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76-512: The Butler (full title Lee Daniels' The Butler ) is a 2013 American historical drama film directed and co-produced by Lee Daniels with a screenplay by Danny Strong . It is inspired by Wil Haygood 's Washington Post article "A Butler Well Served by This Election". Loosely based on the real life of Eugene Allen , who worked in the White House for decades, the film stars Forest Whitaker as Cecil Gaines, an African American who

152-534: A Woolworth's in Greensboro, North Carolina , on February 1, 1960, launched a wave of anti-segregation sit-ins across the South and opened a national awareness of the depth of segregation in the nation. Within weeks, sit-in campaigns had begun in nearly a dozen cities, primarily targeting Woolworth's and S. H. Kress and other stores of other national chains. The largest and best-organized of these campaigns were

228-529: A nonviolent form of protest used to oppose segregation during the civil rights movement , and often provoked heckling and violence from those opposed to their message. The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) conducted sit-ins as early as the 1940s. Ernest Calloway refers to Bernice Fisher as "Godmother of the restaurant 'sit-in' technique." In August 1939, African-American attorney Samuel Wilbert Tucker organized

304-474: A 14-year-old member of the NAACP Youth Corp at Flagstaff Junior High School, accepted the invitation to participate in a nonviolent sit-in demonstration. Each of the youth members were given $ 5 with the instructions to go inside and sit down. If they were able to order a meal they would pay for it, if not they would sit there. Reportedly, none of the members were served. Joseph Watkins, an official of

380-408: A 72% rating, based on 201 reviews, with an average score of 6.60/10. The site's consensus says: "Gut-wrenching and emotionally affecting, Lee Daniels' The Butler overcomes an uneven narrative thanks to strong performances from an all-star cast." On Metacritic , it has a weighted average score of 65 based on 47 reviews, indicating "generally positive" reviews. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave

456-602: A cliché film designed to attract Oscar nominations. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times was more negative: "An ambitious and overdue attempt to create a Hollywood-style epic around the experience of black Americans in general and the civil rights movement in particular, it undercuts itself by hitting its points squarely on the nose with a 9-pound hammer." Several critics compared the film's historical anecdotes and sentimentality to Forrest Gump . President Barack Obama said, "I teared up thinking about not just

532-465: A commercial success, grossing more than $ 177 million worldwide against a budget of $ 30 million. In 2009, an elderly Cecil Gaines recounts his life story while waiting at the White House to meet the newly inaugurated president. Born and raised on a cotton plantation in Macon , Georgia , to sharecroppers , in 1926, when he was seven, the owner rapes his mother Hattie; his father Earl confronts him and

608-545: A genre directed towards women. Historical dramas have also been described as a conservative genre, glorifying an imagined past that never existed. Historical drama may include mostly fictionalized narratives based on actual people or historical events, such as the history plays of Shakespeare , Apollo 13 , The Tudors , Braveheart , Chernobyl , Enemy at the Gates , Les Misérables , and Titanic . Works may include references to real-life people or events from

684-489: A goodwill gesture, Jackie Kennedy gives Cecil one of the former president's neckties . Louis participates in the 1965 Selma Voting Rights Movement , which inspires Johnson to demand that Congress enact the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 . Johnson also gives Cecil a tie bar . In the late 1960s, after civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. 's assassination , Louis tells his family that he has joined

760-525: A group of 27 people to protest the racially discriminatory no-service policy of the Jack Spratt Diner on 47th Street in Chicago . Each seating area at the diner was taken by groups that included at least one black person. The peaceful patrons, several from the campus of the nearby University of Chicago , then tried to order; all were refused. The police were called, but when they arrived they told

836-723: A now-lost 1916 silent short film with the same name. The case was subsequently resolved with the MPAA granting The Weinstein Company permission to add Lee Daniels in front of the title, under the condition that his name was "75% the size of The Butler " . On July 23, 2013, the distributor unveiled a revised poster, displaying the title as Lee Daniels' The Butler . Principal photography started in June 2012 in New Orleans . Interior White House scenes were shot at Second Line Stages. Production

