The Birth of a Movement: How Birth of a Nation Ignited the Battle for Civil Rights

.As a lifelong journalist myself, I have admired Dick Lehr’s work over many years and, in early 2017, I want to add a review to this book page, emphasizing the importance of this particular Lehr book in recovering this key milestone in America’s struggle for civil rights. I’m not alone in this judgment. As I write this review, PBS has just broadcast a superb one-hour documentary based on the book. If you are interested, I also recommend that film for individual viewing and group discussion:  Independent Lens: Birth of a Movement DVD Other reviews on this book page summarize the content of Lehr’s book. The basics are this: Although most Americans today have never heard about this forgotten chapter in our history, the year 1915 was a time when Hollywood’s top filmmaker D.W. Griffith released his epic Birth of a Nation—not to be confused with a 2016 movie of the same title. That film was embraced by President Woodrow Wilson and became the greatest success in Griffith’s career, even though the movie retold the story of the Civil War and its aftermath with the Ku Klux Klan as the heroes of the tale. In his book, Lehr tells that basic story, including the epilogue of D.W. Griffith’s eventual tour to Atlanta in late 1915 when his snowballing media campaign also fueled the rebirth of the Klan at Stone Mountain, complete with a movie-inspired cross burning.Beyond that basic story, this book focuses on one specific part of that tumultuous year—and, in doing so, Lehr’s book shares with us a very inspiring story amid the tragedies that year. His Boston-based book is about the work of William Monroe Trotter in trying to unify and energize the budding African-American civil rights movement. Trotter, in fact, was a visionary and a pioneer in activism who spearheaded efforts that later would be viewed as a backbone of the civil rights movement.As PBS has correctly indicated by airing the hour-long documentary, 2017 is a year when we need to remember these lessons from history a century ago. And, Lehr’s book is quite compelling. You won’t have trouble making your way through the chapters.Trotter rose to this occasion in an era when many key figures in civil rights were deeply divided. He found ways to bring people together to face a potent challenge. It’s true that Trotter did not stop Griffith that year. But what Trotter envisioned and what he sent out into the streets and into other forms of activism—those are lessons we should revisit today. Independent Lens: Birth of a Movement DVD

Having been fascinated by D.W. Griffith's BIRTH OF A NATION since I first saw a decent copy of it back in the early 1990s, this book which deals with attempts by a crusading African-American journalist to ban the film in Boston back in 1915, kept me engaged from start to finish.. I have seen the film numerous times in continually upgraded versions and have read numerous books about it and director D.W. Griffith but this is the first time I have encountered a work about BIRTH that has focused on the African-American perspective of the time.I was familiar with Booker T. Washington and the newly formed NAACP's attempts to stop the film from being shown but I was completely unfamiliar with Monroe Trotter, the leading crusader against the movie. Trotter was a civilized firebrand who disliked Washington, managed to alienate the NAACP, and took on President Woodrow Wilson whom we know now was an unapologetic segregationist. Although well spoken and editor of a prominent African-American newspaper, Trotter believed in up front activism which frequently led to verbal and physical confrontations.Author Dick Lehr profiles both Trotter and director Griffith showing how their different Civil War viewpoints brought them to their Boston showdown. Both men came from humble backgrounds. Monroe Trotter's father was a soldier who fought with Union troops in Charleston while Griffith's father was a Confederate soldier at the battle of Petersburg. Monroe Trotter enrolled at Harvard and was America's first Black member of Phi Beta Kappa. Griffith was self-educated and trod the boards as a less than successful actor for many years before joining the movies. Both men knew how to use words and tell stories which served them well.in their respective fields.While I didn't learn anything new about Griffith, Woodrow Wilson's attitudes toward African-Americans was eye opening. I had forgotten, because of his being President of Princeton, that Wilson was a Southerner from Virginia. He was also a friend and classmate of Thomas Dixon Jr who wrote the book and later play THE CLANSMAN which was the basis of BIRTH. Dixon, a card carrying white supremacist, wanted to rewrite UNCLE TOM'S CABIN from a Southern point of view. He also saw, more than Griffith did, the mass media potential of cinema as a propaganda tool. Griffith just wanted to make the biggest film ever. Both succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.Monroe Trotter, as a newspaperman man, also saw the potential for movies to reach people who couldn't read and to shape their opinions through powerful imagery. This is where the great harm in BIRTH OF A NATION lay. Racism was still rampant after the Civil War even in Northern cities like Boston and here was a brand new medium that was endorsing it wholeheartedly. It thus became an issue of free speech (censorship) -vs- hate speech (blatant racism). One could argue that nothing has changed in 100 years except the way the message is delivered.Trotter got to have his day in court and ultimately succeeded in getting the film banned in Boston on a few technicalities but only for awhile. He won the battle but lost the war and afterwards began to fade from view which is why so few people have heard of him outside of Boston. Griffith became an overnight success and the most celebrated movie director of his time but changing tastes and the rise of Hollywood left him on the sidelines. By 1931 he had made his last movie and was virtually forgotten when he died in 1948. He didn't receive a gravestone until 1950. Trotter died on his 62nd birthday in 1934, probably a suicide.Author Dick Lehr has done his homework in uncovering lots of neglected and forgotten material. Some of his dates on some of Griffith's movies are wrong but this has no real impact on the story he is telling. If you are interested in African-American history, the history of early American movies, or an examination of racial attitudes then and now, then THE BIRTH OF A NATION (book and film) are essential. You should also check out Nate Parker's 2016 film about the Nat Turner rebellion. Parker deliberately chose the title so that he could make a statement as well.

good reading

It appears certain issues and attitudes remain today. Also of note, How President Wilson is viewed, and how that view has changed in recent years.

Very informative and useful to research I am conducting.