Actors Michael Ealy, Jasmine Guy and Congressman John Lewis appear for ‘People Speaks’ premiere at Atlanta Film Fest
Actors Michael Ealy, Jasmine Guy and legendary Congressman John Lewis appeared at a star-studded Atlanta Film Festival premiere of “People Speaks.” a documentary of the rich history of dissidence in America. Hollywood heavyweight Josh Brolin also appeared along with Howard Zinn, the author/filmmaker who made the movie based upon his critically-acclaimed, bestselling books “A People’s History of the United States” and “Voices of a People’s History of the United States. The documentary also features Tinseltown titans Morgan Freeman, Kerry Washington, Rosario Dawson, Don Cheadle, Danny Glover, Matt Damon, Viggo Mortensen and Sean Penn. Musical performances are provided by transcendent acts as John Legend, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Chris and Rich Robinson.
Actor Josh Brolin
“ ‘The People Speak’ is a documentary that was the book by Howard Zen. In the film there is an excerpt of a speech by Malcolm X that I performed from a speech in 1963 in Detroit — a powerful speech, an anti-war speech that I chose,” says Ealy, who also starred in the films Barbershop, Barbershop 2, 2 Fast 2 Furious and A Miracle at St. Anna.
Congressman Lewis [D-Ga.] is known the world over for his courageous battles for justice during the Civil Rights movement, and his landmark speech at the March on Washington which was revisited in the documentary. “This film is to dramatize to the American people and to the people around the world what took place. The spoken and written word can be used to change a nation, and when it changed America it changed the world,” Lewis explained. “It brings alive some of the words that some of us spoke during the 1960s … It’s very moving for me to be here with this great historian, Howard Zinn.”
Zinn explained, prior to a previous speaking engagement at the University of Georgia, that his goal was to foster a quiet revolution — a nonviolent endeavor that would involve citizens taking control of institutions. Zinn hopes his books and “People Speaks” help to do just that. –terry shropshire