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912-940: A number of sit-in protests against the country's policy of racial segregation were staged in South African embassies in the United States. In post-apartheid South Africa two notable sit-ins were the occupation of South African universities to protest high tuition during the FeesMustFall protests and the Greenmarket Square refugee sit-in to protest for the resettlement of refugees to third countries due to xenophobia . The Welsh Language Society 's first public protest took place in February 1963 in Aberystwyth town centre where members pasted posters on

988-463: A probe of election rigging by Nawaz Sharif , as well as restoration of "true democracy and social, political and economical reforms." The Azadi March started on August 14, 2014, and ended on December 17, 2014. It is considered to be the longest-lasting public sit-in in Pakistan's history. Concepcion Picciotto 's sit-in was the more long-lasting sit-in, but on an individual level. During apartheid

1064-654: A seat in Congress, although Cecil continues to resent him. Cecil repeatedly approaches his supervisor at the White House over the unequal pay and career advancement provided to the Black White House staff. With President Ronald Reagan 's support, Cecil prevails, his reputation growing to the point that he and his wife are invited by the Reagans to be guests at a state dinner. Cecil becomes uncomfortable with

1140-552: A statue depicting a waitress at a counter serving people honors this pioneering sit-in. Despite the notable attention that has historically been given to the 1960 Greensboro sit-in, the 1958 Katz Drug Store sit-in in fact employed the same strategy that would be used in Greensboro one-and-a-half years later. Following the Oklahoma City sit-ins, the tactic of non-violent student sit-ins spread. The Greensboro sit-ins at

1216-498: A strong sense of the inner complexities and contradictions of the civil-rights landscape". USA Today gave the film three stars out of four, and noted, "It's inspiring and filled with fine performances, but the insistently swelling musical score and melodramatic moments seem calculated and undercut a powerful story". Miles Davis of the New York Tribune gave the film a negative review, claiming it to be " Oscar bait ",

1292-483: A total of 25 days, with more than 150 people refusing to leave. It is the longest sit-in at a federal building to date. Joseph Califano signed the regulations on April 28, 1977. On June 1, 1955, in Door County, Wisconsin , Mrs. Victor Baker sat on a chair over three charges of dynamite, and later moved to her car parked near the dynamite. She blocked the construction of a state highway for 17 hours to protest

1368-434: Is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest , often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to move unless their demands are met. The often clearly visible demonstrations are intended to spread awareness among the public, or disrupt the goings-on of the protested organization. Lunch counter sit-ins were

1444-569: Is a witness of notable political and social events of the 20th century during his 34-year tenure serving as a White House butler . In addition to Whitaker, the film's all-star cast features Oprah Winfrey , Mariah Carey , John Cusack , Nelsan Ellis , Jane Fonda , Cuba Gooding Jr. , Terrence Howard , Minka Kelly , Elijah Kelley , Lenny Kravitz , James Marsden , David Oyelowo , Alex Pettyfer , Vanessa Redgrave , Alan Rickman , Liev Schreiber , Robin Williams and Clarence Williams III . It

1520-586: Is an intolerable situation, when Negro and white students of the university cannot live together in university-owned apartments," Sanders told a crowd of about 200 students. After several days of protests, Beadle met with students to form a commission to investigate discrimination. The League of the Physically Handicapped in New York City was formed in May 1935 to protest discrimination by

1596-458: Is elected as the nation's first Black president. Two months, two weeks and one day later, Cecil prepares to meet the newly inaugurated President, wearing the articles that he received from Kennedy and Johnson. White House Chief Usher Stephen W. Rochon approaches him, telling him that the president is ready and preparing to show him the way to the Oval Office . Cecil tells him that he knows

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1672-479: Is killed. Cecil is taken in by the estate's elderly matron, who trains him to be a house servant. In 1937, at age 18, Cecil leaves the plantation. Desperately hungry, he breaks into a hotel pastry shop. The elderly master-servant Maynard takes pity on him and gives him a job. Cecil learns advanced serving and interpersonal skills from Maynard, who later recommends Cecil for a position in a Washington, D.C. , hotel. While working there, Cecil meets and marries Gloria, and

