a local
yokel afraid of jeopardiz-
ing his flourishing insur-
Film still of ‘Marshall’
ance practice by defend-
ing a Black man accused
of raping a white woman.
After all, the case was
splashed across the tab-
loids, and the accused
See FILM on page 11