Fruitvale Station - Enough is enough

I'm a little late going to see Fruitvale Station, but it's not from a lack of trying.  I almost gave up trying, and was going to wait, but I'm glad I didn't because this movie was excellent and a must see by everyone.  **SPOILER ALERT**Fruitvale Station is based on the true story of the death of young innocent 22-year-old, Oscar Grant, who was shot by a California Police officer in the back after a night celebrating New Years with his girlfriend and friends.  The incident was caught on video camera back in 2009.  The movie depicts his last day alive and the events leading up to his death.

Oscar Grant is played by Michael B. Jordan who does a wonderful job playing the struggling young man trying to do the right thing by his girlfriend, his little girl, and his family.  Mr. Jordan has been working steadily since 1999, and after his performance, we may see him around a lot longer.  Academy Award Winner, Octavia Spencer, plays Wanda Grant, Oscar's mother.  She's the matriarch of the family and shows the struggle of being a single mom trying to raise a black man.  She's phenomenal!  The movie is great not because of the cinematography or the action or all of that other stuff that people rave about in movies, but because of the simplicity of the story, and the ease at which it shows how this simple man easily lost his promising life.  (Any life is promising despite your mistakes at 22.)

I don't like getting political or playing the race card, but after the Treyvon Martin verdict, political and racial emotions are running high.  Fruitvale Station only further those strong feelings about how young black men are treated in this country and how little their lives are valued.  I boohooed during this movie and I can usually fight back the tears during a movie, but I'm just so tired of the injustice and the carelessness of the lives of black men.  At one point in the movie, Wanda Grant was praying for the life of her son, and I found myself through the tears praying for my brothers and all the black men I see on the streets every day.  I even asked God how much longer will we be persecuited and treated unfairly because of the color of our skin.  The black man's life has never meant anything since the first time an African was taken from his home to become a slave here in America.  Enough is enough and maybe movies like Fruitvale Station and public trials like Treyvon Martin's will help bring awareness to this problem.  I'm hopeful and doubtful at the same time but when I see the white lady next to me crying just as much as I was, I feel it is possible.  Some people just aren't aware of the injustice because they refuse to see it.  We will have to work together to stop it, and it won't happen overnight.  More movies like Crash, Fruitvale Station, and other racially charged movies will help.