1748-929: The Alexandria Library sit-in at the then racially segregated library. Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) labor delegates had a brief, spontaneous lunch counter sit-in during their 1947 Columbus, Ohio convention. In one of the earliest use of sit-ins against racism, followers of Father Divine and the International Peace Mission Movement joined with the Cafeteria Workers Union , Local 302, in September 1939 to protest racially unfair hiring practices at New York's Shack Sandwich Shops, Inc. According to The New York Times for September 23, 1939, on Thursday between 75 and 100 followers showed up at

1824-700: The Black Panthers . Cecil orders Louis and his girlfriend to leave his house. Louis is again arrested. Cecil becomes aware of President Richard Nixon 's plans to suppress the Black Panthers. Charlie confides to Louis that he plans to join the war in Vietnam . After enlisting, he is killed and buried at Arlington National Cemetery . When the Black Panthers resort to violence, Louis leaves the organization and returns to college, earning his master's degree in political science and eventually running for

1900-604: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 which ended legally sanctioned racial segregation in the United States and also passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that struck down many racially motivated barriers used to deny voting rights to non-whites. One of the earliest lunch counter sit-ins of the Civil Rights Movement was started by a group of Morgan State College (now University) students and

1976-460: The Ku Klux Klan while on a freedom ride to Birmingham , Alabama . Louis participates in the 1963 Birmingham Children's Crusade , where dogs and water cannons are used to stop the marchers, an action that inspires Kennedy to deliver a national address proposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 . After Kennedy is assassinated , his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson , enacts the legislation. As

2052-541: The Nashville sit-ins , whose groundwork was already underway before the Greensboro events. They involved hundreds of participants, and led to the successful desegregation of Nashville lunch counters . Most of the participants in the Nashville sit-ins were college students, and many, such as Diane Nash , James Bevel , Bernard Lafayette , and C. T. Vivian , went on to lead, strategize, and direct almost every aspect of

2128-659: The National Organization for Women held a sit-in and then picketed to protest this; the gender restriction was removed a few months later. In March 1970, feminists held an 11-hour sit-in at the Ladies' Home Journal 's office, which resulted in them getting the opportunity to produce a section of the magazine that August. The sit-in began on June 22, 2016, when members of the House Democratic Caucus declared their intention to remain on

2204-632: The Roaring Twenties , or the recent past. In different eras different subgenres have risen to popularity, such as the westerns and sword and sandal films that dominated North American cinema in the 1950s. The costume drama is often separated as a genre of historical dramas. Early critics defined them as films focusing on romance and relationships in sumptuous surroundings, contrasting them with other historical dramas believed to have more serious themes. Other critics have defended costume dramas, and argued that they are disparaged because they are

2280-544: The Works Progress Administration (WPA). The Home Relief Bureau of New York City stamped applications by physically handicapped applicants with "PH", which stood for "physically handicapped". Marked as "unemployable", they were denied access to WPA-created jobs. To protest, members of the League held a sit-in at that Home Relief Bureau for nine days beginning on May 29, 1935, and a weekend sit-in at

2356-530: The "Royal Seven," a group of three women and four men from Durham , North Carolina , sat in at the Royal Ice Cream Parlor on June 23, 1957, to protest practices of segregation. The activists were arrested and charged with trespassing. Their efforts are now recognized via historical markers in Durham. They went to court three times; each case ended in their being found guilty. This sit-in for

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2432-503: The 1960s civil rights movement. The students of the historically black colleges and universities in the city played a critical role in implementing the Nashville sit-ins. 1963 Flagstaff Arizona The NAACP recruited 10 high school and middle school students from Flagstaff Junior High School and Flagstaff High School to protest the refusal of the El Charro Cafe to serve a bus load of Negro tourists from New Jersey. Shirley Sims,

2508-604: The Arizona Branch of the NAACP, reported to the Flagstaff City Council that none of the youths had been served and that there had been no violence. Watkins also stated that unless the restaurant had a change in policy, more sit ins would be staged, "but whatever methods we employ or encourage will be peaceful." Sims stated in an Arizona Daily Sun article in 2017 that, "it wasn't scary because a lot of

