"This is an inspiration film about the power of faith and sacrifice; one that underscores the fact that much can be done in the way of anti-racism when individuals not only talk the talk, but walk the walk. I highly recommend it. "
Review of
"Sisters of Selma: Bearing Witness for Change"
by
Matthew Whitaker
Assistant Professor
History Department
Affiliate Faculty, African and African American Studies
Affiliate Faculty, School of Justice and Social Inquiry
Arizona State University
Individuals who are products of Catholic schools, like I am, know precisely how intelligent, passionate, dedicated and unrelenting nuns can be. In 1965, American nuns from St. Louis demonstrated their metal and put their beliefs to work in Selma, Alabama. In doing so, they joined the ranks of many other activists who descended upon this bastion of white supremacy to combat racial injustice through civil disobedience. They did so during an era when most church leaders were uninspired to acknowledge and contest the oppression of Black people in the South, and throughout the United States. These trailblazing women defied male authority, that had largely dropped the ball on fighting racism, and sought to overturn a long history in the Catholic church of simply praying for causes like racial unity. They were motivated by an abiding faith and a substantive desire to act. When the nation saw photographs of these nuns marching along other activist in Selma, often if full regalia, they witnessed a watershed movement in protest history, a moment in which religious people in America put themselves on the front line anti-racism.
Spiritual leaders stepped out of their pulpits and took to the streets—ministers, rabbis, and priests. Fifty-four from St. Louis, Missouri took two flights to Selma. Four habit-clad sisters were in the first plane. Sister Mary Antona, a Sister of St. Mary, was joined by Sister Eugene Marie, her senior at St. Mary’s Infirmary. Being black, Sr. Mary Antona had suffered the indignity of racial segregation in her own novitiate class. She had asked God to help her to go to Selma, knowing full well that sisters “simply didn’t do such things.” When the opportunity presented itself Sr. Antona believed that “God was calling my bluff.” Sister Ernest Marie and her companion Sister Thomas Marguerite were on the same flight. They were college professors and Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. They did not know many black people, and they knew very little about the Black Freedom Struggle. They did not use their ignorance as an excuse, however. They joined like-minded individuals to give meaning the notion that all people are created equal, and because, quite simply, it was the right thing to do.
Loretto sisters Sister Ann Christopher and Sister Christine Mary were in the second plane. They lived and labored with black inner-city residents of St. Louis who embraced the non-violent strategy of Martin Luther King, Jr. These people of African descent inspired these Sisters to represent them and their plight in Selma. They did not, however, foresee the dismissive reactions of the Catholic establishment, nor did they anticipate the violent responses of white southerners. On the other hand, black Selma residents surprised the Missouri sisters with their hospitality and trust. The warm reception was due in large part to many years of bridge-building engineered by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Rochester. They had addressed the curricular and health care needs of the poor black people in Selma since 1940. This sort of relationship between the Catholic Church and black communities was rare in the U.S. between 1940 and 1965, and continues to be atypical now. The Archbishop of Mobile-Birmingham barred the nuns from joining the demonstrations, so they found refuge in the community that the Archbishop attempted to segregate them from; the black community. The nuns fed, helped house, and nurse large numbers of activists from all over the U.S. Blacks in Selma welcomed the nuns from St. Louis, when members of their own faith sought to silence and marginalize them.
On the Wednesday following “Bloody Sunday,” the sisters led a march resisting a ban by church, city, and county authorities. Though the police thwarted the protest, but images of these women in action made national and international news. Most people were stunned. Most Americans believed that the sisters should remain silent and cloistered. Martin Luther King, Jr. welcomed the nuns, arguing that they “had a special significance because the public knows a nun to be a woman of great sacrifice and dedication.” For many their counterparts, however, the nuns had “made a thrilling statement because the event coincided with the Second Vatican Council, an ambitious four-year effort by Rome to modernize the Catholic Church. Sisters around the country were rethinking their vow of ‘obedience,’ their missions, and their own segregation from the life of the nation.” In the following weeks, many went to Selma to join the marchers. These nuns inspired many American nuns to “seek social and economic justice through their ministries well beyond the traditional realms of teaching and nursing.”
As one review of the documentary argues, “this is a story of ‘aggiornamento,’ (Pope John XXIII) the ‘updating’ of societies resistant to change. More importantly, it is the story of a few women who took it upon themselves to become the agents of that change.” This is an inspiration film about the power of faith and sacrifice; one that underscores the fact that much can be done in the way of anti-racism when individuals not only talk the talk, but walk the walk. I highly recommend it.
