My Name Is Pauli Murray

Before they died, Pauli Murray wrote and recorded their autobiography. This film shares that voice to tell the moving story of a person who was way out in front of profound changes in Black civil rights, women's equality, and gay liberation. This is a love story for democracy and equality.

This documentary is excellent in showing how white women supported black women and how black men did not support black women with respect to black women's civil rights as women--a balanced intersectional analysis that is generally ignored in other recent documentaries on black history and/or women's history.

I subtracted one star because (like other historical documentaries on black history and women's history) it went into graphic detail about INTERcommunity racial violence against black men, but did not go into graphic detail about INTRAcommunity gender violence against women of all races perpetuated within their own communities (i.e. Coverture, marital rape, femicide, human trafficking, etc.)

I also subtracted one star because they glossed over Murray's brilliant "Jane Crow" analysis, in which she demonstrated how the arguments to keep blacks and women in an inferior status are the same. The filmmakers kept the two issues of race and sex discrimination apart, but Murray rightly connected them, which is one of her most brilliant intellectual contributions to legal theory.

The documentary format has been through a transformation in the last few years and there are tropes and conventions that, if used too frequently or without care, can become wearisome. The worst that can be said of this documentary is that it manages to avoid doing those things. The best thing about it is undoubtedly it's subject matter - the life of Pauli Murray. I think it would not be unreasonable to state that, even if this film were poorly constructed and clumsily sequenced, we should watch it regardless because we would learn about the extraordinary life of Dr. Murray. The fact that it is compelling, beautiful and intelligently presented makes it worth 90 minutes of everyone's time. So, seek it out and watch it. Pauli Murray deserves it - and so do you.

Why weren't we taught about Ms Murray??? It makes me angry that she has been hidden from me all my life!!!!

Extremely intelligent, Ms Murray should be held out, lauded and become a household name, known throughout the world!!! Extraordinary and well before her time!!!

I'd heard Pauli's name for the first time when I watched RGB. So, I committed it to memory at that time, researched more about Pauli, and wondered when someone would create a documentary on Pauli's contributions. Finally! It is very well put together, educational, and tactful with Pauli doing a large portion of the narrating. I'm sure Pauli would be proud.