2584-553: The Baltimore chapter of CORE. Their goal was to desegregate Read's drug stores. The peaceful impromptu sit-in lasted less than one half an hour and the students were not served. They left voluntarily and no one was arrested. After losing business from the sit-in and several local protests, two days later the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper ran a story featuring Arthur Nattans Sr., then President of Read's, who

2660-585: The British Indian Army staging dharna as a recruitment tool in Punjab during World War I. More recently, there are designated places for conducting Dharna, and a permission is required for it. Often, those practicing dharna break the permission leading to clashes with law enforcement. For example, the Shaheen Bagh protest was a sit-in peaceful protest, led by women, that began in response to

2736-740: The Gaineses' elder son, becomes a university student at Fisk University in Nashville , Tennessee , although Cecil feels that the South is too volatile. Louis joins the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), activist James Lawson 's student program, which leads to a nonviolent sit-in at a segregated diner , where he is arrested. Gloria, who feels that Cecil puts his job ahead of her, descends into alcoholism . In 1961, after John F. Kennedy 's inauguration, Louis and others are attacked by members of

2812-580: The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 , which was the first U.S. federal civil rights protection for people with disabilities. After an ultimatum and deadline, demonstrations took place in ten U.S. cities on April 5, 1977, including the beginning of the 504 Sit-in at the San Francisco Office of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. This sit-in, led by Judith Heumann and organized by Kitty Cone , lasted until May 4, 1977,

2888-727: The Sanskrit word dharnam . Dharna generally refers to fixing one's mind on an object. It refers to whole-heartedly pledging toward an outcome or to inculcating a directed attitude. Dharna is consciously and diligently holding a point of view with the intent of achieving a goal. Historically in India, it was a popular form of protest during the Indian independence movement and part of Mahatma Gandhi 's satyagraha form of civil disobedience and protest. There were also recorded instances of indigenous officials charged with recruitment quotas for

2964-756: The United States. In response to the demonstrations, the White House spokesman stated, "The president believes that forcibly taking over a building on campus is absolutely the wrong approach. That is not an example of peaceful protests." In 2016, eco-protesters occupied the area of the Kertem in Budapest in protest against the building plan in Városliget . The Azadi March (Freedom March) led by Imran Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and Inqilab March (Revolution March) led by Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri of Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT) are political, aiming at

3040-862: The WPA headquarters, also in New York City, in June 1935. These actions eventually led to the creation of 1,500 jobs for physically handicapped workers in New York City in 1936. An early version of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was vetoed by President Richard Nixon in October 1972. Later in 1972, Disabled in Action demonstrated in New York City with a sit-in protesting this veto. Led by Judith Heumann , eighty activists staged this sit-in on Madison Avenue, stopping traffic. Initially Joseph Califano , U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, refused to sign meaningful regulations for Section 504 of

3116-578: The Welsh Language Society. The sit-in was calling for the BBC to use more Welsh. A dharna ( Hindi : धरना; Urdu : دهرنا) is a non-violent sit-in protest, which may include a fast undertaken at the door of an offender, especially a debtor, in India as a means of obtaining compliance with a demand for justice, state response of criminal cases, or payment of a debt. The word originates from

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3192-589: The apartheid regime collapsed in South Africa that it wasn't replaced by a Marxist - totalitarian regime allied with Moscow and Cuba that would take the South African people down the same road as Ethiopia , Mozambique , and, yes, Cuba. In the immediate years before Reagan became president, 11 countries from the Third World, from Asia to Africa to Latin America, went Communist . It was devastating. If

3268-613: The butlers who worked here in the White House, but an entire generation of people who were talented and skilled. But because of Jim Crow and because of discrimination , there was only so far they could go." Regarding historical accuracy, Eliana Dockterman wrote in Time : "Allen was born on a Virginia plantation in 1919, not in Georgia.... In the movie, Cecil Gaines grows up on a cotton field in Macon, where his family comes into conflict with

