The Help: How Courage Creates Change

Yesterday my mother and I saw “The Help.”

Whether you find Kathryn Stockett’s New York Times Best Selling novel compelling or irritating, Tate Taylor’s adaptation brings the Civil Rights Era to life through the powerfully anchored talents of Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, and Cicely Tyson.

As a female born in the 1980s, it is unimaginable to me that such conditions/laws/culture existed in the United States–especially a mere 50 years ago. Sitting with my 71-year-old mother in the dark theater while rich images presented this unimaginable context– it was clear how much courage creates change.

Last night before bed, I read the daily devotion in Common Prayer, which, providentially, highlighted Fannie Lou Hamer and Ruby D. Robinson, who, in 1964, led the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party in their campaign to be seated at the Democratic National Convention.

I wish I had something more poetic to say about “The Help,” the Civil Rights Movement, and such courageous women  (Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Ruby D. Robinson). Instead, I offer this: tears. As my mother and I cried together in the dark theater, our tears expressed grief for the way things were and thankfulness for the courage of extraordinary women (those known and unknown) who helped change a nation.