Movie Review: Blood Done Sign My Name

Just in time for Black History Month, Paladin Films gives us "Blood Done Sign My Name," an intimate and moving look at a skirmish in the civil rights war.

The year is 1970. It's been five years since Malcolm X was killed, and two since Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Civil rights legislation was passed in 1964, but hasn't made its way to Oxford, North Carolina. The white officials block minor improvements for the African-American community, like putting rims on the basketball courts in the park. White businessmen happily take money from black customers, but refuse to employ them.

 Rick Schroder plays Rev. Vernon Tyson, a white Methodist minister moving his family to take over the Oxford church. Ben Chavis (Nate Parker) is also moving there, moving back home after finishing graduate school. Both men want change to come and both make sacrifices for it. However, a third person moving back to town becomes the flashpoint for resistance.

Dickie Marrow (A.C. Sanford), a black man, comes home from the Vietnam War to his wife and children. An innocent interaction leads to his death at the hands of a family of white Klansmen. The murder and subsequent trial throw the town into turmoil.

The true story comes from a book written by Tim Tyson, son of Rev. Tyson, whose childhood experiences inspired him to become a professor of African American studies. Ben Chavis was also motivated by the experience. He went on to become the leader of the N.A.A.C.P. and to organize events such as the Million Man March.

Unlike more epic movies such as "Malcom X" or "Mississippi Burning," this is a quieter story. Although there is violence, most people are not threatened by it directly. They have to choose their sides in more subtle ways, such as whether to sit in a church whose minister takes a stand in the pulpit, even whether to allow the controversial minister into a hospital room. Black people have to decide whether to tell their story, whether to join a march, or even to examine how they spend their money. Even children have to stand or go with the flow, facing whether to speak up when a friend tries to drive some African-American children off his block.

Unlike many civil rights films, this movie focuses more on African-Americans and their struggle to live their lives in a harsh environment as well as their ultimate coalescing into a resistance movement.

The film is rated PG-13, mostly because of the scene showing the murder and frequent, but appropriate to the story, use of the N-word. The rest is clean and uplifting. If it weren't for the violence of the murder, I would recommend it as an excellent and effective tool to teach kids about the civil rights struggle. As it is, I do recommend it to parents of high schoolers, but parents should use caution with younger children.