3344-411: The class divisions in the White House. After witnessing Reagan's refusal to support economic sanctions against apartheid South Africa , he resigns. Gloria encourages Cecil to mend his relationship with Louis. Realizing that his son's actions are heroic, he joins him at a protest against South African apartheid; they are arrested and jailed together. In 2008, Gloria dies shortly before Barack Obama

3420-539: The controversy surrounding the decision; Dixon refused. On February 15, the protestors still sitting-in voted to stop. In March 1969, at the decision of university disciplinary committees, forty-two students involved in the Administration Building sit-in were expelled, eighty-one were suspended, and three were placed on probation. A "Statement on the University of Chicago sit-in" was included in

3496-521: The couple have two sons, Louis and Charlie. In 1957, Cecil is hired by the White House during Dwight D. Eisenhower 's administration. White House maître d'hôtel Freddie Fallows introduces him to head butler Carter Wilson and co-worker James Holloway. Cecil witnesses Eisenhower's reluctance to use troops to enforce school desegregation , then his resolve to uphold the law by racially integrating Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas . Louis,

3572-427: The director and screenwriters of the film for depicting Reagan as indifferent to civil rights and his reluctance to associate with the White House's Black employees during his presidency. According to Michael Reagan , the former president's son and a conservative activist, "The real story of the White House butler doesn't imply racism at all. It's simply Hollywood liberals wanting to believe something about my father that

3648-413: The failure of the county government to pay the entirety of the amount owed her and her husband for the additional right-of-way taken from her home and orchard along the construction route. The county had planned to pay a week later, after the state sent the funds. On the morning of June 2, the county highway commissioner came by with a check for an additional $ 1,500 and she ended the protest. In 1969 there

3724-613: The feminist anthology Sisterhood is Powerful: An Anthology of Writings From The Women's Liberation Movement (edited by Robin Morgan , published in 1970); this statement refers to the Marlene Dixon sit-in. By the early 1950s, women were allowed inside the Oak Room and Bar during the evenings, but still barred until 3 p.m. on weekdays, while the stock exchanges operated. In February 1969, Betty Friedan and other members of

3800-617: The film an "A" on a scale of A+ to F. Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film, saying, "Even with all contrivances and obvious point-making and familiar historical signposting, Daniels' The Butler is always engaging, often entertaining and certainly never dull." Richard Roeper lauded the film's casting, remarking that "Forest Whitaker gives the performance of his career". Rolling Stone also spoke highly of Whitaker, writing that his "reflective, powerfully understated performance...fills this flawed film with potency and purpose". Variety wrote that "Daniels develops

3876-461: The film refuses to deal with this issue with the necessary balance, it shouldn't deal with it at all." Historical film Historical drama can be differentiated from historical fiction , which generally present fictional characters and events against a backdrop of historical events. A period piece may be set in a vague or general era such as the Middle Ages , or a specific period such as

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3952-531: The film. In spring 2012, AI Film, a British financing and production company, added a $ 6 million guarantee against foreign pre-sales. Finally, the film raised its requisite $ 30 million budget through 41 producers and executive producers, including Earl W. Stafford, Harry I. Martin Jr., Brett Johnson, Michael Finley and Buddy Patrick. Thereafter, as film production started, Weinstein Co. picked up U.S. distribution rights for

4028-419: The film. After reading Danny Strong's screenplay, Johnson invested $ 2.7 million before bringing in several African American investors. However, Ziskin died from cancer in June 2011. This left director Daniels and producing partner Hilary Shor to look further for producers. They started with Cassian Elwes , with whom they were working on The Paperboy . Elwes joined the list of producers and began fundraising for

4104-417: The film. David Glasser, Weinstein Co. COO, called fundraising as an independent film "a story that's a movie within itself". The Weinstein Company acquired the distribution rights for the film after Columbia Pictures put the film in turnaround . The film's title was up for a possible renaming due to a Motion Picture Association claim from Warner Bros. , which had inherited from the defunct Lubin Company

4180-776: The first of two sit-ins occurred at the popular Dewey's Restaurant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was one of the earliest demonstrations advocating for the LGBT community in United States history. Three unidentified teenagers and approximately 150 supporters walked into the Dewey's location at 219 South 17th Street, refusing to leave in the name of civil rights. This initial sit-in was in response to Dewey's recently implemented discriminatory policy claiming it would not serve “homosexuals,” “masculine women,” “feminine men,” or “persons wearing nonconformist clothing.” Philadelphia police arrested

