Citizen George is a film that tells the story of the life, thus far, of George Lakey. A good and lengthy review is here. An 8-minute preview video is here.
George Lakey is an inspiration, mentor, leader, and pioneer for myself and for many of us who want to abolish war and violence, and who want to train the world in nonviolent activism as an alternative to war and as an alternative to acceptance of injustice.
The best way to begin learning from George Lakey is probably to read his books, and after that to read the Global Nonviolent Action Database that he led the creation of at Swarthmore College. Whenever someone claims there is no choice other than war, point them there.
But if you get curious about the life of an outstanding activist, watch Citizen George. In it, we see that, from a young age to an elderly one, Lakey has learned by doing. We see his role in the civil rights movement, which included training activists in nonviolence; and in the peace movement to end the war on Vietnam, which included sailing a ship full of medical supplies past the U.S. Navy to a Vietnamese port. We see him, personally and as an organizer, advancing the movement for gay rights. And we see Lakey training others in, and himself engaging in, all variety of innovative nonviolent action, including citizen protection of those in danger in far corners of the world.
Intertwined with this is the story of Lakey’s personal and family and community life, which is all of a piece with his efforts to make the world more loving, welcoming, and just.
If you are a fan of religion, you’ll like this film even better than I did. I find all the religious stuff embarrassing and depressing, and struggle to reconcile such a courageous and honest and open individual claiming to be taking direction from an imaginary friend named “spirit.”
I also think it unfortunate that a bit of pro-war propaganda for the war in Ukraine about the Russian invasion being “unprovoked” slips into the film uncorrected, and later Lakey’s former home is shown flying a Ukrainian flag. In reality, to his great credit, Lakey has advocated for nonviolent action in Ukraine. I recommend highly reading this and watching this and sharing very widely.
Available for community screenings from Bullfrog Films.