A Nite At the Movies

Friday night I went to see Miracle at St. Ana. This is the new Spike Lee joint. I was really excited to see this movie because it explored the black experience in WWII. The media rarely shows any depiction what it was like to be black in the military prior to desegregation.

This film kept me guessing and thinking. It's complex in nature because you're constantly thinking what can happen next. You'll develop a love for the characters and find yourself rooting for their safety.


The film also explores the racism in that era with the tense interaction between the black solders and their white superiors. During that time the military felt it was important to place southern white men over black soldiers. In the mind of military officials southern men knew how to keep black men in order. Of course this was a recipe for disaster.

Miracle at St Ana vividly displays how black men were willing to die for a country that did not allow them basic freedom. How they were respected in other countries such as Italy, but treated as sub human in their own country. Yet these men put their very life on the line.

The man in the picture above is my granddaddy. He is a WWII veteran. Every time he speaks of the time he served he stands a little taller and smiles a bit wider. As a matter of fact, my grandaddy is the most patriotic person in my family. He believes the USA has the strongest, baddest and most fierce military on planet earth. He never talked greasy about the US Army no matter how bad they treated him.

I recommend you go see this movie, you will truly be enlightened. What I didn't understand was the lack of people at the opening night. There was about 32 people in the theater on opening night. I was a bit saddened because I knew that most people in my city would probably see the film on boot-leg. I really wanted us to go out and support Spike. Spike has a hard time getting financing for most of his movies. And most of his movies represent the lives of black people, yet we are the very people who don't show support.

If you have the money and the time please support Spike Lee's effort.