4256-409: The floor of the United States House of Representatives until its Republican Speaker, Paul Ryan , allowed votes on gun safety legislation in the aftermath of the Orlando nightclub shooting . A group of the Democrats ultimately occupied the floor through the night, only leaving on the afternoon of June 23. None of the measures demanded by the occupying members were given a vote. On April 25, 1965,

4332-502: The huge financial burden civil rights groups were facing as the sit-in movement spread across the South. They became known as the Friendship Nine because eight of the nine men were students at Rock Hill's Friendship Junior College . They are sometimes referred to as the Rock Hill Nine. In January 1962, Bernie Sanders , then a student at the University of Chicago , helped lead a sit-in in protesting university president George Wells Beadle 's segregated campus housing policy. "We feel it

4408-459: The management that no laws were being broken, so no arrests were made. The diner closed for the night but thereafter, according to periodic checks made by CORE activists, it no longer enforced its discriminatory policy. With the encouragement of Melvin B. Tolson and Farmer, students from Wiley and Bishop Colleges organized the first sit-in in Texas in the rotunda of the Harrison County Courthouse in Marshall . This sit-in directly challenged

4484-477: The oldest White Citizens Party in Texas and would culminate in the reversal of Jim Crow laws in the state and the desegregation of postgraduate studies in Texas by the Sweatt v. Painter (1950) verdict. Sit-ins are often recognized for illuminating the goals of the movement in a way that young people were also able to participate in. Sit-ins were an integral part of the nonviolent strategy of civil disobedience and mass protests that eventually led to passage of

4560-488: The passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in both houses of the Parliament of India on December 11, 2019, and the ensuing police intervention against students at Jamia Millia Islamia who were opposing the Amendment. Protesters agitated not only against the citizenship issues of the CAA, National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR), but also against police brutality, unemployment, poverty and for women's safety. Mainly consisting of Muslim women,

4636-451: The people who frequented that restaurant were our teachers, and they encouraged us." The Friendship Nine was a group of African American men who went to jail after staging a sit-in at a segregated McCrory's lunch counter in Rock Hill, South Carolina in 1961. The group gained nationwide attention because they followed the Nashville student's strategy of not bailing themselves out of jail and called it "Jail, No Bail", which lessened

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4712-427: The post office in an attempt to be arrested and go to trial. When it became apparent that they would not be arrested for the posters, they then moved to Pont Trefechan in Aberystwyth , where around seventy members and supporters held a sit-in blocking road traffic for half an hour. In 1968 a sit-in was held at the news and television studio and the newsroom department of the BBC at Broadway, Cardiff , by members of

4788-419: The purpose of integrating segregated establishments began on July 19, 1958, in Wichita, Kansas , at Dockum Drugs, a store in the old Rexall chain. In early August, the drugstore became integrated, then remainder of Dockum stores in all of Kansas. A few weeks later on August 19, 1958, in Oklahoma City , a nationally recognized sit-in at the Katz Drug Store lunch counter occurred. The Oklahoma City Sit-in Movement

4864-545: The relevant time period or contain factually accurate representations of the time period. Works that focus on accurately portraying specific historical events or persons are instead known as docudrama , such as The Report . Where a person's life is central to the story, such a work is known as biographical drama , with notable examples being films such as Alexander , Frida , House of Saddam , Lincoln , Lust for Life , Raging Bull , Stalin , and Oppenheimer . Sit-in A sit-in or sit-down

4940-405: The restaurant at Forty-first Street and Lexington Avenue , where most of the strike activity has been concentrated, and groups went into the place, purchased five-cent cups of coffee, and conducted what might be described as a kind of customers' nickel sit down strike. Other patrons were unable to find seats. In May 1942, James Farmer Jr. , an organizer for the Fellowship of Reconciliation, led

