10 Movies to Awaken the Scribe in You

Hello Scribes,

My mother had this quote displayed on her vanity for several years:

"Not everything that is faced can be changed. 

But nothing can be changed until it is faced."

-James Baldwin

It struck me as odd that she would have this as one of her affirmations. It was a hidden declaration nestled between thought provoking quotes and scriptures from the Bible. My mother was intentional to surround herself with people and things that kept her spirits lifted. I miss being able to call her, my greatest cheerleader. Now I look in the mirror and speak life to myself and I work hard to speak life to my daughter.

Now, as I inscribe this statement in my subconscious mind I can imagine both my mother and my mother in law as they sat at their vanities preparing for the day. With clothing carefully laid out on the bed including undergarments and accessories I can imagine them both praying and communing with God. Perhaps they prayed, "Lord, help me be your best." I think the legacy they left behind is an answer to their prayers. I imagine that as they looked at themselves while combing their hair, applying make-up or putting on clothes they attached words of faith to their armor of God. No day was faced without connecting with God first. Even if that meant facing their own truths.

The other day while I was cleaning the kitchen I was half watching and half listening to the documentary on James Baldwin. When I heard him say these words I think I almost knocked the laptop over trying to rewind it and listen to it again. The same quote that I had seen on my mother's mirror, the same quote I had read repeatedly hit me differently when I heard it in the voice of the author himself. James Baldwin, who was a brilliant man; an author, a civil rights advocate and a friend of many of the strongest pillars of the civil rights movement had insight into what it will take to change the paradigm of our culture. We have to face things.

James Baldwin was a scribe who was able to see events as they occurred and inscribe them so that others (not present at the time) could experience them. He was not the only Scribe of his time (Malcolm X, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers), and they were all connected.

After watching I am Not Your Negro - a documentary that interpreted James Baldwin's last book, and showed the intersection of his impact on African American lives in his time and our time I was inspired to write. Inspired to be the scribe who can synthesize the times and ignite action in others. I am always inspired by the voices of our time like Angela Rye, VerySmartBrothas and Shaun King who speak the truth with confidence and class. But as a Scribe it is time for me to face some things about my responsibility to put words on paper.

I created a list of a few other movies that have stoked my creativity.

• Imitation of Life
• The Last Word
• The Help
• The Race Card
• Ordinary Hero
• I Know why the Caged Bird Sings
• Selma
• Poetic Justice
• Love Jones

What are some of your favorite movies that stir emotion and cause you to reflect enough to write? Hit me up on IG or Twitter to let me know. 

#InScribeMe,