Marshall – Thomas Reports

A special thanks to Mr. Jacques Bordeaux – GHS ‘71 (Bordeaux Collections) and Mrs. Debra Lee- GHS ‘70 for contributing to my thoughts.

My brother Ronald called me last night to inform me Debra Lee had reached out to him to let us know Valerie Whitworth passed. I immediately called her mother, Mrs. Carolyn Whitworth to convey my condolences and communicated how much I appreciated her allowing me to visit the home last year to see Valerie. Also, I subsequently spoke to Debra. Valerie passed on August 16, 2021 at approximately 4PM.

I live in West Adams and Valerie’s family home is in View Park, approximately 5 miles southwest.

In 1965 I first met Valerie. As many know even at the young age Greg Jones was like the “pied-piper” of Pomona, especially for those in south Pomona off Mission and White. If he took you in as a friend, you were also that of his crew, which included Valerie, Ebora, Angela, Steve Shy and later Debra. They ruled 6^th Street between Myrtle and Buena Vista. We all took pride in attending Marshall Junior High school and Ganesha High School.

Anyway, she will be missed and I am so happy I knew her. I am happier that she made a contribution during her living days and she is now at peace and rest so that her memories will hold a special place in our hearts.

Valerie was an incredible person. Stylish, sharp, focused, friendly and all of the attributes that made you happy to be in her company. Once we all graduated and went our separate ways, like many of you there were friends who stayed in touch and became part of our adult life. You may also remember Valerie and Bob Ferrell were two of our classmates who were at UCLA during the early ’70’s. I would visit them frequently, usually on a Friday. Bob was playing football and Valerie was hitting the books. She was so amazing and we use to joke because she was one of few that I knew who achieved tremendous the rare academic excellence by gaining her joint degree: MBA/JD.

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[Los Angeles, CA] The movie “Marshall” is set for release this weekend. I was fortunate to be in attendance with some of my BPG (Black Professional Group) colleagues as they hosted an advance screening Wednesday, October 11^th.

The life of Thurgood Marshall has been chronicled in the annals of contemporary history. However as iconic as his legal career was and his subsequent place as a justice on the Supreme Court, there is much about him the public does not know. The two most recent books of his life do a good job in presenting his career; Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary written by Juan Williams (2000) and Showdown, written by Wil Haygood (2015).

“Marshall” the movie does a good job of showcasing his brilliance of our legal system. It is not a documentary but more of a bio-pic. Therefore, it does take creative license in presenting a very entertaining movie. Certain scenes take me back to “Native Son” as race and sex are center stage. You have a black chauffeur accused of raping a white woman, whom he worked for. We have seen this plot before. As a young attorney Marshall was part of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund so he was summoned to represent the chauffeur who claimed to be falsely accused.

bi·o·pic

ˈbīōˌpik/

noun

informal

noun: biopic; plural noun: biopics; noun: bio-pic; plural noun: bio-pics

a biographical movie.

Through twist and turns of dealing with sheer racism and a system which automatically assumed those accused, especially if they were black (African-American) were guilty, Marshall used his gift to motivate and convince the lead attorney they could turn the system to their favor while seeking to exonerate their client.

My grade

If you know about Justice Thurgood Marshall, you will score the film high. However, if you are not aware of his career or the plight of blacks during that period, you will miss the sensitivities and may provide a lower grade. My grade comes in at a solid 7, and after some reflection I could see moving it up to an 8 because it covered so much ground.

The cast is very contemporary but at the end you are treated to three people who make a cameo appearance which make you appreciate the struggle of working through the legal system in trying to achieve justice.

More information.

On Tuesday, October 10^th the National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington, DC also had a special screening. Those in attendance were treated to a post question and answer conducted by Wil Haygood (The Butler) as he interviewed the director, Reginald Hudlin. There are many poignant comments during the 32-minute session, including how not one U.S. company was willing to fund the project. The usual excuse of the film not having a broad audience was the reason Hudlin shared. How many times have we heard that only to see such movies take on worldwide interest? Hudlin’s work was eventually realized as Chinese investors stepped forward.

Question and Answer with director

Here is the official trailer