If you think you know the Martin Luther King Jr. story about the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery – Alabama’s capital – and the injustice to blacks leading to that event, think again!

Finally fed up with long pleas to Governor George Wallace (Tim Roth) and local dignitaries requesting protection of voting by black people as guaranteed under the United States Bill of Rights, Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) begins to take action.

For years, many tried to vote, including Annie Lee Cooper, superbly played by Oprah Winfrey. The feelings Annie must have had when denied an I. D. to vote are painfully expressed on Winfrey’s face. The clerk belittles Annie by asking her to recite the preamble of the US Constitution. She does. “How many county judges in Alabama,” he asks. She answers, “67.”  Name them?  It melts one’s heart to know this was the same attitude toward all Southern black people.

King and his colleagues Ralph Abernathy (Colman Domingo), Andrew Young (André Holland), Hosea Williams (Wendell Pierce) and organizers James Bevel (rapper Common) and women activists Diane Nash (Tessa Thompson) and Amelia Boynton (Lorraine Toussaint) are ready to make serious moves. They plan a protest, and hundreds participate, but most end up injured or in jail as does King. As the blacks continue to stand up for their rights, lawmen continue to lash out with venom. State troopers attack marchers in Marion, Alabama, and unarmed protestor Jimmie Lee Jackson (Keith Sanfield), a 26 year-old church deacon, is shot and killed while attempting to protect his mother Viola Jackson (Charity Jordan) and his grandfather Cager Lee (Henry G. Sanders).

King and his colleagues Ralph Abernathy (Colman Domingo), Andrew Young (André Holland), Hosea Williams (Wendell Pierce) and organizers James Bevel (rapper Common) and women activists Diane Nash (Tessa Thompson) and Amelia Boynton (Lorraine Toussaint) are ready to make serious moves. They plan a protest, and hundreds participate, but most end up injured or in jail as does King. As the blacks continue to stand up for their rights, lawmen continue to lash out with venom. State troopers attack marchers in Marion, Alabama, and unarmed protestor Jimmie Lee Jackson (Keith Sanfield), a 26 year-old church deacon, is shot and killed while attempting to protect his mother Viola Jackson (Charity Jordan) and his grandfather Cager Lee (Henry G. Sanders).

By now King and many others are not going to give in. King visits President Johnson several times, elaborating on the cruelty the southerners are experiencing and begging him to give them the vote. Johnson once again stalls, asking King to wait. He replies, “I came here prepared to talk to you about people.  People are dying in the street for this, punished for wanting, for needing, to participate in the American political process.  It cannot wait, sir.”

The next march, scheduled on March 7, involves crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma to Montgomery. Leaders John Lewis (Stephan James) and Rev. Hosea Williams (Wendell Pierce) are stopped by state and local lawmen and the 600 marchers are tear-gassed, severely beaten, and forced to stop. The news and images called “Bloody Sunday” reach around the world, which is not good for the President.   

A second march a few days later becomes known as “Turn Around Tuesday,” and the marchers fear the state troopers.  After many more deaths, including white people who travel to Alabama to show support for the cause, Johnson relents.  On March 21, the nearly 25,000 marchers of all races reach Montgomery where King delivers his landmark speech on the steps of the State Capitol.    

Vernay -- whose family is from Alabama -- did an excellent job of directing and bringing this film to life.  She said, “Selma is a story about voice - the voice of a great leader; the voice of a community that triumphs despite turmoil; and the voice of a nation striving to grow into a better society.  I hope the film reminds us that all voices are valuable and worthy of being heard.” 

The many cast members were all spot on in re-creating the history, personal stories and horror of unspeakable acts. Carmen Ejogo shows us the different sides of Coretta Scott King, a woman who wants more time with her husband, the soulmate who fears for his safety, and the dutiful wife who stands by his every decision.

Clearly, it was faith, humanity, grace and a deep conviction that their sacrifice would not stop until wrongs were righted that kept these brave people going in one of the most powerful examples of sacrifice one will see in this century. Don’t miss this movie.

(Released by Paramount Studios and raated "PG-13" for disturbing thematic material including violence and brief strong language.)

Review also posted at www.reviewexpress.com.