Selma Quotes

A movie like 'Selma' should be a relic in a time capsule from 1965, a clue to how well we heeded King's words and how far we have advanced. Instead, it is a reminder that the 'American problem' has yet to be solved.

We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths - that all of us are created equal - is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.

Why can a Communist eat at a lunch counter in Selma, Alabama while a Black American veteran cannot?

I don’t see how President Johnson can send troops to Vietnam …, and he can’t send troops to Selma Alabama.

I say to Governor Wallace, no American can ever be an outsider anywhere in this nation.

When I marched with Martin Luther King in Selma, I felt my legs were praying.

There never was a moment of American history more honorable or more inspiring than the pilgrimage of clergymen and laymen of every race and faith pouring into Selma to face danger at the side of its embattled Negroes.

I didn't have to learn Selma to make 'Selma.' I didn't have to research what kind of place this is. The people I love most in the world live in that part of the country.

My wife and I went to jail in Selma. The difference when I was back there recently? White folks? No. Black folks who were not scared. I was behind the president this time. When I was a little boy and ran around with trifling dudes, I was the only one scared of dogs. And I was bitten 14 times! Dogs smell scared. And that's the same thing with people: 50 years ago they smelled fear. There was no fear this time.

My mother is from Compton, California, but my father is from Hayneville, Alabama, and that's less than 20 miles from Selma.

Luckily enough, I've been able to work with Ava DuVernay, who was able to rally this large ensemble and get us all on the same page for 'Selma.'

John Lewis is such a remarkable human being. Literally, such a beautiful human being. I remember the first time I met him. We were in the middle of a scene and [Selma director] Ava DuVernay calls, "Cut," and then he literally just came in. He just came walking in.I just froze. I can't explain the feeling. Seeing somebody who was literally a living hero. He was a hero.

With 'Selma,' I grew up in Alabama, 45 minutes away from Selma. I have gone to that commemorative march many times with my parents.

While shooting 'Selma,' I would train on my off time with the assistant men's track and field coach at Georgia Tech.

I have known Tarell Alvin McCraney for ten years but the involvement with Moonlight came more with Barry Jenkins, the director. He was a fan of the show I did called The Knick. He was also with Plan B Entertainment, who produced Selma. That is how I got involved.

I must admit that this is a deliberate attempt to dramatize conditions in this city and state. We’re going to turn Selma upside down and inside out in order to make it right side up.

There are places and moments in America where this nation’s destiny has been decided...Selma is such a place.

This is Selma, Alabama where there are more Negroes in jail with me than there are on the voting rolls.