Film gives 1940s activist her due
“My Name Is Pauli Murray,” an extraordinary documentary about an underrated civil rights giant who was way ahead of her time, is a jaw-dropping biography and history lesson that begs the question: How is this person not a household name?
Murray’s life story is so rich — and her social justice achievements stand as such landmarks — that it’s hard to know where to start. But directors Betsy West and Julie Cohen (“RBG”) get it just right, letting the late Murray serve as her own narrator through audiotapes and offering an abundance of powerful archival photos.
In a 90 brisk minutes, we get a three-dimensional portrait of a private, gender nonconforming trailblazer who not only paved the way for Black Americans but also for women and LGBTQ people.
The film opens with grainy, home movie-ish shots of Murray and her beloved Labrador, who is eager to hog the spotlight. The endearing scene is a fitting metaphor for a person who got nosed out of the civil rights limelight, even though she should have been a center of attention.
Soon, we discover that Murray was jailed for not sitting in the back of a bus in Richmond, Va. — more than a decade before Rosa Parks became nationally famous for the same act of defiance. Then we learn that Murray organized protests against desegregated eateries in Washington, D.C. — in the 1940s — long before sit-ins became a thing at Southern lunch counters.
This is a breathtaking pattern that repeats itself throughout the film: Becoming a key activist in the feminist movement. Playing an influential role in the landmark Supreme Court ruling on Brown vs. Board of Education. Formulating legal arguments that applied the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to issues beyond the rights of Black Americans.
What makes “Pauli Murray” especially satisfying is how the film delves into the struggles of Murray’s gender identity. (In the archival material, Murray identifies herself as a woman, but she clearly spells out her gender identity issues.)
Long before such matters were more mainstream, she was wrestling with these issues, which had a profound effect on how Murray viewed the world — and the law.
This was a person who confronted discrimination on multiple fronts: for being Black, for being a woman and for being gender nonconforming. That she didn’t let these obstacles stop her makes for a moving film, and it’s no wonder that she was a major influence on another social justice icon, Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
In this Oscar-worthy documentary, Murray shares her hope that she would live to see her lost causes found, and today, we see the fruits of her efforts all around us. Perhaps it’s time to update our history books.