5016-439: The second sit-in, Dewey's Restaurant reversed their discriminatory policy. The Dewey's sit-ins helped continue the path towards equal rights for many LGBT people in the United States. On April 21, 1966, gay activists of the Mattachine Society of New York (MSNY) conducted a "Sip-In" at Julius' Bar at 10th Street. This established the right of gay people to be served in licensed premises in New York . This action helped clear

5092-410: The three teenagers, which led to further grass-roots action. Clark Polak , president of the local Janus Society , extended support to the protesters. Members of the Janus Society and other supporters circulated approximately 1500 flyers throughout the local area over the next five days. On May 2, 1965, protesters staged a second sit-in at Dewey's, although this time there were no arrests. Soon after

5168-608: The way and walks down the hall to the office. Presidents Gerald Ford , Jimmy Carter , Barack Obama and civil rights leader Jesse Jackson are depicted in archival footage . Melissa Leo and Orlando Eric Street were cast as First Lady Mamie Eisenhower and Barack Obama, respectively, but did not appear in the finished film. Danny Strong 's screenplay is inspired by Wil Haygood's Washington Post article "A Butler Well Served by This Election". The project received initial backing in early 2011 when producers Laura Ziskin and Pam Williams approached Sheila Johnson for help financing

5244-424: The way for gay premises with state liquor licenses. In April of 2024, student activists at Columbia University, with Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace began to conduct a sit-in on the university's campus, demanding the university divest from Israel in response to the Israel-Hamas War . Columbia's demonstration influenced protests and sit-ins at other universities both in and out of

5320-528: The white farmers for whom they work. What befalls his parents on the cotton field was added for dramatic effect .... Though tension between father and son over civil rights issues fuels most of the drama in the film, [Eugene Allen's son] Charles Allen was not the radical political activist that Gaines's son is in the movie." Particular criticism has been directed at the film's accuracy in portraying President Ronald Reagan . While Alan Rickman's performance generated positive reviews, conservative activists criticized

5396-415: Was a sit-in at the University of Chicago to protest the firing of feminist sociology professor Marlene Dixon . On February 12, 1969, a faculty committee chaired by Hanna H. Gray, Associate Professor of History, concluded that no violation of normal appointment procedures had occurred, but recommended that Dixon be offered a one-year terminal reappointment since the resolution of her status had been delayed by

5472-485: Was led by NAACP Youth Council leader Clara Luper , a local high school teacher, and young local students, including Luper's eight-year-old daughter, who suggested the sit-in be held. The group quickly desegregated the Katz Drug Store lunch counters. It took several more years, but she and the students, using the tactic, integrated all of Oklahoma City's eating establishments. Today, in downtown Wichita, Kansas ,

5548-446: Was never there." Paul Kengor , one of President Reagan's biographers, also attacked the film, saying, "I've talked to many White House staff, cooks, housekeepers, doctors, and Secret Service over the years. They are universal in their love of Ronald Reagan." Regarding the president's initial opposition to sanctions against apartheid in South Africa, Kengor said, "Ronald Reagan was appalled by apartheid, but also wanted to ensure that if

5624-633: Was originally scheduled to wrap in early August 2012 but was delayed by the impact of Hurricane Isaac . In its opening weekend, the film debuted in first place, with $ 24.6 million. The film topped the North American box office in its first three consecutive weeks. The film has grossed $ 116.6 million in Canada and the United States, and it earned $ 60.7 million elsewhere, for a total of $ 177.3 million. The Butler received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes , it has

5700-495: Was quoted saying, "We will serve all customers throughout our entire stores, including the fountains, and this becomes effective immediately". As a result, 37 Baltimore-area lunch counters became desegregated. Despite also being led by students and successfully targeting segregation at a store lunch counter, the Read's Drug Store sit-in did not garner the same level of attention as the 1960 Greensboro sit-ins. At another early sit-in,

5776-469: Was the last film produced by Laura Ziskin , who died on June 12, 2011. It was also the final film appearance of Clarence Williams III, who retired from acting in 2018 and died on June 4, 2021. The film was theatrically released by the Weinstein Company on August 16, 2013, to mostly positive reviews from critics, with many praising the cast but criticizing the historical accuracy. The film was

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